Top analyst repeats: Apple iPad Pro with 3 rear sensors, iPhone SE 2 both will arrive in 2020

On Wednesday, reliable TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seconded a Bloomberg report that we passed along to you the other day about the next version of the Apple iPad Pro. According to MacRumors, Kuo said that new iPad Pro models will be released in the first half of next year. Matching what was written by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Kuo said that Apple's high-end tablet will feature three sensors on the back including a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. The latter measures the time it takes for an infrared beam to bounce off a subject and return to the phone. With this data, more accurate depth information can be calculated to produce a 3D sensing map for facial recognition, better AR capabilities and an improved bokeh blur for portraits. An earlier report from September that basically called for the same camera setup for the next iPad Pro said that the ToF sensors will be sourced from LG. Gurman's report refers to the ToF sensor as an augmented reality sensor.

While the new report from Kuo doesn't go into specifics about the rear cameras on the tablet, we'd expect it to be equipped with a 12MP Wide camera and a 12MP Ultra-wide camera similar to the camera configuration on the iPhone 11. The cameras will reportedly be equipped with support for Night Mode, the feature that allows users to snap viewable photos in dark or low-light environments.

The last iPad Pro tablets Apple released were the 11-inch and 12.9-inch versions last year. These units featured 120Hz refresh rates, Face ID, and the Apple A12X SoC under the hood. Both models offered support for the second-generation Apple Pencil, featured thinner bezels and were equipped with a battery that could run for as long as 10 hours.

Kuo repeated his call for Apple to release the iPhone SE 2, also during the first half of next year. The analyst expects Apple to use the iPhone 8 design, but powered by the same A13 Bionic chipset used on the 2019 iPhone models. If true, the phone will sport a 4.7-inch LCD panel with a resolution of 750 x 1334. The analyst says that it will have 3GB of memory, a 50% hike from the iPhone 8, and 64GB of storage. Similar to the iPhone 8, a 12MP camera could adorn the back of the device while a 7MP FaceTime camera should be found in front; keeping the lights on will be an 1821mAh battery. Kuo says that the device will be available in Space Gray, Silver, and Red and will be priced at $399. The Apple logo on the rear of the phone could be lowered to match the placement of the logo on the 2019 iPhone models.

Originally Kuo forecast that Apple would ship 30 million to 40 million units of the iPhone SE 2 next year. But after checking further with some sources in the supply chain, he has revised that estimate down and says that a minimum of 20 million units will be delivered next year. The OG iPhone SE, which took its design from the iPhone 5s, launched in 2016 and 30 million units were shipped that year. The phone carried a 4-inch LCD display with a resolution of 640 x 1136. The idea was to sell a smaller screened iPhone for those rebelling against the larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays that Apple was then offering on new models.

Many expect Apple to unveil both products during an event that would take place in March. This past March, Apple took the wrappings off of the iPad Air (2019) and the iPad mini (2019), so a March unveiling of a new iPad Pro (2020) and the iPhone SE 2 would seem to be quite possible. There has also been talk about Apple introducing its long-awaited AR-based Apple Glasses at the same time, but a new report calls for the release of a mixed reality headset in 2022 followed by the launch of Apple Glasses during the very next year.