Apple plans to announce an update to its laptop lineup at an annual conference for app developers in early June, a move that could help...
Apple plans to announce an update to its laptop lineup at an annual conference for app developers in early June, a move that could help offset new competition from Microsoft as well as declining iPad sales.
Apple is planning three new laptops, according to people familiar with the matter.
The MacBook Pro will get a faster Kaby Lake processor from Intel Corp, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss internal planning. Apple is also working on a new version of the 12-inch MacBook with a faster Intel chip.
The company has also considered updating the aging 13-inch MacBook Air with a new processor as sales of the laptop, Apple's cheapest, remain surprisingly strong, one of the people said.
Apple and Intel declined to comment.
The Mac lineup generates just 11 per cent of the Cupertino, California-based company's US$216 billion ($313b) in annual sales, with the iPhone accounting for almost two-thirds of the total.
But Macs are key to retaining the business of loyalists and the creative industries - the cornerstone of Apple's resurgence at the turn of the millennium under Steve Jobs.
The MacBook refresh would also come at an important time for the iPhone-maker.
This month, Microsoft debuted the Surface Laptop, which boots up in seconds, has a touch screen and runs on a more stable version of Windows. Microsoft's first real laptop is widely considered a viable rival to the MacBook Air.
By refreshing its computers, Apple could undercut that competition and continue the Mac's recent momentum. In the second quarter, the company sold 4.2 million desktops and laptops and generated 14 per cent more revenue on Macs than in the quarter a year earlier.
