Apple to intro MacBooks with Intel Haswell processors at WWDC 2013, says analyst

By Gloria Sin Published May 27, 2013

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It looks like Apple’s refreshed line of Haswell-powered laptops will be sharing the stage with iOS 7 and OS X updates at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference in June, at least that’s what KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is predicting in his latest report.

MacRumors is reporting that Kuo believes the updated MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs will make their debut at WDCC in San Francisco, which is scheduled for the week of June 10. This timeline seems plausible as it meshes with DigiTimes’ report that Apple will be ordering new laptops with the Intel Haswell chip in May, as we reported last week.

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Kuo’s projections are usually quite trustworthy, but this one contradicts with what Apple CEO Tim Cook offered during his conference call last week, where he basically squashed rumors that Apple will be introducing anything new this summer – which is right when WWDC starts. “Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software and services we can’t wait to introduce this fall and throughout 2014.”

Even though we expect software to be front and center at this year’s WWDC – the event’s press release even made a point of emphasizing that developers will learn “About the future of iOS and OS X” at the conference – as we wrote when the event was announced, it is possible for upgraded hardware like the Haswell-powered MacBook Pros and Airs to make a brief appearance at the Moscone Center in June.

Kuo also believes Apple will continue to make non-Retina MacBook Pros, despite his earlier prediction that the Cuppertino company will discontinue them, because “the 13-inch MacBook Pro remains the most popular product in the MacBook line.” After all, the MacBook Pro includes an optical drive and Ethernet port that are “in demand in emerging markets, where Internet penetration isn’t advanced, for optical disk drives.”

If you’re hoping for a Retina MacBook Air, Kuo thinks you should think again. Due to how thin and relatively affordable Airs are, he doesn’t see Apple bringing the more expensive and difficult to manufacture Retina display to this line of laptops. However, he believes MacBook Airs with the upcoming Intel Haswell processors will be available not long after WWDC, which is little bit more precise that his earlier prediction of “late second quarter.”

Let’s see how right Kuo’s projections are this time.

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