I’d buy the cheaper 2026 MacBook, but I’d prefer an iPhone I could use as a laptop
Apple’s set to shove an iPhone chip inside a laptop, which makes it increasingly unreasonable that you can’t use an iPhone like one
I use an iMac as my day-to-day computer. It’s got a big display. The ports around back plug into all the important things I need plugged in. The all-in-one design looks fab. And it’s purple. The 24in iMac is one of those times I liked a review unit so much that I bought my own. But there is one tiny snag with an iMac: it’s not very portable.
You’re going to look like a massive idiot tapping away at an iMac on a train or, worse, a plane, the seat-back tray table buckling while cabin crew rapidly flick through manuals for details on precisely which computers are banned on board. And don’t even try using one in the park when you fancy a day working outside in the open air, unless you own a very long power cable. So, yes, I’ve long had a MacBook of some kind lurking.
Alas, my Apple laptop is like a car. It’s vital on the few occasions I need it, but it spends most of its time doing nothing. Also, buying a new one is painfully expensive, and I’m loath to do so. However, because of the nature of the work I do – mostly writing, the odd bit of image creation, and irregular and increasingly unlikely attempts to crack the top 40 as I approach my 50s – I don’t need a MacBook powerful enough to render an entire Pixar feature in a nanosecond. I can make do with something far more modest.
Which is why my ears pricked up on hearing Apple is set to release a cheaper MacBook in 2026, driven by a chip that first made its debut stuffed inside an iPhone.
Mac to basics
As ever, the rumour mill is lobbing darts to see what sticks. But no one outside Apple knows what this 2026 MacBook’s specs and price will be. Anyone expecting dirt cheap is in for a rude awakening because Apple doesn’t do dirt cheap. ‘More affordable’ feels plausible, though – a laptop equivalent of the iPhone 16e.
So what might that look like? If we’re lucky, a 13in MacBook Air with the M4 chip swapped for an A18 Pro, and one of the USB-C ports mysteriously erased. Worst case: Apple finds old M1 MacBook Air shells in a skip and attempts to dust them down and repurpose them for its new entry-level Mac.
Will this work anyway (minus the skip part)? Hard to say. An A18 Pro’s 8GB of RAM feels tight – Macs I used a couple of years back with such specs struggled. However, if this MacBook slips meaningfully below the $999/£999 floor of the current MacBook Air, any compromises might be more acceptable for a ‘second’ Mac or one for people with modest needs. I’m still sceptical, though, because Apple rarely undercuts itself. Profits trump market share. A cheap Mac of this ilk would be a major departure.
Also, in September, Apple remarked that its new iPhones have “MacBook Pro levels of compute”. Which again made me think: if Apple’s going to shove an iPhone chip inside a Mac, why not leverage iPadOS multitasking smarts and let me use my iPhone like a laptop? Android 16 does.
The inevitable answer: because Apple will do almost anything to get you to buy more hardware for specific tasks, rather than one device that can do more. And, like a chump, I’m going to fall for it again. Still, at least my next MacBook might not cost the earth.
Craig Grannell
Contributor 
