Apple planning 12-inch Retina MacBook, cheaper iMac, higher-res iPad for 2014?

Apple seems to have big plans for the next year, if a new report from 9to5Mac is anything to go by. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, while summarising his expectations from the company, has now come up with quite a few details about what we might be seeing in 2014.

Chief among the predictions is a 12-inch Retina display-sporting laptop, a sharper, full sized iPad as well as a more affordable iMac desktop computer. While talking about the new MacBook, the source states the smaller laptop will come with an entirely new design. There are estimates that this new product will either be seen in the second or third quarter of 2014.

While the new laptop is slated to come with a 12-inch display, the analyst claims that it will be as portable as the current 11-inch MacBook Air and as productive as the 13-inch version of the same. The new offering might be lighter and thinner than the current MacBook Air, sporting a new clamshell structure. While talking about the price, the analyst speculates that the new laptop may be cheaper than current Apple notebooks.

Apple may have a host of new products for the next year

Next on the list is a cheaper iMac. The estimated timeframe for this device is next year, in the second or third quarter. The analyst, while talking about this, has said that the current iMac model has not shipped as many units as were expected. The new iMac is apparently being positioned to help the company muscle its way into the Windows desktop-dominated market. The analyst estimates that the new model will help to boost Apple’s desktop sales by around 10 to 20 percent. There was no mention on the kind of specifications or the price difference that the new desktop will bring.

Last on the list for Apple’s speculated offerings next year is a full sized sixth generation iPad. While the new tablet will come with the same 9.7-inch screen size as the current models, it may sport a higher resolution with a pixel-per-inch reading that is 30 or 40 percent higher. While talking about the smaller next generation iPad mini, Kuo said that the third generation tablet will come with the same 2048x1536 Retina display sported by the upcoming iPad mini 2.

All this is purely speculation, though. It is still unclear if Apple is really going to bump up the resolution of its tablet line-up next year. A higher pixel count on the full-sized iPad will force developers to re-create their app interfaces as well as the graphics once again.

So far, we have heard that the company has plans to bring in a new iPhone with a larger display. While the company might have big plans for next year, 2013 is still an important year for Apple, with an October 22 event being planned where we might be seeing two new iPads and possibly a few other things as well.