Neil Hughes
Continued growth for the MacBook lineup — particularly in enterprise markets — will be a bright spot for Apple in 2016, further bolstered by an update in the first half of the year, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo, of KGI Securities, believes the MacBook lineup could lead the way for Apple in terms of growth this year. He said Apple's notebook lineup has seen "solid growth" among businesses, and he expects sales will accelerate with upgrades likely to arrive by June.
Demand for newly upgraded MacBook models will also benefit Apple suppliers SZS and Casetek, Kuo said. His forecasts were revealed in a note to investors on Sunday, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider.
Though new MacBooks are apparently in the works, little is known about the anticipated upgrades. It's likely that Apple is waiting on new "Skylake" processors from Intel for its next-generation notebooks.
The Skylake platform is Intel's follow-up to Broadwell, and will offer the usual performance improvements — boosting CPU speeds by 10 to 20 percent, and integrated graphics chips by 16 to 41 percent — but also continue a trend towards efficient power use, thanks to smaller 14-nanometer architecture. In laptops, switching to Skylake could add as much as 30 percent more battery life.
Kuo didn't offer any specifics on what other upgrades Apple's new notebooks might offer, nor did he indicate which of the company's lineup will see updates. But Sunday's report was the well-connected insider's first indication that new MacBooks will arrive in the first half of the year.
One report published last November projected that Apple will introduce a revamped Macbook Air lineup at its Worldwide Developers Conference in 2016. It was said that Apple is planning to extend the form factor to include a larger 15-inch model potentially in lieu of an 11-inch version.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
49 Comments
I'm still traveling with my trusty 2012 MBA. I would love to upgrade, but Retina Display is a requirement for me if I'm going to spend the money. A 15" is very appealing to me, as is the Skylake chip. I look forward to seeing what Apple ships this year.
Kuo gets way too much credit for his own good and websites giving it to him in spades should worry about their reputation. As for the 30% increase in battery life, MacBook could benefit greatly from this as 9 hours when new is no longer enough for me. Frankly I'd like to see MacBook Air go to 14 hours. My greatest wish this year is for MBA to get a slight redesign and go Retina.
If I was running Apple I'd separate the MacBook, Air and Pro models by a 2" screen size difference. I'd narrow out the bezels and I'd have 12", 14" and 16" machines separated by name, thinness, processing power and port count:
MacBook Retina (12")
MacBook Air Retina (14")
MacBook Pro Retina (16") 'A power monster'
Yawn. Not interested unless Apple introduces a MacBook with an A series CPU.
I passed up the MacBook and waited for the iPad pro. I am extremely pleased with that decision.
By the time Intel fixes the yields of their Skylake Core M processors, the release of the A10X will be imminent.
As others have said; just give me one more USB-C port, and a decent speed bump.
That should be about enough to pluck the wallet out of my pocket.
" It's likely that Apple is waiting on new "Skylake" processors from Intel for its next-generation notebooks."
There are already laptops with Skylake processors, since November you can buy them.
I'm waiting just for a MBA Retina and I will buy it to replace my 2010 MBA