Now is the worst time to buy a new Apple laptop

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Now is the worst time to buy a new Apple laptop
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Crystal Cox/Business Insider

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  • Apple is expected to launch a couple of new laptops in the coming months, including MacBook Pro and Air models that include the company's recently redesigned keyboard.
  • Apple may also release new laptops based on its own custom chips for the first time in late 2020 or early 2021, reports analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
  • If your laptop is still working well enough but you're starting to think about a replacement, it's worth waiting a few months if you can to at least decide if Apple's new options would be right for you.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If you're in the market for a new Apple laptop, you might want to hold off for a few months. The tech giant is expected to announce a couple of new notebooks in the coming months, including new MacBook Air and Pro models with improved keyboards among other new options.

That's all according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has written that Apple has several new MacBook laptops in its pipeline in research notes obtained by MacRumors and 9to5Mac. Apple hasn't confirmed any plans to launch new MacBooks, as it typically doesn't discuss new products until it's ready to unveil them. But Kuo has been accurate in the past when it comes to reporting on upcoming product launches.

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If his predictions are correct, it's unclear precisely when the new laptops would launch. The analyst provides a broad range of between the second quarter and fourth quarter of 2020, with the timing varying depending on the specific model.

That may sound like a long time to wait. But if your laptop is in decent condition and you're not in dire need of an upgrade, it could make sense to wait a few months longer, especially if you're looking for a computer you can hold on to for the next three to five years.

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Here's what Apple may have in store:

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A new MacBook Pro with a better keyboard and a bigger screen

A new MacBook Pro with a better keyboard and a bigger screen

Apple may have a new version of its smaller-sized MacBook Pro in the works with an improved keyboard and a slightly larger screen, according to Kuo, as reported by MacRumors and 9to5Mac. He expects the laptop to launch in the second quarter of 2020.

The company is reportedly preparing to launch a version of the MacBook Pro with the same new scissor-switch keyboard found in the new 16-inch MacBook Pro. That change came after customers and critics reported issues with the butterfly switch keyboards Apple has been using on its laptops over the past several years, with some saying that keys would get stuck or register two taps instead of one. Those issues aside, the new keyboard is much more comfortable to type on compared to the flatter and stiffer feel of Apple's butterfly keyboard.

Kuo has also said Apple has a 14.1-inch MacBook Pro in the works, and it's possible that he's referring to the same model. The analyst described this 14-inch MacBook Pro as the next iteration of Apple's 13-inch variant, suggesting that the company is taking an approach that's similar to the one it took with the 16-inch MacBook Pro last year.

That notebook has thinner bezels around its display, which makes its overall footprint around the same size as that of the 15-inch MacBook Pro it replaced in Apple's lineup. It seems plausible that Apple could do the same with its 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The new laptop may also come with a mini-LED screen, according to Kuo, which would offer better contrast than the LCD panels Apple currently uses while also preventing the "burn-in" effect that OLED displays can be prone to.

A new MacBook Air with the same improved keyboard

A new MacBook Air with the same improved keyboard

Apple is also expected to bring that improved butterfly keyboard to the MacBook Air, according to Kuo. The analyst did not specify any other changes coming to the next MacBook Air, but like the current model, we can probably expect it to be a lighter, slightly less expensive alternative to the MacBook Pro.

Kuo did not list a new MacBook Air as being one of the mini-LED products Apple is said to be developing, per MacRumors, so it's possible that this discrepancy will be one of the primary differences between the new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

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New MacBooks that run on custom Apple processors.

New MacBooks that run on custom Apple processors.

Apple is also reportedly planning to release new laptops in late 2020 or early 2021 that would run on the company's own custom-made processors rather than Intel's, according to Kuo as reported by MacRumors.

Apple is said to be working on its own processors for future laptops so that it can make the experience more uniform across devices and push out new features more quickly, as it does for the iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and iPad, according to Bloomberg. Kuo suggests that we'll see the first product to emerge from this efforts in late 2020 or early 2021, and it sounds like it will be separate from the other previously mentioned MacBook Pro and MacBook Air refresh.

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