New MacBook models with scissor-switch keyboards are reportedly coming soon

Apple is planning to reintroduce scissor-switch keyboards to more laptops soon, according to generally accurate analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. New MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models are coming in the second quarter of 2020, Kuo says in a research note obtained by MacRumors. The move would follow a pattern set by last year’s 16-inch MacBook Pro, which replaced the unpopular and unreliable butterfly switches with a more traditional “Magic Keyboard. ” Kuo recently indicated that the current 13-inch MacBook Pro will be replaced by a 14-inch model, but he hasn’t said whether that’ll happen with this second-quarter update.

It’s possible that the scissor-switch keyboard will come to the 13-inch model first before a more significant overhaul later. Apple has been shipping butterfly keyboards on all new laptop releases since 2016, so correcting course should be a priority. Separately, Kuo has provided a little more insight into his thoughts on Apple’s long-rumored transition to ARM processors. Kuo says MacBook models with custom processors designed by Apple are likely to ship in the fourth quarter of 2020 or the first quarter of 2021, according to MacRumors.

Further details on these machines were apparently not forthcoming, but Kuo does also say that all-new MacBook designs are planned for the second or third quarter of next year.