What is Apple planning for 2019?
Analyst has predictions for the iPhone maker.
Apple may be in for a very busy 2019. While several recent reports have detailed the company’s plans to release three updated iPhones, including an XS Max successor with three rear cameras, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities, has released his predictions for the iPhone-maker’s 2019 plans. And they are a doozy.
Kuo’s report, which was spotted by Apple watchers MacRumors and 9to5Mac, says that Apple’s three new iPhones will have the same size screens as the current iPhone XR (6.1-inches), XS (5.8-inches) and XS Max (6.5-inches). The phones are expected to have bigger batteries and will keep the Lightning port.
The larger batteries could help with one new feature Kuo expects the company to add: the ability to charge wirelessly other devices off of the iPhone by placing those devices on top. Such a feature would be particularly useful with new AirPods. Back in 2017, Apple teased that AirPods would be getting a wireless charging case to work with its AirPower wireless charging mat, a product that still hasn’t been released.
Samsung is rumored to be adding a similar feature to its next Galaxy S10 phones, which are expected to be announced Wednesday.
Speaking of new AirPods, Kuo expects the updated wireless earbuds to ship during the first half of 2019 with wireless charging and improved Bluetooth. He also says the long-delayed AirPower will similarly ship during this window.
Kuo has a long track record of accurately predicting Apple’s plans. He detailed, for example, Apple’s 2018 iPhone lineup months before the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR were revealed. He also accurately predicted the iPad Pro’s recent switch from the Lightning connector to USB-C.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
New iPads
Kuo’s report adds that Apple will once again update the non-Pro version of the iPad, this time upping the screen from 9.7 inches to a 10.2-inch display. His report also backs up rumors that Apple will finally be refreshing its iPad Mini with at least a new processor, the first time the 7.9-inch tablet will have gotten an upgrade since its release in 2015.
Kuo similarly expects updates to the iPad Pro line this year, though exactly when the company will introduce these updates and how extensive they will be remain to be seen.
Last year Apple updated the basic iPad in the spring before more radical updates came to the iPad Pro in October.
New MacBooks and Macs
New MacBooks are also on the horizon, including a possible Pro model with a screen measuring between 16 and 16.5 inches. Apple currently sells 13inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros, but discontinued its 17-inch Pro line a few years ago.
Apple’s larger laptops tend to be more powerful given their bigger designs, but it is unclear what benefits the 16-inch Pro might have over the 15-inch.
Apple, Kuo reports, will also release a new Mac Pro desktop, which Apple previously teased would be coming in 2019. A new 31.6-inch monitor, which would boast an impressive 6K resolution (or six times the resolution of HD), may also be in the works.
A new iPod Touch, too
Remember the iPod Touch? After years of sitting on the sidelines, Apple may finally give its “iPhone without the phone” an update. As with the other products on this list, it is unclear how extensive just such an iPod update would be, but Kuo expects, at a minimum, an improved processor.
Even though it was released in 2015, the iPod Touch still sells for between $199 and $299, depending on storage. The Touch’s hardware is very much out of date with its 4-inch screen feeling particularly tiny compared to the 5.8inch minimum size of the recent iPhone line. And the A8 processor inside the Touch is several generations behind recent iPhones.
Apple is rumored to be holding an event in March or April, where it will reportedly detail its upcoming video streaming service, making it possible that some of these devices could appear there.