Monday Apple Rumors: iMacs to Get Faster Chips This Summer

by Christopher Freeburn | June 10, 2013 3:01 pm

[1]Here are your Apple rumors[2] and AAPL news items for today:

Update: Not quite a year after getting a major design overhaul, Apple (AAPL[3]) will release upgraded iMacs in June or July[4], AppleInsider notes. The new iMacs will feature Intel‘s (INTC[5]) new Haswell processors and will likely be revealed on Monday at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The forecast comes from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who estimates that Apple will ship 1.1 million iMacs during the third calendar quarter of this year. Late last year, Apple debuted redesigned 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs, greatly slimming the profile of the all-in-one desktop computers. However, manufacturing issues caused significant production delays during the holiday quarter. In the first calendar quarter of this year, Apple shipped 1.75 million iMacs. During the current quarter, Kuo predicts the company will ship just 650,000 iMacs.

Possible Surprise: While most analysts expect Apple to debut new software, an Internet radio service and possibly updated laptops at this week’s WWDC, one iPad case producer is betting that the company will also unveil a new iPad[6], USA TODAY notes. Gumndrop Cases has produced 15,000 cases for an expected iPad 5 and is taking pre-orders for the cases through its website. The company’s president says he bases his expectation for an iPad 5 debut at the WWDC on Asian manufacturing sources. Apple is rumored to be working on an overhaul of its 9.7-inch iPad — likely to be called iPad 5. Most analysts, however, don’t expect the next-generation iPad to debut until September or October. The updated iPad is predicted to feature thinner bezels — taking a design cue from the iPad Mini — and to sport a significantly thinner profile. Gumdrop Cases’ new iPad 5 case won’t fit any other iPad, so the company is taking a risk producing the case without seeing the actual iPad 5 redesign. Of course, if Apple does surprise analysts and unveils a new iPad at the WWDC, Gumdrop is poised to cash in on its bet.

Similar: iPhone fans hoping for a major re-design on the upcoming iPhone 5S will be disappointed[7], sources tell the Wall Street Journal. The next-generation iPhone is said to look much the same as the current iPhone 5. That would be in keeping with Apple’s product cycle, which typically offers a fully re-designed iPhone every two years. As rival smartphone makers have introduced a barrage of new smartphones, Apple has been under pressure to increase the pace of its design development. Some analysts have predicted the launch of iPhones with larger screens. However, there is no sign that such phones will launch this year. Apple is also expected to debut a lower-cost iPhone for sale in emerging markets. Most analysts expect that to happen later this year.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[8] stories.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/06/monday-apple-rumors-imacs-to-get-faster-chips-this-summer/

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