News is breaking that the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) yesterday approved a filing from Apple for a new “portable personal computer”.
The filing that caught several Apple watchers’ eyes (9to5Mac and MacRumors among them) bore the model identifier A2289 and the description “Portable personal computer brand Apple model A2289 (software version macOS.10.15) and spare parts for it.”
Speculation is now growing that the new laptop will feature the excellent scissor-switch keyboard included on Apple’s latest 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is considerably more reliable than the butterfly keyboards on all other Apple laptops.
At present, these are the only details of the product in the public domain.
However, previously, EEC filings have confirmed the existence of upcoming Apple products a short time before their formal release – such as the 10.5-inch iPad in 2017 and the 9.7-inch iPad in 2018.
Last July, renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that the cutting-edge new scissor-switch keyboard (which at the time of his report was itself speculation) would be featured on other laptops this year.
All that can be said at present is that a second MacBook with the improved keyboard may be about to reach the shelves of Apple Stores across the world.
The filing refers to one MacBook, which Apple watchers believe is most likely to be an update to the uber-high-quality MacBook Pro.
The last time that this model was refreshed was in May last year, so it’s well within the bounds of probability that it’s due for an imminent update.
On the other hand, there’s also a possibility that the new arrival might just be a new MacBook Air or an entry-level MacBook Pro.
Only time will tell.