14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve known for a while that Apple planned to expand the edge-to-edge design approach of the iPhone X to other products as well, and by the looks of things, the iPad will get the new treatment as soon as this year.
Code discovered in the most recent iOS 12 beta shows that Apple is already preparing this operating system for a bezel-less iPad, with an icon included in the preview build hinting at design improvements for the tablet.
As reported by 9to5mac, the new iPad icon clearly indicates that several major design changes are coming to the device, with bezels to be substantially thinner and the home button completely removed.
While there’s no notch in the icon, there’s a good chance that the removal of the home button means that facial recognition would be added as well. Like on the iPhone X, Face ID modules would be placed inside a notch, so this design tweak is expected to make it to the iPad too.
Notches coming to all iPhones
The notch is becoming a key part of Apple’s products, and all three iPhones launching this year are projected to feature it. Apple will release an iPhone X successor, an iPhone X Plus, and a cheaper iPhone with 6.1-inch LCD screen, all of them boasting a notch and coming with facial recognition instead of a fingerprint sensor.
An edge-to-edge design approach can also be expanded to the Apple Watch, as the next-generation smartwatch is likely to boast a larger screen with smaller bezels.
This time, however, a notch won’t be used, with Apple to focus solely on increasing the screen estate for now. Other feature updates are also expected on the Watch Series 4, including better heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and possibly other fitness improvements that would help Apple compete against the likes of Fitbit and Garmin.