New Apple iPad Pro models to feature a design inspired by the iPhone 5?

This coming Tuesday, Apple is expected to unveil a pair of new Apple iPad Pro tablets. One should feature a 10.5-inch screen, while the other is expected to include a 12.9-inch display. Both models will be redesigned, and a new report from Bloomberg suggests that the new tablets will borrow some design cues from the Apple iPhone 5. At one time, some iPhone fans believed that this model was the best looking handset ever designed by Apple.

If the iPhone 5 aesthetic is used by Apple for its new iPad Pro tablets, we can expect them to have squared-off sides. This look was used on a render of the new iPad Pro created by @OnLeaks last month in cooperation with retailer @mysmartprice (see image at the top of this article). But other changes are coming to Apple's high-end tablets. Both models, while not including a notch, will offer Face ID in both portrait and landscape orientations. The bezels will be slimmer, and the LCD screen on each new iPad Pro will include an edge-to-edge design. Additionally, the pair of new iPad Pro tablets will come with a USB-C port. That will leave the iPhone as the only high profile Apple device to use the Lightning connector.

Most likely, the new iPad Pro units will sport an A12X chip under the hood (an enhanced version of the SoC found inside the 2018 iPhones), and will be the first iPad models to ever use a custom Apple designed graphics chip. The new iPad Pro slates also will support the next generation Apple Pencil 2 writing accessory. The latter is expected to be unwrapped on Tuesday.

According to Strategy Analytics, Q2 global tablet shipments were down 6%. The iPad had 1% growth during the quarter and still led the market with a 28.2% market share. That was more than double second place Samsung's slice of the pie. Will Apple be able to energize a moribund tablet market with a redesigned iPad Pro? We should know starting on October 30th when we should see the new units greet the light of day.