Skip to main content

Apple could launch AirTags, a smaller iPhone, and new MacBooks in early 2020

Hoping for a fresh batch of Apple gear to hit the streets soon? You’re in luck, because according to noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has a whole boatload of products on the way in the first half of 2020.

Recommended Videos

In a research note seen by MacRumors, Kuo explains: “We forecast that Apple’s major new hardware products in 1H20 include the 4.7-inch LCD iPhone, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro/Air, smaller wireless charging mat, UWB [ultra-wideband] tag, and a high-end Bluetooth headphone.”

Most (if not all) of these products have been extensively rumored before, but the chances of them launching soon seem to have drastically increased now that they’ve received the Kuo stamp of approval. Ming-Chi Kuo is widely seen as a highly credible analyst with sources well placed in the Apple supply chain — if he says something will launch soon, it’s highly likely that it will.

iPhone SE 2 concept
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Perhaps the most exciting of the rumored products is the 4.7-inch iPhone, which is seen by many as an heir to the now-discontinued iPhone SE. This would be positioned as a smaller, cheaper iPhone, running on the modern A13 Bionic processor but with legacy features like Touch ID, all housed in an iPhone 8 (or similar) chassis. The original iPhone SE was a surprisingly popular phone, and many lamented its retirement when Apple stopped selling it in 2018. Launching an iPhone SE 2 could help Apple recapture that end of the market; it’s rumored to go on sale in March.

Elsewhere, Kuo believes Apple will finally launch its much-rumored AirTags in the first half of 2020. AirTags is potentially the name for an ultra-wideband tracker device not unlike Tile, and evidence unearthed in iOS by MacRumors suggests that these would be controlled from a new tab in the Find My app.

We could also see a new iPad Pro, as well as a spec bump for the MacBook Pro or MacBook Air (or both; Kuo’s language on those points isn’t clear). There has been much talk of Apple transitioning to an ARM MacBook this year — we reckon this could happen at WWDC, which would fall within Kuo’s predicted launch window of the first half of 2020.

Rounding out Kuo’s list of upcoming Apple products are a pair of wireless headphones and a small wireless charging mat. Don’t get your hopes up for AirPower, though — Apple was previously unable to overcome the engineering challenges of making a multi-device wireless charging mat where each device could be positioned anywhere on the pad, so this rumored product is likely to be much simpler.

We’ll bring you all the news on these products as and when they launch, so check back for more.

Alex Blake
Alex Blake has been working with Digital Trends since 2019, where he spends most of his time writing about Mac computers…
The macOS Sequoia public beta just launched. Here’s how to download it
Apple's Craig Federighi introducing the new window tiling feature in macOS Sequoia at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2024.

The public beta for macOS Sequoia is here, and that means anyone with a compatible device can install it and try it out -- no paid developer memberships needed. Here's how to get it.

First of all, you'll need a PC that can run macOS Sequoia. This is the list of compatible models:

Read more
Apple’s gaming push is heating up faster than you think
Frostpunk 2 runs on a MacBook.

A few years back, I was invited to meet with Apple about its new push into gaming. The company wouldn’t show me a flashy new product to enable that. Instead, it showed me something more modest: No Man’s Sky running smoothly on a MacBook. It looked great, but it wasn’t exactly earth-shattering. It was an independent game from 2016 running on a laptop as well as it had already been running for years on other PCs. I got the sense that I wasn’t there to cover a big development in tech, but rather to see a proof of concept that had bigger plans attached.

Years later, those plans are coming into focus even if they still aren’t fully realized yet. I recently attended a repeat of that showcase, only this time I wasn’t just watching an eight-year-old game running on a laptop. I demoed several games, including brand new ones, this time running on a range of devices including the MacBook Air M3 and a 13” iPad Pro M4. While we’re still a long ways away from the App Store being up to snuff with Steam on Windows, I’m starting to see where gaming on iOS is headed -- and Apple is getting there faster than I expected.
Growing gaming
During my recent session with Apple, I’d get to see and play several games running across iPhone, iPad, and Macbooks. Some of those experiences are more exciting for Apple than for casual players. It’s neat that Resident Evil 7 can run well on an iPhone, but that’s not so surprising when I already know that the much more recent Resident Evil 4 does too. I’m happy to see games like Control and Valheim looking great, but those are existential wins for Apple as it seeks more partners to expand its gaming efforts. I don’t imagine that gamers are jumping to play games that have been out for years on an Apple device (and according to reports, they very much aren’t yet).

Read more
The MacBook Air just got a huge price cut
The gold MacBook Air M1's logo and keyboard.

Apple doesn't currently sell the M1 MacBook Air, meaning its price at third-party retailers is constantly in flux. But in time for back-to-school season, (and ahead of Prime Day next week), Apple and Walmart have announced that it's being sold at a surprising new starting price of $649. These aren't refurbished or preowned laptops, either -- at least, not according to the listing.

Of course, this is the M1 model, the first Apple Silicon MacBook -- which means it uses an older chassis than the newer M2 or M3 models. This is also the base configuration, meaning it only comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Walmart has all three colors on offer at this price too -- Space Gray, Silver, and Gold.

Read more