Colourful covers, fingerprint sensors and more predicted for Apple products in 2013

Colourful iPhones with built-in fingerprint reader, a slimmer iPad and the iPad mini with Retina Display, all figure in analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities’ predictions for Apple products in 2013.

MacRumors reports that Kuo has attempted to predict Apple’s entire product range for this year, including talking about an iPhone 5S and non-Retina Display-based MacBook Pros. While most analysts have had a tough time trying to guess Apple’s plan of action, Kuo has been a refreshing exception.

In July last year, Kuo successfully predicted the launch of 13-inch Retina Display MacBook Pro even as Apple discontinued 17-inch MacBook Pro. These have been only some of the predictions Kuo had made that have hit bull’s eye. He had also predicted that iPhone 5 will have a thickness of less than 8 mm.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

The roadmap for 2013 according to Kuo (Image credits: MacRumors)

This time around, Kuo has made a string of predictions pertaining to most Apple products, right from iPhones to desktops, MacBook Pros and iPods. Let’s have a look at Kuo’s predictions:

• The iPhone 5S and a revamped iPhone 5 might see the light of day around June or July, feels Kuo. He expects the iPhone 5S to sport a look that is similar to the current iPhone 5, but he thinks that it might carry a number of upgrades including A7 system-on-a-chip and a better camera with improvements to it such as an f2.0 aperture and a smart LED flash.

• The analyst also believes that the a lower cost iPhone will be available repackaged in a slightly thicker, plastic body – 8.2 mm as compared to the current 7.6 mm – that will be available in six colours.

• Kuo also says that a fingerprint sensor will feature in the iPhone 5 and 5S, eliminating the need of passwords to access the phone.
  Just as he predicted last year, Kuo expects Apple to do away with non-Retina MacBook Pro in 2013. Kuo says Apple will unleash an all-Retina line-up at cheaper price points than current Retina Models. Despite the release of the MacBook Pro last year, Apple will tweak its design in 2013, says Kuo.

• Kuo feels that Retina Displays will not make an appearance in the 2013 MacBook Air line-up thanks to the relative thickness it imparts to the line. Intel’s forthcoming Haswell platform might be the upgrade behind MacBook Airs in the second quarter.
  Similarly, Kuo says that he does not see Retina displays coming to iMac in 2013. He predicts a shift to Haswell for iMac and Mac mini too in the fourth quarter.

• The iPad and iPad mini lines will be refreshed during the third quarter this year, says the Analyst. The major changes with the new line will be that the iPad mini will gain Retina Display while the full-sized iPad will become slimmer and lighter while adopting the thinner side bezels seen on the iPad mini.

• Kuo feels that the fourth generation iPod – currently being sold with the newest fifth gen iPod – will be discontinued. Apple will release an 8GB model of the fifth generation iPod sans a rear camera that will be priced at around $199 predicts Kuo.

• As far as the Apple TV goes, Kuo only predicts a ‘minor update’ to the platform this year, without delving deep into what it would contain. He notes that 2013 is not the year where Apple’s TV venture will shine out thanks to content issues and lack of experience, pushing this platform to get a boost in 2014.

Surprisingly, Kuo has made no mention of the new Mac Pro, the machine Tim Cook himself had said was due in 2013. The analyst has gone out on a limb with certain predictions this year. But if you see what the points raised by Kuo entail, you will realise that he isn’t making wild predictions, but reasonable ones that could well be Apple’s path ahead for 2013.

Tell us what products you would want to see from Apple this year.