Apple 10.9-inch iPad Reportedly Has Same Footprint As 9.7-inch iPad Pro, Abandons Home Button

However, the 10.9-inch display is said to be shoved into a device that has a footprint nearly identical to that of the current 9.7-inch iPad Pro. Apple allegedly has achieved this feat by minimizing the bezels around the display. Smaller bezels mean that Apple’s palm rejection technology will be working overtime on this new tablet.

9.7-inch iPad Pro

One of the tradeoffs to the thinner bezels is that that device thickness will increase by about 0.3 mm, making the new 10.9-inch iPad about the same thickness as the original iPad Air. Another interesting piece of information is that 10.9-inch iPad will no longer feature a physical home button. The iPhone 7 removed the physical switch on the home button and replaced with a stationary haptic “button”.

This new iPad, however, will reportedly feature a home button that is actually embedded into this display. We’ve seen an Apple patent for this technology before (which also incorporates Touch ID into the display), but had predicted that it would debut on the next generation iPhone 8. However, it looks as though the 10.9-inch iPad will get first dibs on the technology.

There’s no word on when the new 10.9-inch iPad Pro will debut, but it shouldn’t be long before the components leaks start making their way to the internet.