iOS 12.1 setup hints at new iPad this fall, report says
A new entry for "iPad2018Fall" in iOS 12.1 has apparently appeared in its onboarding code.
We've been expecting new iPad Pro models at Apple's annual (but as-yet unconfirmed) October hardware event, and the evidence is slowly piling up. The latest piece of the puzzle is a new device identifier for "iPad2018Fall" spotted in the assets used by the iOS 12.1 setup app.
9to5Mac found the identifier, which the site says wasn't in the setup assets before. It also reported that landscape support is coming for Face ID, as tweeted by developer Steve Troughton-Smith, which indicates a new model.
Several other tidbits have come out of the beta version of iOS 12.1, which Apple released to developers on Tuesday, one day after iOS 12 was released to the public.
9to5Mac also spotted a Memoji Sync feature for iCloud storage of your Memoji.
Troughton-Smith also called out that it looks like there's finally support for clickable thumbsticks on gamepads and a new option for a virtual 4K display; the latter may indicate a USB-C/Thunderbolt connection, though it could also signify an updated Lightning-to-HDMI dongle or some new wireless display-casting implementation to work with wireless HDMI.
iOS 12.1 also appears to coincide with a change to MFi game controllers to allow for clickable thumb sticks. Finally. pic.twitter.com/O2XMVg8WJS
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) September 18, 2018
New in iOS 12.1: the iOS Simulator supports virtualized 4K external displays. This is not possible on any existing iOS device via the Lightning HDMI adapter — lends credence to iPad perhaps getting a USB-C port for 4K video-out? pic.twitter.com/WfNBerHIrb
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) September 19, 2018
Given that we didn't get any news about iPads or MacBooks at Apple's recent iPhone announcement event, it's likely we'll get those updates in October. We've also heard some rumors about MacBook Air upgrades, but thus far nothing about the MacBook Pro, which received basic updates in July.
We reached out to Apple for comment but didn't immediately hear back.
First published Sept. 19 at 7:27 a.m. PT.
Update, 9:19 a.m. PT: Added the MFi and 4K news.
