When Apple unveiled the new iPad Pro and iPad Air at its Let Loose event in early May, the most notable change was the new location for the front camera. Following the 10th-gen iPad’s lead, Apple finally moved the camera to the longer “landscape” edge, making FaceTime calls much more natural when docked.
However, while the camera placement is an obvious nod to users favoring the iPad as a landscape device, Apple didn’t change the orientation of the Apple logo on the back of the device, which is the same as it has been since the original iPad launched in 2010. However, a new report from French-language site Numerama (via MacRumors) claims that Apple might be finally ready to go all-in on landscape.
In an interview with some of the members of the iPad Pro’s design team, Molly Anderson talked about the possibility of rotating the Apple logo on the back of the device: “I think this could change, I don’t think it’s engraved in stone. We are thinking about it. The iPad has long been a product that is used in portrait mode, but we are increasingly using it in landscape mode. We can’t say it’s fixed.”
Since it’s translated from French, it’s not clear if Anderson’s words are as pointed as they seem, but it’s clear that the orientation of the Apple logo is something the iPad design team considered before deciding to keep it in portrait mode. It should be noted that the logo isn’t visible when docked in a Magic Keyboard, as the accessory has its own landscape-aligned Apple logo on the back.
However, it is strange that Apple has a landscape camera on its newest iPads but keeps the Apple logo in portrait. Maybe the upcoming iPad mini refresh will fix things, but we’re not holding our breath.
Learn more by checking out our iPad Pro and iPad Air superguides.