Apple 2014 Product Rumor Roundup: New iPad Air, Large Screen iPhone, Phablet Likely


Apple is planning to release a slew of new products this year according to analyst Ming Chi-Kuo of KGI Securities. Ming has a history of accurately predicting Apple related speculations and has been correct in the past. In a report he released on Wednesday, Ming talks about the possibility of Apple releasing three new key products in their 2014 line up. This includes a redesigned 12-inch MacBook, the next generation iPad Air 2 and a large screened 5.5 inch tablet that would straddle the segment between the Apple iPhone 5S and the iPad Mini. We are not talking about the Apple iWatch in this post, though.

Here is a summary of all the predictions regarding upcoming Apple products that has been made by Ming, according to MacRumors. We start with the…

Apple iPad Air 2: According to Ming, Apple will release the iPad Air 2 this year. This update will endow the world’s most popular tablet with an Apple A8 processor as well as Touch ID. The device, according to him would be launched earlier than the previous year’s launch of the iPad Air– which happened in November.

At this point, we know little about Apple’s rumored A8 chip. It is prudent however to expect it to have significant performance and efficiency gains over the older A7 chip which bought 64 –bit computing to handhelds.

Apple iPad Mini Retina: Apple will also refresh the iPad Mini with an update this year. The current generation iPad Mini would undergo some weight loss and would be slimmed down. The retina display laden second generation iPad Mini has seen slower sales owing to the fact that it is slightly larger and thicker than the original Mini. The price of $399 was also too high. Apple seems to be in a mood to change all that with this newest iPad Mini release.

The 12.9-inch Apple iPad: Now this is where things get interesting. Ming says that there is a slight possibility of Apple releasing a “Pro” version of the iPad with a larger display – 12.9 inch in the case of this particular rumor. This would be targeted at entertainment professionals.

12-inch Apple MacBook Air: Another interesting product that could see the light of the day this year is the much talked about 12 inch retina version of the Apple MacBook Air. This is what Kuo Ming said about this particular model “We expect that the unprecedented 12 inch model will boast both the portability of the 11 inch model, and productivity of the 13 inch model. The high resolution display will also offer the outstanding visual experience of the Retina MacBook Pro. The offering will likely be lighter and slimmer than the existing MacBook Air to further highlight ease of portability in the cloud computing era.”

This product is expected only by the end of 2014.

Apple iPhone 6/phablet: Next up is the possibility of Apple coming up with the iPhone 6 with the device coming in two large screened variants. One of them might feature a 4.7 inch display while the other – a full-fledged phablet will get a 5.5 inch display. Apple will position the 5.5 inch model as an alternative to the likes of the Galaxy Note 3 and the LG Optimus G Pro sized devices. This model will likely get a “big battery with ‘50% to 70% more watt-hours’ than the iPhone 5S.” Ming however expects the new 4.7 inch model to be the best seller with him projecting shipments of over 60 million units.

He has also revealed the possible display resolutions for these devices with the 4.7-inch model to get a 1,334×750 pixel Retina display (326 pixels per inch). The phablet is likely to get a 1,920×1,080 display resolution (401 pixels per inch) display. The displays is likely to share its aspect ratio with that of the older iPhones so that all apps need to be redesigned.

Do you think Ming is spot on with his predictions for new Apple products for this year?

[Image via OLX]

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