Don’t hold your breath for that 16-inch MacBook Pro

Apple might not launch a 16/16.5-inch MacBook Pro for at least a year or more according to a new report from reliable leaker of Apple things, Ming-Chi Kuo (via MacRumors). 

Same goes for a new version of the iPad, which will be 10 or 12 inches in size. But the good news is that a new, 31.6-inch 6K display from Apple is still on track to launch in the second or third quarter of this year. 

The new report is a bit hard to follow, so here’s some background. In February, Kuo said Apple would launch a completely new MacBook Pro with a display that’s 16 or 16.5 inches in size. He also said the company is working on a 31.6-inch, 6K display with a mini LED-like backlight design. Finally, he predicted the launch of new iPad Pro models, a new iPad mini, and a new, 10.2-inch iPad model — and Apple indeed launched a new, 10.5-inch iPad Air and a new iPad mini in March. All of that was supposed to happen in 2019. 

The report was notable as it pointed to Apple finally catering to the needs of professionals, many of whom pine for the discontinued 17-inch MacBook Pro, and many of whom would welcome a new, pro-grade monitor (perhaps alongside the previously announced, new Mac Pro). 

Now, in a new note that’s only been circulated in Chinese so far, Kuo revised his earlier predictions and changed some of the specs. A new, 15- to 17-inch MacBook Pro will apparently come in the first half of 2021 (ouch). A new, 10- to 12-inch iPad will come at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. And the 31.6-inch, 6K display is coming soon — either in Q2 or Q3 2019. 

Add to that a new report by DigiTimes, published on Tuesday, which comments on Kuo’s note but says that the 31.6-inch, 6K display is actually an iMac, which will launch in the same timeframe as Kuo predicted.

Apple rumors are murky enough even when potential mistranslation isn’t in play, but it definitely sounds like whatever these new devices may be, they aren’t coming very soon.