Apple Updates iPad, MacBook Air with New Keyboard
March 18 2020 - 10:11AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Needleman and Tripp Mickle
Apple Inc. on Wednesday introduced a new keyboard for an
upgraded MacBook Air, another sign that it is abandoning the
problematic butterfly keyboard it introduced in 2015 that required
extended repair programs.
The company also unveiled an updated iPad Pro with an ultrawide
camera, high-quality microphones, motion sensors and a scanner. But
it didn't announce a refresh or successor to its entry-level
13-inch MacBook Pro, which would be priced between the Air and the
expensive 16-inch MacBook Pro. It also didn't mention any new
iPhone models, though analysts expect a small iPhone to be revealed
this spring.
Apple is releasing the products into an uncertain consumer
market that has been disrupted by the spread of coronavirus. In a
bid to curtail the virus' spread, many companies have asked staff
to work remotely, but others across the retail, entertainment and
hospitality sectors have temporarily closed.
On Tuesday, Apple said it would keep its world-wide stores
closed until further notice, an update from its previous plans to
reopen as soon as March 27. Apple, which has more than 450 stores
outside Greater China, depends on Western Europe and the U.S. for
about two-thirds of its $206 billion in total sales.
Sales of Macs and iPads account for about a fifth of Apple's
annual revenue. As those businesses struggled to deliver growth,
Apple has moved to increase prices on new products. The iPad Pro,
first introduced in late 2018, helped lift tablet sales 17% in the
fiscal year ended last September behind its sleek new design and
25% price increase. The refreshed MacBook Air, introduced at the
same time, cost 20% more than its predecessor and helped lift Mac
sales 2% last fiscal year. But at $999, the device is also back at
a lower entry price that is $100 cheaper from the prior model.
Apple's decision to release a new MacBook that returns to the
traditional scissor-keyboard mechanism promises to move it past a
controversy that dogged it for five years. In 2015, Apple began
putting a "butterfly" keyboard that helped make its laptops thinner
but created reliability problems such as missed key presses or
duplicate keys. Multiple lawsuits were filed over the defects, and
Apple extended repair programs.
The company first returned to the scissor keyboard, an industry
standard, with a MacBook Pro 16-inch laptop introduced in
November.
The new iPad's wider array of features suggests that the device
is now a full-fledged competitor to the MacBook line, while its new
scanner may be a sign of more advanced augmented-reality
capabilities to come to new iPhone models this fall and ultimately
AR glasses. It measures the distance to surrounding objects up to
five meters away, and works indoors and outdoors, Apple said.
Sales of the refreshed MacBook Air and iPad Pro will start on
its website Wednesday, the company said.
Apple also introduced a floating-design keyboard dock for the
iPad Pro, with backlit keyboard and a trackpad. Apple says the
keyboard will be available in May at a starting price of $299.
The product releases, though, didn't help improve the company's
outlook for Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, who lowered his
price target for Apple Wednesday to $335 from $400. He expects
iPhone revenues to fall by 14% for the current fiscal year and 10%
for fiscal 2021 due to changes in near-term consumer demand,
lockdown conditions globally and a negative economic backdrop.
"Right now the average global consumer is focused on staying
healthy, finding food and sanitizer, not buying a new iPad," Mr.
Ives said.
Write to Sarah Needleman at Sarah.Needleman@wsj.com and Tripp
Mickle at Tripp.Mickle@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 18, 2020 09:56 ET (13:56 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024