Report: Apple’s M5 iPad Pro to Add Second Front-Facing Camera for Portrait Users

Apple is reportedly planning to add a second front-facing camera to its iPad Pro when the tablet gets refreshed with an M5 chip later this fall. After the M4 model adopted a landscape front-facing camera last year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is reporting that the upcoming M5 model will bring back a portrait-side front-facing camera for users who missed it.

“Apple is apparently adding a second, portrait-side front-facing camera to the upcoming M5 iPad Pro, presumably so FaceTimers and selfie fans can use the device equally well in either orientation,” Gurman wrote. The two cameras will be mostly hidden behind the iPad Pro’s black bezels, so the hardware change shouldn’t be disruptive.

The 10th-gen entry-level iPad released in October 2022 was the first model to move its front-facing camera to the landscape edge of the device, and it was followed by the M2 iPad Air last year. Having the camera in landscape position is more convenient when using iPads as a laptop replacement, though there are still people who like to use these tablets in portrait mode.

Having two front-facing cameras on both the landscape and portrait edges will be a first for an iPad, and it will be interesting to see if the cheaper iPad Air will eventually get the same treatment. Just like the iPad Pro, the iPad Air family is available in two sizes and uses the same M-series chip Apple uses in its Macs.