Tim Cook: Apple has 'great desktops' on the way

Apple is not giving up its Mac desktop computers, chief executive Tim Cook has assured employees, reports TechCrunch.

"Some folks in the media have raised the question about whether we're committed to desktops", he told them in a post to the employee message board. "If there's any doubt about that with our teams, let me be very clear: we have great desktops in our roadmap".

While he does not reveal any details of computers currently under development, Cook says desktops are "really important, and in some cases critical, to people".

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The news comes after a year without any new desktop announcements from the tech giant. Apple's last iMac refresh was in 2015, when it introduced the range-topping 4K 21.5ins and upgraded 5K 27ins models. Its flagship Mac Pro has not been upgraded since it launched in 2013.

Ars Technica says the delays could be pinned on Intel, whose CPU improvement rate has "slowed significantly in the last three years".

The current range of iMacs uses the latest generation of Intel processor, the site adds, although the Mac Mini and Mac Pro both use chips that are "two or three generations old".

Meanwhile, rumours are already circulating about the features of the next iPhone - three months after the launch of the 7 and 7 Plus. A report in the Korea Herald suggests the iPhone 8 will receive a plastic OLED display with curved edges similar to the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.