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- Weibo leak by Instant Digital has mixed accuracy, so the rumor warrants cautious skepticism.
- Apple must reconfigure internals and relocate front camera and TrueDepth to preserve Face ID, exploring Dynamic Island or under-display sensors.
- Apple holds patents for under-display Face ID, indicating pursuit of notch-free camera solutions beyond Dynamic Island.
- Current iPad Pro launched May 2024; next-gen with M5 expected late 2025, while a full redesign likely in early 2027.
- Upcoming iPad Pro rumored to have slimmest bezels to date
- Change could come from adoption of LG chip-on-film OLED panel
- Timeline for the redesign remains unclear
Apple’s iPad Pro could be set for an even slicker design. A new rumor suggests the next-generation OLED iPad Pro will have the slimmest bezels of any Apple tablet to date – bringing it closer than ever to a true edge-to-edge display experience.
According to a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo, upcoming models of the iPad Pro will have bezels similar in width to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. The information was shared by Instant Digital, an established leaker with more than 1.4 million followers.
The post also suggests that Apple has figured out how to reduce the width of the borders around the iPad display without introducing a notch, like the one found on the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. That tablet already has a screen-to-body ratio of more than 90%. Without a notch, the redesigned iPad Pro line would be firmly in all-screen territory.
Exciting as this latest iPad display rumor is, it also raises a lot of questions – and leaves many of them unanswered.
A borderless future?
We’ve heard rumors about ultra-slim iPad Pro bezels before, some of which came from the very same source. While Instant Digital has accurately leaked some Apple specs ahead of time, the account has also had its share of misses. That gives cause to take the suggestions with a pinch of skepticism.
Still, developing a tablet with ultra-sim bezels certainly seems like something within the Apple wheelhouse. And if there’s one device Apple loves to show off its design chops with, it’s the iPad Pro. From mini-LED panels to Apple Pencil hover support, the Pro line has long been a playground for premium features.
The move would require a reconfiguration of the internal hardware, particularly in relation to the display. Recent reports suggest part of the answer could come from chip-on-film technology, which LG will reportedly use to make integrated OLED panels for future iPad Pro models.
With slim bezels and no notch, Apple will still need somewhere to hide the front-facing camera and TrueDepth sensor system required for Face ID. When it removed the notch from the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple introduced the Dynamic Island. One option could be to bring this feature over to the iPad Pro lineup.
An alternative solution would be under-display sensors. We’ve seen these on other devices. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold range, including the latest Z Fold 6, has long been equipped with under-display cameras. We’ve also written about a recent Apple patent for an under-display Face ID system. This suggests that Apple is working on a way to eradicate notches from its iPhone range – and the technology could certainly be extended to its tablets.
Perhaps the most pressing question is when all of this will actually come about. The Weibo post makes clear that arrival point of the redesign is ‘not necessarily the next generation’.
The current iPad Pro (2024) launched in May 2024. The next-generation iPad Pro is expected to land late in 2025 with an M5 processor. As much as we’d like to see an all-screen iPad this year, it seems more realistic to hedge our bets and wait for slimmer bezels on the following generation – likely due in the first half of 2027.
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