iPad Pro may come out this year with Face ID

The iPad Pro will get an upgraded processor with its next generation release.YouTube/ Apple

Apple chose to focus on new software at its WWDC 2018 but just because it didn't mention anything about a new iPad Pro doesn't mean there's no hope at all for one. 

After all, a reasonable amount of time has passed since Apple made any updates to the iPad Pro lineup, over a year in fact. 

So it's not entirely unreasonable to expect that Apple is quietly working away on an upgrade and will make the announcement later in the year. 

With Apple staying quiet on it, tech enthusiasts have been digging deep to find some clues and developer Guilherme Rambo made some interesting discoveries in the iOS 12 beta on his iPad Pro that cannot currently be activated but suggests nonetheless the possibility of Face ID being added to the lineup - Face ID is a feature of the iPhone X.

He tweeted about his discovery, saying: "The Face ID setup UI is finally working on iPad. Clearly not done yet as can be seen by the descriptions mentioning "iPhone". But it's a start :)" 

And of course Apple fans are eager to find out whether the Cupertino-based tech giant will add a notch to the device.  Twitter user Steven Sinovsky has fuelled hopes for that with his observation that the iOS 12 beta moves the position of the clock from the centre of the status bar to the left hand side.  He tweeted an image of the new position and wondered out loud whether Apple had deliberately done that to make room for the notch.  "Space for the notch :-)," he said. 

We can only speculate for now as to what Apple will do and that includes the other specs as well.  It's unlikely that the size will change but it may upgrade the device to an OLED display or 4K panel.

However, as Trusted Reviews notes, there is a shortage of OLED screens and this would significantly bump up the price of the device. And it's hard to guess as to the release date as Apple doesn't tend to follow a pattern with the iPad Pro but it's possible we may hear more about it when Apple launches the next iPhone in September.