Apple to release iOS 12.1 on October 30 with Group FaceTime, new emoji, more

Apple is holding a launch event on Tuesday, October 30, and the image shown on invitations is above. Here's what the smart guesses are on what they're going to announce.

Apple will livestream the event here, start time scheduled for 10 AM Eastern time. Among the offerings said to be in store: new iPads, a purportedly leaked image of which is shown below from @onLeaks. "The new iPad Pros are said to feature USB-C and a new magnetic smart connector on the back." New Apple Pencil, Upgraded iMacs, and a new Mac mini are also predicted.

From @onleaks.

From 9to5Mac:

iOS 12.1 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch will be available tomorrow as a free software update. The first significant update to iOS 12 brings a variety of features including Group FaceTime, dual SIM support, real time Depth Control for Portrait mode, new emoji, and more. iOS 12.1 is also expected to address the "beauty-gate" issue that affected the front-facing camera on iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

And from MacWorld:

The highlight of the event is expected to be a pair of new iPad Pros. Rumors suggest they will feature iPhone X-style design with slim, perfectly even bezels all the way around the display. The display will have curved corners, and there will be no room for a Touch ID sensor-rather, Apple will include the TrueDepth module and Face ID.

The bezels will be a bit wider than on iPhones, so there will be no need for a notch to house the TrueDepth module. The most recent rumors claim that, while you'll have to hold the iPad in portrait orientation to complete the initial Face ID setup, it will then work in either portrait or landscape orientation.

Despite this major design change, we still expect iPads to maintain the classic 4:3 aspect ratio, rather than pushing to a taller/narrower ratio. It will probably still have a 120Hz ProMotion LCD display, as OLEDs of that size are too expensive.

The other major rumored change is that Apple is dropping the Lightning connector in favor of USB-C. This would allow the iPad to output video at up to 4K with HDR to external monitors supporting Thunderbolt 3.

There's also said to be a new magnetic connector on the back of the iPad to replace the current smart connector. This would be the connection point for smart keyboards and other accessories.

We don't know what silicon the iPad Pro will have inside, but we can surely expect either the A12 Bionic found in the iPhone XS and XR, or a more powerful A12X variant.