A big, long-desired change is coming to Apple’s iPad lineup, and it’s been more than a decade in the making.
The second generation iPad, released in 2011, was the first model equipped with cameras. This included a front-facing camera, positioned on one of the short edges so that it rests on top when you hold the device in portrait orientation. Perfect for selfies, but less ideal for video chats where the iPad is more commonly positioned in landscape mode.
It took a while, but eventually Apple realized that for some customers, maybe even most (after all, who spends their time taking selfies with an iPad?!), it could be more wise to position the front camera in one of the long edges. This awareness culminated in the launch of the reconfigured 10th generation iPad in October 2022.
The 6th generation iPad Pro models released at the same time, however, did not benefit from the new camera layout, even though they cost more and normally benefit from the new features and desirable design changes before the standard models. The most likely explanation is that the Pros (like the Air) have connectors for the Apple Pencil in the more suitable long edge, so this would have been a more difficult redesign for them.
Apple hasn’t released any new iPads since then, so it’s been difficult to gauge what the company thought about the success of the landscape camera design, or whether it planned to release more devices along the same lines. But our long iPad drought should soon come to an end. The new iPad Air and iPad Pro models (equipped with OLED) are expected to arrive this spring, and new evidence supports the theory that they will all benefit from the 2022 landscape camera layout.
A Weibo leaker named Instant Digital (as reported by MacRumors), claims that the 10.9 and 12.9-inch versions of the 6th generation iPad Air will have their selfie camera on the long edge. Along with the discovery earlier this year of code suggesting the same change will be coming to the iPad Pro, it now looks like we’re going to get the full set of cameras aligned correctly.
Of course, we won’t know until the tablets are announced. (You can keep up to date with the latest news and rumors with our new iPad Pro and iPad Air superguides.) But it would certainly make sense and fix a mistake Apple customers have been living with for 13 years.