Apple iPad successor may get TouchID on power button, FaceID and other features

It looks like last year’s 10.2-inch iPad tablet may get a successor that takes design cues from the ‘Pro’ lineup. According to a leak, the design is said to include thinner bezels, sensors for FaceID tech and support for Magic Keyboard. For now, the 10.2-inch iPad supports full-size Smart Keyboard. This time, the new iPad could have a bigger screen at 10.8-inch size. And since the product is said to have slim bezels like the iPad Pro models, it also means that the round TouchID sensor might finally be ditched by Apple. Instead, it might be there in a different avatar.

A separate tipster suggested that the TouchID sensor might still exist but on the power button, which is usually placed on the top right corner in iPads. If this is true, it will become Apple's first iPad to feature TouchID directly on the power button. But that said, it is likely the case that the product will anyway get FaceID tech as an additional security layer.

Also read: Apple might launch the iPad Air 4 in March 2021 with the A14 processor, iPad Pro update may come next month

What’s more is that the edges of the upcoming iPad could have the same flat design instead of a curved one and at the bottom there could be a USB Type-C port for charging. Other features mentioned are microphones and possibly dual speakers. However, the rear camera setup is said to stay the same as other previous models, as per 91 Mobiles. This means there won’t be a new square-shaped setup that we have seen in latest iPads and iPhones. And for the Magic Keyboard support, the rumoured tablet may get magnetic connectors at the back.

However, since the schematics here indicate that this could be the next-gen iPad, other rumours suggest that this could be the iPad Air 4. Last year we also saw a third-gen iPad Air launching in March.