iOS 17.4 beta hints at iPad with landscape camera, Apple Pencil 3

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Apple just dropped the iOS 17.4 beta for developers, which comes with several new revelations. 

First of all, Apple is introducing app sideloading and other changes to the EU due to the antitrust legislation. 

In addition, the folks at the 9to5Mac were able to find several interesting references in the software, including an iPad variant with a landscape Face ID camera and an Apple Pencil with Find My support. 

A new iPad with a landscape camera for Face ID? 

Based on a code discovered by the folks at the 9to5Mac in internal iOS 17.4 beta files, Apple is working on a new iPad model with a TrueDepth camera, which is used for Face ID, placed at the top of the iPad in the landscape mode. 

The current orientation for the iPad Pro’s Face ID camera is different. The camera is on top when the device is held vertically. However, the iPad Pro attaches to the Magic Keyboard horizontally.

According to the outlet, the starting iOS setup process has also been changed for this new iPad.

Only the 10th-generation iPad has a landscape front camera. However, it doesn’t feature a Face ID, but instead only has Touch ID.  

That said, the presence of this string of information in the latest iOS 17.4 beta could indicate Apple is planning to introduce a new iPad Pro soon, featuring an OLED screen, M3 silicon, and maybe the support for the MagSafe tech. 

Apple Pencil 3 is also in the works, reveals iOS 17.4 Beta

However, that’s not all. 9to5Mac has also discovered a new Apple Pencil – Apple Pencil 3 is in the works with the support for Find My app, letting users easily locate their Apple Pencil like the AirPods and AirTags in the files of the iOS 17.4 beta.

However, it is not clear if the new Apple Pencil will feature Ultra Wideband technology (UWB) for precise finding.

In addition, Apple has introduced the iPadOS 17.4 beta. It reveals a brand new version of the PencilKit API, which can be used by developers to make their applications compatible with Apple Pencil. 

The PencilKit version 2 API came with the iPadOS 17.0, which introduced a few new features like the fountain pen, monoline, watercolor, and more.

But it is not clear at the moment what exactly PencilKit 3 is – not even the Apple Developer website has details of it.

While we are not entirely sure, PencilKit 3 could introduce new capabilities to the Apple Pencil, which the company doesn’t want to reveal right now. 

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