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Apple's Next iPad Pro Could Feature Ultra-Slim Bezels

I guess there's not much else that can be updated on the iPad, hardware-wise.

Personally, I’d appreciate a second USB-C port built in on it, or let the Magic keyboard's port handle data too. I tried a thunderbolt 4 hub, which would work fine, but the one thing I want to use with it stops working after a few minutes.
 
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Considering that Apple is yet to decide whether to approve the part or not, it looks like it will not be for the M5 iPad Pro.

Specs and final design for the M5 version would already have been locked in considering a launch in October 2025 or even April of next year. Also don't think Apple will release an updated iPad Pro with slimmer bezels immediately after a model with huge changes have been released, which was the M4.

So probably it will be for the M6 variant at the earliest.
 
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Give it to the iPad mini. It is the perfect size to hold for an iPad IMO, and making the screen truly edge-to-edge would be a pretty significant improvement.
 
Or Apple can use the new display technology, which has additional benefits, without reducing the bezels.

For humor sake, lets look at the original bezels.

1750771449751.png
 
Aleh said:
Well I’m not expecting phone level bezels if that’s what you had in mind, even just half of what they are now on iPad would be a very stark difference
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FWIW, the notch is 8 mm, and the iPad Pro bezels are just below 8 mm (maybe 7.7 mm), and the Dynamic Island cutout is 6.07 mm. It doesn’t seem realistic to reduce the iPad bezels to 4 mm or less with the current Face ID assembly.
 
It already does have ultra thin bezels for a tablet! The bezels on my iPad Pro M4 already are thin enough to make it unwieldy to hold sometimes.

Seriously though, anyone remember the inch thick bezels on the original iPad? They’re fine the way they are now!
 
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stiligFox said:
It already does have ultra thin bezels for a tablet! The bezels on my iPad Pro M4 already are thin enough to make it unwieldy to hold sometimes.

Seriously though, anyone remember the inch thick bezels on the original iPad? They’re fine the way they are now!
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This is what happens when you stop being able to innovate and lose top talent in favor of CEOs that focus on profit not the innovation. Time will tell as the money only keeps coming so long for so so product releases. For the first time we are in a stage of skipping several generations and having negligible changes made to a product.

Once batteries become big upgrades and the devices change markedly again most hold on to something for a while.
 
A lot of handwringing about the notch/Dynamic Island. But the iPhone rumors are putting both underscreen TrueDepth and underscreen front facing camera into iPhones in the next 2-3 years. Once you have that, then there’s really no barrier to edge-to-edge screen other than touch rejection when you’re holding it and that’s mostly a solved problem. Once you have underscreen then it’s no longer necessary even to have them near the edge. They could go smack dab in the middle of the screen or wherever else it’s easiest to layout the logic board.
 
It may not arrive for a couple of years until Apple puts the front-facing camera and the Face ID sensors under the display. If it works it may mean the iPad Pro models could actually get physically smaller.
 
As with the iPhone, at this point I'm good with smaller bezels if they reduce the overall size of the device. Instead, they just keep making the screen bigger (and often the device itself bigger as in the last Pro and Pro Max). However, some bezel is handy; not just for gripping but as an eye buffer. Using desktop displays with too small bezels in a busy environment played havoc on my eyes and head.
 
Maybe the next “Magic Keyboard” will allow the iPad Pro to magnetically-levitate a few cms above the case.

Thinner bezels on an iPhone? Sure. On an iPad? Somewhere between redundant and unnecessary.
 
given how I hold my ipad/galaxy tabs, bezels are good. A phone is a lot smaller so is held from the back so the less bezel the better IMHO
 
Why is their most underrated tech, the Taptic engine, missing from the iPad's? With iPadOS 26 so call liquid glass, would of been nice to have haptics that feels like glass.
 
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The physical size of the 11" is the ideal iPad size IMO. I'd guess they keep the same footprint, and make it a 12" screen. Though I just measured - I think it would actually be 11.6"/11.7" if they went fully to the edge.

But I really don't need a slightly bigger screen with no area to hold on to. I'd much prefer a second USB-C port, maybe in the top left corner (So that in the keyboard case, an external device can nicely sit beside the iPad, and all cables can come out of one side (Power cable in the keyboard, SSD in the new port.)

I think they are kind of running out of ideas for the iPad Pro line. The screen is already near perfect (120hz OLED), face ID, center stage camera, a back camera way too nice for the iPad, Apple Pencil Pro, a nice keyboard case, ultra thin, great battery life, cellular, incredible performance. There isn't much left to improve on that will make a substantial impact. I think out of all of Apple's hardware lines, the iPad Pro is the closest to being the "ideal" device in its class.
 
MRSugarD said:
The bezels of the iPads never bothered me and are perfectly fine. You have to hold them comfortably without unintentional inputs and too slim bezels won't help with that.
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The same has been said about the iPhone, however when it comes out and you're used to it, the older iPhones look so outdated in comparison. I think as long as they don't do the curved edges, like Samsung did for a while, then the smaller the bezel the better in every situation.
 
That sounds completely unappealing to me.

I’d like to have bezels to comfortably grab with absolutely no concern about accidental touch interaction.
 
I would love to see dynamic bezels on iPad. By that I mean a way to visually render the « palm rejection » by materializing a larger bezel where the hand hold the iPad (think of how side button pushes are rendered on iPhone, but larger).
Coupled with a facetime camera as a hole in the corner and under screen faceID that allow a bezelless design.

For those who prefer more static design, the bezels could also be switched on or off if connected to a keyboard for example.

There is still a lot of opportunity to improve the iPad concept.
 
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svish said:
Considering that Apple is yet to decide whether to approve the part or not, it looks like it will not be for the M5 iPad Pro.

Specs and final design for the M5 version would already have been locked in considering a launch in October 2025 or even April of next year. Also don't think Apple will release an updated iPad Pro with slimmer bezels immediately after a model with huge changes have been released, which was the M4.

So probably it will be for the M6 variant at the earliest.
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They will need to release an M4pro version then. lol.
 
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