8 Macworld • April 2020NEWS
its way onto shelves so soon after the last refresh,
which arrived in May 2019. Instead, we’re thinking
that this is a bit of misdirection on Apple’s part and
a placeholder for the iPhone 9 or SE 2. Think about
it: iPhone 9, iPhone Gen X, iPhone SE Gen X would
all raise some serious suspicion, but a new iPod
touch not so much.
Also on the docket may be an iPad Pro with an
iPhone 11-style camera. A leak tweeted out by Ben
Geskin shows a square camera array on an iPad Pro
case, which suggests Apple’s tablet could finally
be picking up a serious camera. Rumour has it that
the extra lenses won’t just be for taking pictures,
however. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously reported
that the iPad Pro would be gaining a time-of-flight
camera for advanced AR capabilities that would let
users take 3D scans of real-world objects and edit
them with the Apple Pencil.
It’s unclear whether Apple would be releasing its
own CAD software or partnering with Sharpr 3D or
some other third-party developer. It’s notable that
Adobe does not yet make a version of its Dimension
3D rendering app for the iPad either.
We’ll have all the details in next month’s issue.
And start saving up your pennies too, because it’s
looking like there’s going to be a lot to buy.