With the iPad Pro getting a substantial redesign in 2024, the following update is expected to be more of a spec bump. The Pro is generally updated every 18 months, which means we’re expecting a new iPad Pro around September or October of 2025.

In addition to the expected inclusion of the forthcoming M5 chip, Bloomberg is reporting that the iPad Pro will add an second, portrait oriented front-facing camera.

Why?

After years of reviewer and user complaints about the position of the front-facing camera at the top of the device, the iPad Air and Pro moved that camera to the landscape edge in 2024. The base iPad made this change in 2022. This change seems to have been well received. So why bother adding another camera that seemingly nobody is asking for?

One answer might be FaceTime.

I don’t take a ton of FaceTime calls, but pretty much everyone I do FaceTime with is on their phone, in portrait orientation. The video call experience is much better with both devices in the same orientation (at least that’s what I’m told). With the front camera being relocated, users are off-center in portrait FaceTime, or letterboxed in landscape.

Another group of users that would stand to benefit from the additional camera are users that predominantly use their iPad Pro in portrait orientation. The 11-inch iPad Pro especially feels very natural to use in portrait, and with the TrueDepth camera on the landscape edge, you’re more likely to be covering it when you pick up your device to unlock it.

Lots of Questions

Are we getting any upgrades to the camera hardware as part of this change, or is Apple sticking with the same camera they use in current iPads? The iPhone is rumored to be getting a FaceTime camera upgrade soon. The iPad usually lags behind in getting new camera hardware, but maybe this year the Pro gets to join the party early, and we get two 24 mp front cameras.

Do both cameras get Face ID hardware, or is that going to be limited to one orientation? Honestly, I’m going to be a little annoyed if the iPad Pro ends up with two Face ID cameras, while the rest of the iPad line has none.

While Apple is giving out camera upgrades, will we see any changes to the rear camera this year? It’s been a while since we’ve seen an update to the rear iPad camera. In fact, the M4 iPad Pro actually removed a camera. The 48 MP Fusion camera from the iPhone 16e seems like a good candidate for an iPad (as long as we also get to keep LiDAR).

Taking pictures and videos may not be a primary use case for an iPad, but there are many legitimate use cases for cameras on an iPad.

Conclusion

A second front camera seems a little unnecessary on an iPad Pro since the existing camera works well in both orientations. However, for heavy FaceTime users, or those that enjoy using their computers in portrait orientation, it’s not the worst thing in the world to have the additional option.