Last week we posted a report titled "Apple Reportedly shifting more MacBook Orders to Foxconn from Quanta this year." The original Digitimes report added that "Apple has not had a major upgrade to its MacBook product line since the releases of its new MacBook Pro devices at the end of 2016 and has no plan for one in 2018." We didn't cover that part of the story because it didn't sound credible. Some Mac sites did cover it. Today we're learning that a new MacBook will be coming to market in the second half of the year.

A new supply chain report this morning states that touch panel maker General Interface Solution (GIS) is expected to land more LCM (LCD module) orders from Apple, which reportedly plans to release an entry-level 13-inch MacBook in the second half of 2018, according to industry sources.Company chairman Chou Hsien-ying has disclosed that it began shipping LCM for notebooks in fourth-quarter 2017 and the segment accounts for a small portion of GIS' total revenues.

With new orders for MacBooks and other models, GIS is expected to ramp up its LCM shipments to 600,000 units a month by the end of 2018 compared to 300,000 units currently, said the sources.

However, GIS is expected to see its revenues stay flat or up slightly on year in the first half of 2018 as its shipments of 3D touch panels for iPhone X are likely to drop.

Shipments of the iPhone X from Apple's production partner Foxconn Electronics are now projected to reach 18 million and 13 million units in the first and second quarter of 2018, compared to 20-30 million and 15-20 million units forecast previously, said the sources.

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