Apple Stock News: Apple Watch to Launch Next Year
Apple Stock News: Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and SE 3 will launch in 2025. His earlier prediction that there would be no Ultra 3 this year was accurate, as Apple only introduced the Series 10 at their recent event. The Ultra 2 received a new color, and the SE saw no updates. Customers will likely have to wait until next September for the new Ultra and SE models.
MacBook Pro Won’t Switch to OLED
Rumors suggest the MacBook Pro will eventually adopt OLED displays, but analysts Ming-Chi Kuo and Ross Young predict that won’t happen in 2025. Instead, the 14-inch and 16-inch models are expected to continue using mini-LED displays, with a switch to OLED possibly coming by 2026.
OLED displays would offer benefits like increased brightness, deeper blacks, improved power efficiency, and could enable a thinner design. Meanwhile, new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips are rumored for an October release, with no major design changes. Apple last redesigned these models in 2021, with the most recent M3 versions launched in October 2023.
Tax Dispute in Europe
The European Union’s Court of Justice has upheld the European Commission’s 2016 ruling that Ireland granted Apple illegal tax benefits worth €13 billion between 1991 and 2014. As a result, Ireland must now recover the funds, which Apple placed in escrow around six years ago. In 2020, the EU’s General Court had overturned the Commission’s decision, citing insufficient evidence of preferential treatment. However, the Court of Justice has now reversed that ruling, affirming the Commission’s stance.
Despite supporting Apple’s appeal, Ireland stated it will “respect” the ruling and recover the €13 billion deemed illegal state aid. Apple, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, announced it expects to record a one-time income tax charge of up to $10 billion in its fourth fiscal quarter ending September 28, 2024.
