- Apple may replace its 13-inch MacBook Pro with a 14.1-inch model later this month.
- The new MacBook Pro may incorporate mini-LED technology which allows for thinner displays and improved display quality.
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A new leak from Jon Prosser — who has been accurate with respect to Apple rumors in the past — claims that Apple may release a refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro next month. Incidentally, Prosser adds that a display upgrade from 13 to 14-inches is a “big possibility.”
Lending credence to Prosser’s prediction is that Ming-Chi Kuo — who has a stellar record when it comes to Apple rumors — issued an investor note last month claiming that Apple will replace its 13-inch MacBook Pro with a 14.1-inch model. What’s more, Kuo said that the 14.1-inch model will boast a mini-LED display.
The inclusion of mini-LED displays on the MacBook Pro line would certainly be compelling as the technology allows for thinner and lighter displays. Further, the technology should also provide markedly better picture quality thanks to high contrast, local dimming, and impressive wide color gamut performance.
Mini-LED displays are rather expensive, so if this particular rumor pans out, it will likely be exclusive Apple’s pricier notebooks. Meanwhile, there are also rumors that Apple will release a 5G iPad Pro with a mini-LED display later this year.
To this point, an investor note from Kuo published last month (via MacRumors) claims that Apple plans to add mini-LED displays to a number of new and upcoming products:
The product research and development for mini LED remain unaffected by the COVID-19. The visibility for commercialization has even exceeded the expectations in our previous report.
The trend for Apple’s development and promotion of mini LED are more identifiable in five years. We predict that Apple is currently developing six mini-LED-support products (vs. the previous report of only two products), including a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, a 27-inch iMac Pro in 4Q20, a 14.1-inch MacBook Pro (upgraded from 13.3-inch), a 16-inch MacBook Pro, a 10.2-inch iPad, and a 7.9-inch iPad mini in 2020.
Returning to Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro, it stands to reason that it will include the same Magic Keyboard found on the recently released 16-inch MacBook Pro. This is a long-overdue improvement given the plethora of usability issues that plagued the butterfly keyboard that Apple used for far too long.
All told, product development at Apple appears to be trucking along even as the coronavirus has forced most Apple employees to work from home. As we highlighted last week, Apple in 2020 has plans to release a new HomePod, a brand new
The timeline for these product releases, however, remains unclear as the coronavirus has left everything up in the air. While it’s possible that the iPhone 12, for example, might hit store shelves in September, there’s also a good chance Apple will push back its release until November. According to reports we’ve seen, Apple executives will make a definitive decision on the iPhone 12 release sometime in May.
