Apple has a newly designed 12-inch MacBook featuring a high-resolution display, and a new 9.7-inch sixth-generation iPad with an even higher pixel count than the most current Retina display. Both are to be released next year according to knowledgeable insider Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo, who is an an analyst working for KGI Securities, has said that Apple has a ton of major new products in the works for 2014. The biggest one being the new 12-inch MacBook which will feature what he said is an "ultra-slim clamshell form factor."
He says this new and improved MacBook will bring the best of both worlds from both the portability of the 11-inch MacBook Air and the greater productivity brought by the 13-inch model. The display is said to be up to par with Apple's high-resolution MacBook Pro Retina display.
Kuo says that the newest MacBook being worked on will "redefine laptop computing once again following the milestone created by the MacBook Air."
Despite all the rumors that Apple will probably introduce a notebook powered by its custom A-series chips like the ones found in the iPhone and iPad, Kuo made it clear that he does not expect that the new 12-inch MacBook will run on an A-series chip. Instead, he thinks that the new MacBook will feature a traditional Intel CPU.
He has also revealed that Apple is currently working on a new sixth-generation iPad that will feature a higher pixel-per-inch count than the current 9.7-inch iPad with Retina display. Going against the recent rumors yet again, he doesn't expect Apple to launch a 12-inch iPad next year.
The sixth-generation iPad is expected to launch in late 2014, and will cram in as much as 40 percent more pixels than the current iPad's Retina display.
Inside the Apple supply chain, he is expecting the company Parade Technology to benefit from an large amount of embedded DisplayPort technology in the 2014 lineup. Kuo said eDP, which is a standardized display interface that makes graphics processors interface with display panels, will more than likely play a large role in the company's products next year.
"We think Parade will defend its status as Apple's sole eDP provider going into 2014, making it one of the top stories in the Apple supply chain," Kuo wrote in a research note.
Kuo has quite the track record of accurately revealing Apple's future plans. He was the first person to reveal that Apple would retire its 17-inch MacBook Pro. He also correctly forecast Apple's fall 2012 product lineup in its entirety, and his predictions for Apple's 2013 launch schedule made in January have thus far proven 100 percent correct.
