Two interesting pictures have crossed our desks today. First we got a still image of Steve Jobs showing off the iPad with what looks like a small camera type hole on it. I was at the event and the iPads I played with didn’t have holes for cameras (I really looked closely). I wasn’t close enough to see the one Jobs was using either, but from other professional photos of the event, there wasn’t a camera on that iPad.
That being said, would it surprise anyone if Apple came in late and put in a camera on the high-end models? Maybe the $130 extra for a 3G radio also includes a camera in the bargain? Computerworld recently remarked that it was ridiculous to charge $130 for 3G+GPS parts that were worth $10-$20. A camera would close that gap some in many minds.
Note that Apple didn’t reveal the glass screen on the iPhone until five months after the initial announcement with a press release.
Next, Mission repair (via Macrumors), reports that they got a iPad frame (not unibody huh?) from somewhere and low a behold, it has a camera hole the exact same size as a MacBook camera. They’ve even put a MacBook camera in there and it fits perfectly. Remember though, that prototype iPods with camera holes and iPod frames were spotted last year before Apple released a camera-less iPod touch.
Top: iPad frame, Center: Camera, Bottom: MacBook Frame
HardMac has been receiving identical parts with identical camera holes. Below.
And finally, a bonus picture from a Travis Kelland who really wants there to be a camera on that iPad.
Yeah now we’re talking, I looked at the event’s video and it’s very clear.
I’m buying one as soon as it comes out I don’t care about flash or multitasking.
last idea looks like pc with camera attached to his head
Funny you didn’t mention the original source for all of this: FSMdotCOM. Those guys are on the case since the 3.2 SDK was out. And i
believe they were the first to report the keynote reflection camera today ( well don’t really know about the first, but i sure didn’t see it anywhere else this morning when it was available on FSM )
This is why I’m waiting for the 2nd Gen iPad. Unless the cam magically appears in the first gen, I’ll hold out.
In other news, I’m trying to resist the urge to RIDicule your spelling of RIDiculous! Aargh!
I bet iPad has a camera, but it was too buggy to show at the keynote. You know how Steve Jobs is picky on those details.
I have a hope to seee camera in March
When he first presents it and holds it up, when a flash of light hits it you can definitely see something dead-centre at the top of the device. Camera? I’d love to think so but there’s definitely SOMETHING there.
Could the camera be put on the edge of the iPad pointing outward with an onscreen viewfinder? Even holding the iPad over your head would still give you a chance of lining up the shot–just look up.
It looks like the home button to me, not a camera. I think it was upside down.
In the iPhone there’s a little bit with the proximity sensor and the ambient light sensor.
I’d rather it be a camera but it might just be a light sensor.
There’s a light sensor on the iPod touch also, but it is rather tricky to see if you don’t know what you’re looking for because it’s only a slightly different color than the bezel. Whatever is on the iPad appears to catch the light differently, so it’s probably recessed some (like the iSights in MacBooks and iMacs). The light sensor on my iPod is also much smaller than what is in the screen shot of the iPad.
I remember reading a quote from Steve Jobs that went something like “If we can’t do it right, we’re not going to do it”.
It makes sense that technical features are dropped from the design if they can’t get the quality, price, or quantity needed by the suppliers. But being a good design shop, they’re ready for it.
Could just be like on the iPod Touch: the auto-brightness sensor.
It is a light sensor.end of story
I just watched the keynote again because I thought that picture you have might be a photoshop and I noticed two things. First, you see that mark on the keynote for split second and it is so perfectly centered that it makes you think twice. Second, if you notice that iPad that Steve originally shows the crowd goes on a table that is on the side of the couch he is stilling on that is out of sight of the camera and is never touched again. He has a second iPad on the table in front of the couch that you can see that is hooked up to the projector,
Who knows, maybe we will get a little surprise in the coming weeks.
Thanks for all the comments people!!
I agree with some of the comments about how Steve Jobs MAY be holding out, and the iPAD will appear with a camera… I got a good feeling about this!!
Thanks for adding my Concept design to this article.
I actually re-rendered the Image to make the iSight Lite+ a bit smaller to be more realistic. But either way, you all get the idea!
Kelland
This “revolutionary” device will not ship with OS3.2 (tiny step from 3.12) but rather 4.0 (naturally). Apple might simply be choosing not to divulge all the features 4.0 will include (and which would logically ALSO be on the next iPhone) so as to not cannibalize current iPhone sales.
If they declared that iPhone OS4.0 will feature “videochat via a front-facing camera” I don’t think many people would be buying a new iPhone in the next few months.
Sir. You are sooo correct! Thank You!
Or the app for camera is still pretty buggy when they have the code freeze
Are you kidding? The ipad has unibody construction where does this frame fit in? I call it fake.
if iPad will have a camera at launch, Ill definitely buy it.
I realize that the Apple iPad has a Unibody Aluminium construction – and maybe the placement has been in the design all along, and wasn’t mentioned at the unveiling, for unknown reasons!? Personally, I think it was left out because of a marketing ploy to get the Hype (good or bad publicity, is still good publicity) and when its released in a few months, it’ll come with the Camera
(Like the upcoming iPhone *which Im hoping!* But of course this is all speculation…)
I think we will hear all of this @ WWDC in June…
kDesign7
I grabbed the image from steve with the iPad, placed it in Photoshop, INVERTED it thus to better appreciate black contrast, and surprise: A SMALL DARK SPOT COULD REALLY BE A CAM ON THE iPAD!
JSS
With the launch of the iPad tablet, Apple has managed to become the ultimate digital go-between company for high quality and high price content in a small yet very affluent segment of the population … NQ Logic encourages you to check out why Apple’s iPad is the final digital puzzle for their ultimate connected consumer strategy at http://www.nqlogic.com
If it had one, wich I hope it does, it would be on all models, cause I thought Steve was holding the wifi model in his hands on stage.
If it had one, wich I hope it does, it would be on all models, cause I thought Steve was holding the wifi model in his hands on stage.
I heard that when Apple release the iPad it’ll have iPhone OS4, a digital camera front and back, proximity detection, and all the other patents we’ve seen… the current iPad is just a mock-up to fool competitors into a false sense of security.
I doubt that the iPad will implement ALL of the patents that have been filed, but you do bring up a good point. Apple isn’t taking orders for the iPad yet, so it is possible for them to completely change the design before it is actually released (it also prevents customers from getting angry about receiving a product different from what they ordered). The redesign would screw up competitors because after they worked hard at making a product that is better than the iPad, Apple will just release the final version that is as good/better than what their competitors made.
and where did you hear this from?
It’s “lo and behold,” not “low a behold.”
The other interesting thing to ponder is that one of Apples patents is “a camera behind the glass”. Perhaps they were trying to get this working? It would be so much sweeter to have this since when you are video conferencing, it would appear that you are looking right *at* them and not looking down, as when the camera is on the top of the frame. Here is an Engadget article describing the patent.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/26/apple-patent-embeds-thousands-of-cameras-among-lcd-pixels/
Yep…there is a hole, by gosh. Go to Apple and watch the keynote presentation. Hi-Def is best. About 6 minutes in, or so, when Steve first picks his iPad up off the table and briefly shows it off before going into the demo.
For just a split second, as he turns to show it to the audience, the light just catches the hole under the bezel.
This is not a fan boy rant, and I don’t live in a trailer with tin-foil on my head…so I don’t subscribe to conspiracy theories. Well, at least not about a freakin’ camera hole in an iPad…but,
There’s a hole!! Now, whazzit for?
*Sigh*
Why would they make 50 prototypes without the cameras (the 50 or so that were used for people at the keynote to try after the keynote) and then give steve jobs a different model to demo.
Apple don’t usually announce something which is available at the later date. Usually, Steve would say, “… and its available at $XXX as of today” It seems like they are still working on the device.
I really hope that Apple would put in a surprise for those anticipating the iPad by giving it extra features when its available such as the front facing camera and flash support. That would be great!
They had to announce the device well ahead of launch because (like the iPhone) they have to get FCC approval for the Wifi+3G model.
I’m not sure what the regulations are with the FCC and what can change in a product without it having to be re-approved, but my guess is that the Wifi+3G model is finished, but Apple is still able to work on the Wifi model. Since there were no Wifi+3G models on display at the media event, it is very possible that that model has features that were not present in the Wifi models on display.
No theres no camera. Download the keynote and step through it frame by frame. There are couple angles where light reflects off of it. Review all the angles not just the ones that make it look like theres something there. After stepping through I’m sure you’ll find that no camera exists.
We can hope (and I do) that the shipping models will. But it make no sense at all to have the one unit on stage with a camera, but to them manufacture all the other models at the conference with out just so they can spring one on us? Has Apple ever done that?
Anyone who buys this thing after reserching has got to be retarded…yes Palin , I said retarded……No flash vid, no multi-task,no camera, can’t be used as a phone………you are better off getting a 10 inch Lappy
What was that? apple stock dropping!!!!!!
researching……..
All this talk about the iPad has me feeling excited but with some skepticism. I think an iPad with a camera that could be used for video conf would be a BIG hit with Apple fans. It just seems very hard to believe that it could actually ship with a camera even though Jobs did not mention that at all. I will keep on hoping though.
So I just bought one yesterday and it also has that hole/dot where this presumed camera would be. So what the he’ll is it?!?