Apple's Low-Cost MacBook: Everything We Know So Far

Apple is moving connected a much affordable mentation of the MacBook that's powered by an A-series iPhone spot alternatively than an M-series Apple silicon chip. We've rounded up each of the rumors astir the caller machine, which is expected adjacent year.

Design

The upcoming low-cost MacBook volition have a 13-inch display (approximately), according to Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo. That means it volition beryllium close astir the aforesaid size arsenic the 13-inch MacBook Air that Apple already sells.

Apple utilized to person a ace bladed 12-inch MacBook and determination person been immoderate off and connected rumors implicit the years suggesting it could spot a revival. A bladed and airy MacBook with an ‌iPhone‌ spot successful it doesn't look retired of the realm of possibility.

The archetypal mentation of the 12-inch MacBook had a low-power Core M chip, and it came retired successful 2015, good earlier Apple transitioned to Apple silicon. There were nary fans wrong and that kept it bladed and quiet, a plan that Apple has continued with the ‌MacBook Air‌.

An A-series spot would not tally arsenic blistery arsenic an M-series chip, and it would request adjacent less vigor dissipation features. Even though thinner and lighter often means much costly with Apple devices, that mightiness not beryllium the lawsuit with an ‌iPhone‌ spot successful a assemblage the size of the ‌MacBook Air‌.

Colors

Apple reserves stately colors for its "Pro" machines, and often uses amusive colors for its lower-cost products. Rumors suggest that the low-cost MacBook could beryllium made disposable successful silver, blue, pink, and yellow. Those colour options really dependable akin to the colour options that Apple offers for the iMac, truthful we could beryllium looking astatine iMac-style shades.

Chip

Kuo says the low-cost MacBook volition usage an A18 Pro chip, and we've besides seen signs of a MacBook with an A18 Pro in Apple's code, truthful each signs constituent to the A18.


The A18 Pro is the spot that Apple introduced successful the iPhone 16 Pro. It uses a second-generation 3-nanometer process and for an ‌iPhone‌ chip, show is impressive.

There's a 6-core CPU with 4 show cores and 2 ratio cores, on with a 6-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine for AI-based tasks. In Geekbench benchmarks, the A18 Pro has an mean single-core people of 3451, and a multi-core people of 8572. For comparison, the M4 spot successful the iPad Pro earns a single-core people of 3694 and a multi-core people of 13732.

The A18 Pro outperforms the M1, which is the spot that Apple kept astir successful a lower-cost mentation of the ‌MacBook Air‌ for respective years.

So an A18 MacBook wouldn't beryllium excessively acold disconnected from the M4 Mac/iPad chips successful presumption of single-core performance, but determination would beryllium a quality successful multi-core performance.

Thermal Design

The ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ has a thermal architecture that combines a titanium framework with a graphite clad aluminum substructure, and immoderate parts of that physique could construe to a MacBook.

RAM

Macs commencement with 16GB RAM, but the ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ has 8GB RAM, the minimum for Apple Intelligence. We tin expect an A18 Pro MacBook to person astatine slightest 8GB RAM truthful it tin enactment ‌Apple Intelligence‌, but it's imaginable Apple volition springiness it the 16GB that each Macs have.

Ports

The A18 Pro spot successful the ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ models doesn't enactment Thunderbolt, truthful the MacBook volition beryllium constricted to USB-C (10GB/s) and won't connection Thunderbolt speeds. That volition bounds show connectivity, truthful it's apt the A18 Pro MacBook volition lone enactment a azygous outer display.

Price

The ‌MacBook Air‌ with M4 spot is priced starting astatine $999, and it comes with a 10-core CPU, an 8-core GPU, 16GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD. The A18 Pro MacBook could beryllium a mates 100 dollars little expensive, though we person nary penetration into pricing close now.

Apple astir apt won't privation to undercut its ‌iPad‌ pricing. The low-cost ‌iPad‌ with A16 spot starts astatine $349, and the iPad Air with M2 spot starts astatine $599. A terms astir $599 to $699 could marque the astir consciousness due to the fact that it wouldn't beryllium arsenic costly arsenic the ‌MacBook Air‌ oregon ‌iPad Pro‌, but would travel successful astatine oregon conscionable implicit the ‌iPad Air‌'s cost.

$599 would beryllium connected par with immoderate of the highly rated Chromebook options that radical often acquisition for schoolhouse use. $599 is besides the outgo of the iPhone 16e, Apple's astir affordable ‌iPhone‌ that uses a somewhat little almighty A18 chip.

Launch Date

Kuo says Apple is going to commencement producing the low-cost MacBook precocious successful the 4th fourth of 2025 oregon aboriginal successful the archetypal 4th of 2026. That would align with a outpouring 2026 motorboat timeline.
This article, "Apple's Low-Cost MacBook: Everything We Know So Far" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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