We know that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is set to release an all-new Mac Pro this year. But according to a research note from a well-known AAPL analyst, the company is going all-in on the professional market in 2019, adding a 16-inch MacBook Pro to its lineup, and getting back into the computer monitor business with a 6K display. The three new releases would join the existing MacBook Pro lineup, and 2017’s iMac Pro as the company attempts to hold and grow its position as the computer of choice among design professionals.
MacRumors covered a research note released over the weekend by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In it, Kuo went over his expectations for the company’s hardware release roadmap for 2019. Much of this covers products that we either already know about — like new iPhones — or that have been heavily rumored for months, like second generation AirPods and a revised iPad Mini. However, Kuo included two new product releases that haven’t been on the radar of other Apple watchers: a new 16-inch MacBook Pro, and a 31.6-inch, 6K display.
Apple has stuck with 15-inch laptops as the upper ceiling in size since discontinuing the 17-inch MacBook Pro in 2012. In 2016, Apple axed the Thunderbolt display, exiting the computer monitor business it had been in for decades. Both moves were lamented by design professionals, but AAPL went through an extended period where its Mac division received little attention and pro users especially were left in the cold.
According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the 16-inch MacBook Pro (which could actually have a display that may stretch to 16.5-inches) would be an all-new design. In 2017 Apple had actually alluded to the fact it was working on a new display to accompany the new Mac Pro the company promised for 2019. However, not much has been heard of it since. Kuo claims it will be a big, 31.6-inch monitor with 6K resolution — overkill for consumers, but in line with what professional users are looking for.
Why the Pro Market Love?
The PC market has been in decline for years and with smartphones the must-have gadget for the past decade, Apple had been neglecting its Mac line while it focused on the iPhone.
The new Mac releases during the iPhone era have often been criticized for flash and looks over substance. The cylindrical Mac Pro looked cool, but was virtually impossible to upgrade. The MacBook was sleek and shiny, but expensive, equipped with a single port (that also had to provide power for the laptop) and the quest for thinness resulted in a new keyboard that was widely disliked. The jury is still out on the OLED Touch Bar added to the MacBook Pro in 2016, but reception to the expensive feature has been mixed at best.
Apple also launched the iPad Pro series, marketing keyboard-equipped iPads as laptop replacements.
However, several factors have combined to spur AAPL into paying more attention to its Mac customers, with those professional users becoming a renewed focus.
The biggest reason is that Apple iPhone sales are softening. With the primary driver of Apple revenue (and Apple stock growth) sputtering, the company is looking for any and every way possible to increase revenue in other divisions. That includes Mac sales, which were $7.4 billion last quarter. Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google and partners are increasingly taking over low-end laptop sales with Chromebooks, but Apple doesn’t dabble in that market. Instead, it prefers to sell high-margin, premium PCs. But there has been increased competition there, too. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has eaten into the professional market with its own line of laptops like the Surface Book, and the Surface Studio desktop. Other PC makers that had been focused on the consumer market have also turned their attention to a bigger payday in the professional space. ASUS, for example, is releasing a pro laptop with a 17-inch display and hexacore CPU that is nearly the same size as Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro.
In other words, if AAPL wants to keep its lucrative professional Mac customers (let alone grow that user base to help offset the softening iPhone market), the company needs to make some big moves. That means a return to products it has ditched in the past in the name of simplifying its Mac lineup: big laptops and a monitor. Based on the market forces in play and Ming-Chi Kuo’s proven track record, look for a 16-inch MacBook Pro and a new 6K Apple display to be announced at some point in 2019.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
