Apple to Launch New 11-Inch iPad Pro, Refreshed AirPods, and New Apple Watches This Year: Kuo

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is back with a fresh investor note, and this time he details all the other upcoming Apple products, apart from the new iPhone variants. In his note, he claims that a cheaper MacBook variant will be launched but it may not be another MacBook Air variant. Furthermore, he states that the new Apple Watches will see slightly larger displays, and a new 11-inch iPad Pro will also be launched with Face ID and no home button. All these are expected to be launched by this fall, Kuo said.

Starting with the iPad Pro models, Kuo notes that the 12.9-inch variant will be updated with Face ID support, bezels will be reduced and the home button will be removed for that purpose. 9to5Mac reports that his investor note also suggests the arrival of a new 11-inch iPad Pro variant as well. This new 11-inch variant may be a replacement of the current 10.5-inch one. If this turns out to be true, then the new iPad variants will be of four display sizes - 7.9-inch, 9.7-inch, 11-inch, and 12.9-inch.

Coming to the Apple Watch, he notes that the overall design will not see much of a change, but the display size may increase to 1.57-inch and 1.78-inch respectively. Apart from the display size increase, Kuo refrains from providing any other details on the new Apple Watches. Kuo also notes that new AirPods are in the offing, but does not detail what features they might entail. To recall, a previous report suggested that the company is working on new AirPods with noise-cancellation and water resistance. The AirPower wireless charging pad that was unveiled last year is also expected to go into mass production after many delays.

Kuo also mentioned that the entire Mac lineup including the MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac will get chip upgrades. There's expected to be a new cheaper-priced MacBook launch, but he thinks it won't be the MacBook Air. Lastly, the investor note also reiterates that there will three iPhone variant launches this year - one 6.1-inch LCD variant, one 5.8-inch OLED iPhone X successor, and the 6.5-inch OLED iPhone X Plus variant as well.