iPad Pro may be dropping the headphone jack but adding Face ID

[Matrix]

No dongle included and no support for Face ID in landscape

 

Rumor mill: Apple might be removing the headphone jack and adding Face ID to its newest iPad Pro models. Despite carrying the "Pro" moniker and shipping with apps for multimedia production, you may have to buy a dongle to use studio quality wired headphones.

For each new Apple device that has arrived in recent years, dropping features seems to be just as popular as adding them. This year's iPad Pro models may arrive without a 3.5mm headphone jack according to rumors from Macotakara.

In the report provided, the 10.5-inch iPad Pro shaves a few millimeters off of the width and height with no significant change to overall thickness. Dimensions are believed to be 247.5mm x 178.7mm x 6mm compared to the existing model at 250.6mm x 174.1mm x 6.1mm.

Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro will see more evident reductions in physical size. Predicted dimensions come out to 280mm x 215mm x 6.4mm down from 305.7mm x 220.6mm x 6.9mm. This shrink will result in a noticeably shorter and slightly narrower body.

Most importantly, both sizes of the iPad Pro are believed to be dropping the headphone jack. Worse yet, Apple will allegedly not be including a dongle for Lightning to 3.5mm as it still does with iPhones. AirPods or other wireless headphones may be a fine option for mobile listening, but for a "Pro" product that has multimedia tools included, many users will likely still want to use some nice wired over-ear headphones.

Additionally, Face ID may be incorporated into the upcoming iPad Pro models. Contrary to previous reports, Face ID is believed to only work in the portrait orientation. Considering many iPad apps work better in landscape mode, this could prove to be somewhat of a nuisance.

Knowing Apple's design philosophy of form over function, especially true of the latest Macbook Pro, it is no surprise that there is a willingness to potentially compromise the user experience a little bit to gain a sleeker appearance.

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