MacRumors

Apple may be planning to release a 12-inch MacBook with an all-new design and high-resolution Retina Display in the middle of 2014, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Specifically, the new MacBook is expected to feature a clamshell form factor even thinner than the current MacBook Air, and may debut at a lower-price point than the current Retina MacBook Pro line due to an improving yield rate. While Kuo stops short of calling the new model a replacement for the current MacBook Air line, his description of the model suggests that it would indeed supplant Apple's current ultra-slim notebook line.

We expect the unprecedented 12” model will boast both the portability of the 11” model, and productivity of the 13” model. The high resolution display will also offer the outstanding visual experience of the Retina MacBook Pro. The offering will likely be lighter and slimmer than the existing MacBook Air to further highlight ease of portability in the cloud computing era. We think the form factor will showcase a much improved clamshell structure, and that it will redefine laptop computing once again following the milestone created by the MacBook Air.

Kuo's claims match with a report from NPD DisplaySearch analysts earlier this week claiming that Apple is planning to introduce a new 12-inch MacBook Air next year. That new model was predicted to use a high-resolution 2304 x 1440 display

Both rumors also fall in line with earlier reports that Apple is set to move to IGZO displays for many of its future products, allowing for higher-resolution displays with lower power consumption.

Kuo has generally been quite accurate with his predictions over the past several years, including accurately outlining many of the details of Apple's 2013 launch plans as far back as January. Other accurate predictions have included the introduction of a "third MacBook line" that arrived in the form of Retina MacBook Pro models and the discontinuation of the 17-inch MacBook Pro last year.

Apple may be preparing to release a cheaper model of the iMac in 2014, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo states in a new research note. The analyst believes that sales of recent iMac models have failed to meet expectations and that Apple may look to introduce a lower-cost option in order to bolster sales in critical foreign markets.

Our surveys indicate that Apple’s last iMac model, released at end-2012 with an all-new-design, shipped fewer-than-expected units in the worldwide market. We think the price was set too high and the model failed to make an impact in critical foreign markets like China. We thus think Apple may offer a budget iMac model to push shipments among non-US markets in the face of solid competition from Levono (CN), HP (US) and other rivals.

We are optimistic that a budget iMac would boost overall iMac shipments to grow 10-20% YoY in 2014.

After a major redesign last year, the iMac was given a surprise refresh last month as Apple updated the line of desktops based on Intel's Haswell processors, faster PCI Express-based flash storage options, and new 802.11ac Wi-Fi capabilities. Currently, the entry-level iMac 21.5 inch iMac starts at $1,299, while the 27-inch iMac starts $1,799. Both models are $100 more expensive than the previous generation iMacs, which debuted in 2011.

Countering earlier reports about the possibility of Apple launching a larger, 12.9-inch iPad next year, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo states in a new research note that the company will instead release a new sixth-generation 9.7-inch iPad with 30-40% higher pixel density than seen in both the current and upcoming full-sized iPad.

Contrary to speculation that next year’s iPad next year may come in a 12” form, or larger, we think it will not change from the current 9.7” format as we think a 12” iPad would not provide a good mobility experience given today’s technology limitations.

In light [of] advancing Oxide and a-Si technologies, the PPI of iPad 6, which we expect to come out at end-2014, will exceed that of 2013’s iPad 5 by 30-40%, which will offer more competent visuals.

In his research note, Kuo also touches on the third-generation iPad mini, which would be expected to launch alongside the higher-resolution iPad 6. Kuo believes that the second-generation iPad mini expected to be introduced at Apple's media event later this month will adopt a Retina display and that there will be no further changes to resolution for the third-generation iPad mini next year.

Apple is expected to unveil both the fifth-generation iPad and the second-generation iPad mini during an October 22 event that will also showcase other Apple products such as Mavericks and the Mac Pro.

Apple has clarified the shipping times for its iPhone 5s, with new shipping estimates ranging from two to three weeks for all carriers, colors, and capacities in the United States, Canada, and Asia Pacific. Apple Stores in Europe continue to list Apple's previous "October" shipping timeline.

Taking into account delivery times, iPhones ordered today will arrive to customers in late October or early November.

The updated shipping time comes as Apple prepares to launch the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c to 35 new countries on October 25 and an additional 16 countries on November 1.

Though Apple's shipping times seem to have improved somewhat, a new study conducted by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster reveals that in-store iPhone 5s availability has been slipping over the past two weeks. As a result, it is more difficult to reserve an iPhone for pickup, or walk into a store to purchase one, while previously, some models, such as Space Gray, were readily available.

Apple's iPhone 5s has been available in limited quantities since launch, selling out within a matter of hours after Apple began taking online orders. Gold and silver models in particular have been hard to come by, with supplies of the gold model in particular drying up within 30 minutes of the phone’s launch. The iPhone 5c remains in stock, with new orders shipping out within 24 hours.

Apple’s proposed Apple Campus 2, now in the final planning stages, can be seen in detail in new model photos provided by San Jose Mercury News. The 4-story circular building, which Steve Jobs famously described as "like a spaceship," encompasses more than 2.8 million square feet and is designed to house upwards of 12,000 employees.

As seen in the model, the campus includes the main spaceship building with curved glass windows and polished concrete ceilings, several auxiliary buildings, a massive parking structure topped with solar panels, an underground parking lot, and a huge number of trees. In addition to the main working area, the plans include an auditorium for events, a fitness center, and additional space for research and development. Apple's Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer, was on hand to give some details about the campus.

"You see the energy and the love and the attention to detail that we've put into this," he told this newspaper during a sneak-peek of a top-secret, living-room sized model of the building. "We have treated this project just as we would any Apple product. And this will be a place for the most creative and collaborative teams in the industry to innovate for decades to come."

"The concept of the building," said Oppenheimer, "is collaboration and fluidity. It'll provide a very open-spaced system, so that at one point in the day you may be in offices on one side of the circle and find yourself on the other side later that day."

Though only the main buildings will be constructed during the first phase of the project, Apple has plans to add additional buildings to house extra employees at some point in the future.

Following an early October approval from the Cupertino Planning Commission, the campus is still subject to a vote from the Cupertino city council on October 15 and a final vote on November 19. If all parties involved approve the construction, Apple will remain on track for a 2016 debut of the new structure. A full gallery of the model can be seen on the Mercury News site.

Update: As noted by TechCrunch, Apple has begun sending out brochures asking residents of Cupertino to support the new Apple campus by emailing the Cupertino city council and attending the October 15 vote. The company says that it intends to break ground shortly after the campus is approved.

Update 2: The City of Cupertino has posted a nearly three-hour video (via MacGeneration) of the October 1 session discussing Apple's Environmental Impact report on the new campus project. The session includes a presentation by Apple Senior Director of Real Estate and Facilities Dan Whisenhunt, with a brief overview video beginning at the 8:15 mark in the session video.

According to a study by mobile application mangement platform Crittercism, iOS apps are twice as likely to crash on the new iPhone 5s as they are when running on the iPhone 5 and 5c, reports AllThingsD.

The app crash rates on the iPhone 5s are attributed to the unforseen issues that developers have had transitioning to the new internals of the iPhone 5s, such as rewriting drivers and code for the phone's 64-bit A7 chip and M7 coprocessor. Apple notably began allowing developers to submit 64-bit apps for the iPhone 5s on September 16, just four days before the launch of the device itself.

“Anytime there is new hardware or software release, we see issues,” Crittercism CEO Andrew Levy said in an interview. “Inevitably, over time, those issues get resolved.”

Levy said that perhaps the reason the iPhone 5s is seeing more crashes than the equally new iPhone 5c is that, while developers were able to check their apps for compatibility with iOS 7 during several months of beta testing, the new hardware wasn’t available ahead of time. The iPhone 5s packs a new 64-bit A7 chip and an M7 coprocessor, while the 5c is nearly identical, internally, to the iPhone 5.

However, the company compliments Apple for releasing two updates in quick succession for iOS 7, stating that the company is "doing a really good job of addressing these issues as they come up.” Since its launch last month, a number of noteworthy apps have been redesigned or optimized for the iPhone 5s, with more developers stating that they will update their apps to accommodate the new processor in the near future.

While gold and silver models of the iPhone 5s have seen very tight supplies since the device's launch last month, a number of potential customers have noted that availability of even the more plentiful space gray models has been declining. Using Apple's in-store pickup availability system, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been tracking supplies of the various models and has quantified a significant decline in iPhone 5s availability over the past two weeks.

Supply of the iPhone 5S has declined in the US from 27% of total SKU's available two weeks ago to 6% over the past week, based on our checks of 60 Apple stores. Separately, the percent of stores that had at least one SKU declined from 90% two weeks ago to 40% over the past week.

Munster believes that the decline is a positive sign for demand in the U.S., but also attributes some of the increased shortages to Apple potentially holding back some supplies in order to prepare for upcoming international launches starting later this month.

As another tool for tracking demand, Munster has also been looking at resale prices through eBay and Chinese site Taobao. According to Munster's data, iPhone 5s units have been selling at a 32% premium compared to retail pricing in the U.S., providing further evidence of strong consumer demand. iPhone 5c and Samsung Galaxy S4 units have been selling at 12% discounts to retail pricing, which Munster believes points to demand in line with supplies of the iPhone 5c.

The much-rumored iWatch may be used as a home automation gateway, allowing users to control various functions within their houses, according to a new research note by Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White.

As an Apple supplier, our contact offered insight into the "iWatch" and described this potential new device as much more than an extension of your iPhone but as a multi-purpose gateway in allowing consumers to control their home (i.e., heating/cooling, lights, audio, video, etc.).

This functionality would mirror the abilities of apps by Philips and Nest to power the Hue lightbulbs and Nest Thermostat, allowing users to control lighting and temperature from simple commands on their devices. However, as those services require additional accessories it would likely mean Apple would have to manufacture these accessories itself or create some kind of licensing program for third parties, like AirPlay.

It is not surprising to hear that the iWatch will be far more than an iPhone companion given repeated reports of the health-sensor technology rumored to be built into it, but the potential inclusion of home automation does come as a surprise.

In the past, White has provided somewhat questionable reports, claiming that an Apple television set with an "iRing" motion control remote would be coming this year and that the iPhone 5s would come in multiple sizes. Although he did also predict there would be multiple color choices for the next iPhone.

Two iWatch models, with 1.3- and 1.6-inch 320x320 AMOLED screens, are rumored to be arriving at some point next year.