Oliver Haslam·

Kuo Reiterates Existing iPad Pro Event Predictions, Expects AirPower, New iPad mini Later In The Year

We’re now just a week away from what is expected to be an iPad event, possibly with the odd Mac announcement thrown in for good measure. Apple hasn’t confirmed what we can expect during the event, but there have been rumors of a new iPad Pro refresh for months and this most definitely looks like it. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo seems to agree, and he has some other interesting little tidbits that we think might add some color to next week’s announcement.

Kuo does believe that there will be new iPad Pro devices announced next week, with two set to get an outing. Both will have better displays than those that they will replace, and both will also ship with USB-C rather than Lightning connectors. That’s been something that has been in the rumor mill for a good long while, so there are no surprises there. The Apple analyst also says a new iPad mini with “an upgraded processor and a lower-cost panel” is in the cards, though that may not get stage during the event.

Something else that has been rumored, and makes perfect sense if Lightning is going bye-bye, is a refreshed Apple Pencil. Kuo says that we can expect the Apple Pencil to be updated with the new iPad Pro in mind, so we’d expect USB-C to be the order of the day there, too.

While rumors of new Macs have been trickling out for a while, nobody dare hope that they actually come to fruition. Kuo isn’t worried though, saying that we will see at least three new Macs including a new lower-cost MacBook as well as updated Mac mini and iMacs. Yes, you read that right – after four years, the Mac mini is going to get some love.

That’s nothing, though, compared to Kuo’s belief that AirPower is still in the works, and what’s more, it might make an appearance before the end of the year. We know that Apple has struggled to get the AirPower wireless charger out of the door, but Kuo appears to know something we don’t – and he’s usually not far off the money with these things.

We’re not sure what we’re most excited about here, the idea that the Mac mini is finally getting a refresh or that AirPower may not be vaporware after all.

iPad Pro renders via Viktor Kádár

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