With its powerful M4 processor and compatibility with new accessories like the Apple Pencil Pro, Apple hopes the new pair of iPad Pros will be compelling enough to lure you away from your PC or Chromebook. But some of the iPad Pro’s new features will feel right at home on the iPhone, specifically the upcoming iPhone Pro or Pro Max models.
The ultra-slim design of the iPad Pro 2024 and improved document scanning capabilities feel like a perfect match for the iPhone. While it’s true that the iPad Pro is positioned as a portable and powerful work device, our smartphones are with us all the time – which makes lightweight designs and the ability to capture receipts and other important documents on the go feel even more important.
There’s a precedent for new features arriving on the iPad Pro before making it to the iPhone. The iPad Pro 2020 received a LiDAR scanner in March 2020, before this technology arrived in the iPhone 12 Pro later that year. In 2016, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro was the first to get Apple’s True Tone display for improving white balance, which made its way to the iPhone 8 and iPhone X the following year. Apple’s ProMotion technology, which dynamically adjusts the screen’s refresh rate for smoother scrolling, is another example of a display improvement that debuted on the iPad Pro in 2017 before landing on the iPhone 13 Pro in 2021.
Apple should continue this tradition by bringing newer features to the iPad Pro and the iPhone.
Read more: The best and worst times to buy a new iPhone
Why these features belong on future iPhones
The new iPad Pro is Apple’s thinnest yet.
The new iPad Pro is Apple’s thinnest product to date, according to the company. With the 13-inch model measuring just 5.1mm thick, it’s thinner than the 8.25mm iPhone 15 Pro and the even sleeker 7.3mm iPhone SE by a wide margin.
It has to be said that thinness is more important in the iPad Pro, as it reduces the overall bulk of the system when paired with keyboards and covers. But considering we carry our phones everywhere and reach for them 144 times a day, according to Reviews.org, such a drastic reduction in thickness would go a long way.
It could also make the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max feel less bulky, perhaps winning over buyers who might have passed it up before because of its weight. At a time when nearly every other smartphone maker is exploring foldable devices, a dramatically thinner appearance could put Apple’s iPhone design back in the spotlight.
The same can be said for the document scanner. Apple’s new iPad Pro models use artificial intelligence to identify documents in the camera app and reduce shadows by taking multiple photos at once and stitching the scans together. If you’re anything like me, your phone is your go-to tool for saving receipts on business trips and sharing photos of restaurant bills with friends when deciding how to split expenses.
While it might not be the most exciting camera upgrade, it’s certainly practical. Data from business-to-business research firm Aberdeen Strategy & Research, mentioned in a 2023 blog post, showed that 30% of employees have a smartphone only for work and 68% of employees use an iPhone, perhaps suggesting that there may be more demand for an improved iPhone document scanner than expected.
Apple seems to know that people use their iPhones to digitize and share documents, as evidenced by the addition of Live Text in 2021, which recognizes text in photos so you can copy and paste handwritten notes and more. An improved document scanner like the one on the new iPad Pro would be a great companion to this capability.
Similar to the aforementioned super-slim design of the iPad Pro, the document scanner also looks highly suited to future iPhone Pro Max models in particular. Apple’s larger Pro iPhones are known for having the company’s best cameras, so it would make sense to see it get a photography-oriented tool like this. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max cameras now have True Tone adaptive flash like the new iPad Pros. So if Apple were to implement this improved document scanning in the iPhone Pro Max, it might be able to do so via a software update.
Will these changes come to future iPhones?
Apple’s WWDC conference will give us a peak at what’s to come for iPhone software.
Apple never discusses new products and updates until it’s ready to officially announce them, which means we won’t know what to expect from future iPhones until they arrive. But Apple is holding its keynote at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, where the company is announcing new software features for its iPhone line.
Apple’s next update, expected to be called iOS 18, will bring a wave of new AI-inspired features to the iPhone, according to Bloomberg. There is no mention that the iPad Pro’s document scanner is coming specifically to iOS 18. But the report mentions that Apple’s update will focus on AI-driven features that are useful in everyday scenarios, and the iPad’s document scanner The Pro seems to fit that description.
We won’t know what Apple has up its sleeve when it comes to new iPhone hardware until September, when the company traditionally unveils its new smartphones. There is some reason to believe that Apple may indeed be working on a thinner iPhone, although we may not see it until 2025. Analyst Jeff Pu reported that Apple may have an iPhone 17 Slim in the works, according to 9to5Mac and a report from The Information also indicates that a thinner iPhone could appear next year.
Apple’s iPhone lineup has changed a lot over the years, especially when it comes to the Pro and Pro Max models. Exploring a paper-thin design and improving camera functionality in practical ways could help Apple further differentiate its pro-level phones from the standard iPhone.
