The new rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro might not be released this year after all. Instead, it seems as though the new laptop will not arrive at the hands of Apple fans until as late as 2021, according to a fresh note from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo picked up by MacRumors.
Though the well-respected Apple analyst originally predicted that the new “redesigned” MacBooks with 16 or 16.5-inch screen sizes might launch in late 2019, the latest research note now changes the timing. Chinese-to-English translations of Kuo’s latest note, from Economic Daily News and Money DJ, point to a disagreement in the new launch timing, but it appears as though he is now suggesting new MacBooks might not come until 2020 at the earliest — or 2021 at the latest.
Kuo’s revised note and timing might come as a surprise for some Apple fans, but the MacBook lineup last received a major design overhaul in 2016 with the introduction of a model with an OLED touch bar in the keyboard. Before that, Apple redesigned the MacBook Pro with the Retina display in 2012. Following this pattern, Apple seemingly refreshes the design of the MacBook Pro roughly every four years. Since the design in the current generation of MacBook devices is only three years old, the new suggested 2020 release does have extra merit.
Regardless of when the new 16-inch MacBook does come to consumers, Apple does have some issues to address. MacBook laptops have been known to struggle with keyboard issues, and to have problems with the cables inside the laptop causing the display to die out. It would make sense for Apple to put extra time and development to fix these problems before meeting its refresh cycles on MacBooks.
Despite Kuo’s prediction that the new 16-inch MacBook Pro is delayed, he still believes that Apple is planning on releasing a 31.6-inch 6K resolution display in 2019. Kuo also holds that the new 10-inch or 12-inch iPad might not come until the fourth quarter of 2020.
Apple is fresh off the launch of the 2018 MacBook Air, as well as 5K and 4K iMacs with newer Intel processors and AMD graphics cards. We have a guide to what we are looking for in Apple’s new MacBook Pro right here.
