Apple’s new iPads delete the home button for good

Apple drove the final nails in the home button’s coffin on Tuesday, removing the once ubiquitous feature from its new line of iPad devices.

The new iPad Pro devices, revealed at Tuesday’s Apple event in New York, no longer have a home button. The design move, which is meant to make room for a bigger, more compelling display, follows the home button’s removal on the iPhone. Apple also dropped the Lightning port with the new iPad Pro and moved to the USB-C.

The new iPad Pro, which comes in two sizes, is now unlocked with face ID. It’s been redesigned to work in any direction too, so there’s no “wrong way” to unlock it.

Once the device is unlocked, users will be able to perform actions using on-screen gesture controls to access the feature they need. For instance, users can swipe down from the upper right hand corner to get to the control center, or swipe up from the bottom to access to the dock. In short, it’s going to be the same kind of gestures used for the new iPhone 10.

Apple started phasing out the home button in 2017, beginning with its premium iPhone X handset. It kept the physical home buttons on cheaper iPhones. But we all knew their time would come.

That hammer dropped in 2018 and Apple cleared the home button from its new iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max or iPhone XR.