“Apple Inc. is developing new features for the iPad to cater to professional users, along with new Mac laptops and desktops, according to people familiar with the matter,” Mark Gurman and Jungah Lee report for Bloomberg.
“Upcoming software upgrades for the iPad include wider operating-system support for Apple’s stylus accessory, while hardware performance improvements are also in development, according to the people,” Gurman and Lee report. “The refreshed Mac hardware line includes new versions of the iMac desktop, MacBook Air laptop, and a 5K standalone monitor in collaboration with LG Electronics Inc., in addition to a thinner MacBook Pro laptop.”
“The company hopes to ship the updated iPad software next year, while the Macs are expected as soon as late 2016, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing unannounced products,” Gurman and Lee report. “Apple isn’t planning to update its iPad lineup until next year, when a new version of the iPad Pro will be released with a 10.5-inch display, up from the current 9.7-inch display, according to a recent research note by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.”
“In addition to the new Macs, Apple is working on a new standalone monitor to connect to its computers, according to the people,” Gurman and Lee report. “After exiting the monitor business earlier this year with the discontinuation of the 27-inch Thunderbolt display, Apple is working with LG Electronics on a new monitor with a high-resolution “5K” screen, according to one of the people.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in April:
Patience, padawans. Always in motion, the future is. Much longer now, it will not be.
oh yeah!
f**cking slow pipe
Spot on Josh !!
32″ iMac?
does a stand alone monitor point to a new Mac Pro?
so far GPU’s for MacBooks, Mac minis etc are very weak.
Driving a large 5K monitor would be hard unless new macs see serious upgrades.
In tests a 6 year old tower Mac Pro with upgraded GPU can have 190+ fps vs 20+ fps for a Retina Macbook Pro.
If the new monitor includes a GPU as speculated earlier, any MacBook xyz should do much better.
And maybe with a corresponding software update, suddenly both GPUs in a current or future Mac Pro could be used for calculations? would be nice!
It’s interesting that the rumor includes a MacBook air with USB-C. It doesn’t say if it will have Retina Display. That’s what I want: USB-C, Retina Display, SD card slot. (I’d also like to keep a USB 3 port, but if not, include a damned adapter. I don’t use the USB port very often, so I’m not too worried about USB-C. I’m neutral on the butterfly keyboard since I’ve never used one and I don’t think the existing keyboards are terribly accurate. I do want more power than the MacBook which is a little too underpowered from what I’ve read, partly due to throttling due to thermal issues related to the fanless design. I can cope with a fan.
Hmm….Didn’t see Mac Pro tower in that line up. They shouldn’t let that product upgrade drag any longer than they have.
The Mac Pro is Made in the USA by robots and a handful of site engineers, which means far fewer “people familiar with the matter” violating steel-trap NDAs to supplement their meagre incomes by trafficking in the journo-slime rumour racket.
What a “non-article!”
You mean Apple will be upgrading their current line of hardware in some way sometime?? Wow, what a story!
Besides the potential new monitor “the people” quoted say that apple will be improving their lineup on the future… Just like Apple has been doing since 1985. Without some actual details, it’s not news.
Gosh, I can’t wait for 9/7 to get us out of this Apple news dead zone.
From the title, I assumed that this was an actual Apple announcement, instead of Bloomberg using rumors and sources.
I keep hearing where the new Mac pro.
For a desktop system I don’t see this being needed.
I don’t even have servers that can do ALL of this:
*12 core processor,
*64GB RAM
*12GB VRAM
*1TB SSD
*Duel 10/100/1000 NICs
*Ability to handle 6 thunderbolt monitors
*Ability to handle 3 4K monitors
*Built-in encryption software
*Built-in backup software
*Built-in Wifi, and bluetooth
I think someone is trying to make an issue out of a moot point.
Just keep working on your crippled Mac Mini and don’t try to guess what I don’t need.
Arrogance on display.
Zikol proposes one of many configurations that Apple should offer but doesn’t today. Laggard companies are the ones that can’t deliver what its competitors do. Apple and its former pro customer both lose when they fall further behind the curve. You apparently are happy with your POS watch, so go back to twirling your blurry icons around while the adults do real work.
Macs today and Macs as part of the overall Apple Inc ecosystem going forward are certainly undergoing a long-term rethink. All of the convertible ferment in Windows land, the merging of Chrome and Android (or “Fuschia”) and the growth of the parts box and software metaphors to support them can’t be ignored.
The iPad Pro in fact, is an early response, though tepid to me, lacking full MacOS.
For now, though, in this period of The Great Mac Stagnation, the upcoming MBP’s sound fairly promising (an [unlikely but possible] Kaby iteration in a year or so that could accommodate outside of the case peripherals like advanced GPUs could make its own small but profitable niche among pros and gamers). And an MBP is the machine I’m point toward.
They can also get by with another round of iterative updates on the iMacs and keep the community IMO, although a more adjustable (and of course thinner) redesign with whatever new capabilities is due at some point. A
nd those who haven’t bolted and who are reasonable understand the MacPro needs help from Intel before it can get another few years of life with a meaningful upgrade.
I’m actually paying the most keen attention to what they do with the Air and maybe the Mini though as an indication as to how they view their Mac business as a mass business and being a player in the current and future PC business.
To me it makes such imminent sense to hold the price points and upgrade the MBA to the best tech that will yield a typical Apple margin at that point – a better, higher-res screen, enough ports (even if they’re all or mostly USB-C) and the latest available chips to have a meaningful Mac at the sub $1000 level (in an era when $500-600 buys a lot more in the competition’s world than it used to, mind you).
These machines and minis meet an entirely different need for an entirely different consumer than the current new MacBook does or will deliver now or in the next year or two.
And I’ll believe Apple has no intention of mostly backing out of its original business if they remain a fairly full-line player here. This approach would at least buy them another year of two of refreshed and welcome good will from the Mac community, well, at least I don’t think I’m alone in this viewpoint.
That said, I suppose it’s feasible the Air and the Pro could only be offered in one size each. Not my druthers but I’m sure there’s a business case for that…..
New ipad software for pro? with added features for stylus use?
It wont be pro without a user managable, NATIVE , comprehensive File system and robust managment, accessability , information and organizational tools.
and more robust comprehensive apps.. not fragmented snippets .. but full blown Applications.
I have been screaming for an IOS Pro version..
Charge for it Apple… millions will adopt it gladly. Those who dont care will stick to the free version.
This way Pros get what they want.. you get a new revenue stream.. win win… !
Come on Apple !
U need to up your game on the Pro front and the gaming front… massively…….without showing off your prowess in these areas your reputation as the best computing platform will be seriously compromised.
You are losing a huge amount of mind share by treating this areas as 2nd priority and acting so slow..
Pros need to Trust Apples Efforts in this area… or they wont invest in it.
what are u doing Apple?