2019 iPhones Rumored to Feature Upgraded Face ID, New iPads May Arrive in Early 2020

Now that the 2018 iPhone lineup is out there in the wild, and the new iPad Pro arrives next week, attention is starting to shift to what comes next.

TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has weighed in on Thursday morning, looking ahead to what’s coming down the pipe. According to the analyst, Apple is planning on making some improvements to its facial unlocking feature, Face ID, with the launch of the 2019 iPhones. Kuo expects Apple will “increase the power of the flood illuminator” VCSEL. If that is indeed the case, it would help reduce the potential for environmental light to cause issues with Face ID readings.

Interestingly enough, Kuo believes that Apple is already planning on a new iPad launch for either the fourth quarter of 2019, or the first quarter of 2020. The analyst also expects “Time of Fly” (ToF), which is the company’s new 3D modeling effort. Kuo believes it may launch with the new iPad lineup, and then make its way to the iPhone lineup at some point after that.

The changes make sense, and so does the timing. Nothing major, it sounds like, but quality-of-life elements that could boost sales for the devices down the line.

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HomePod Rumored to Launch in Italy Soon, Could be Announced at October 30 Event

The HomePod has a lot of legwork to do before it can dominate the smart speaker market, but one way to help with that is to get the device into as many countries as possible.

One area where the HomePod is missing is Italy, but that could be changing soon. As was reported on Friday by the Italian blog iSpazio, it turns out that Apple employees have been testing the HomePod with support for Italian. While that’s not necessarily a confirmation of anything by itself, considering that the HomePod needs to support a region’s dialect before it can successfully launch there, this could be a clear sign of the smart speaker’s impending launch.

What’s more, the publication states that Apple will be making an announcement regarding the HomePod’s arrival in Italy as early as Tuesday, October 30. For those keeping track, that’s the day that Apple will be hosting an event at the Howard Gilman Opera house in Brooklyn, New York. It’s expected that the lion’s share of attention at that event will be paid to the new iPad Pro and Mac models, but it’s certainly not impossible that an Apple executive also confirms the HomePod is heading to Italy.

The original report states that an announcement for the Italian launch of the HomePod will arrive next week, but the device will likely launch in that market sometime in November. If you’re in Italy and have been waiting for the HomePod, it may be time to start getting excited.

One final detail of new arrivals: The HomePod is now available in Spain and Mexico beginning today.

[via iSpazio]

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