Is Apple about to make a super affordable MacBook? Here’s what you need to know
The latest rumours suggest Apple is going to stick an iPhone chip inside a MacBook, for a super affordable machine
Apple makes some of the best laptops around. The MacBook Air is the complete package for under $1000/£1000. In fact, I’d go as far as calling it on of the best laptops you can buy. In our review, we said “the MacBook Air is still the everyday laptop to beat.” It scored a full five stars! And the MacBook Pro devices offer the best power from any laptop I’ve used. But Apple might be turning its attention to a new super affordable model.
According to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is working on a new 13-inch MacBook. Rather than the usual M-series chip designed to chew through Logic Pro and external displays, this one would use the A18 Pro – the same chip powering the iPhone 16 Pro. And since Kuo’s report, MacRumors found references to the device in Apple code – so it is in development.
It seems that Apple might be looking to recapture its sales numbers from lockdown, when we all suddenly needed a laptop to work from home. A cheaper machine might be the ticket to bringing the numbers back up to these levels. According to Kuo, Apple wants this thing to move between 5 and 7 million units in 2026, accounting for up to 28% of all MacBook sales.
Apple’s M-series chips are known for muscle – think heavy-duty multitasking, tons of memory, and external display support. But the A18 Pro is… well, it’s a phone chip. A very good one, mind you, but still designed for phones. Which leads me to wonder: what exactly will this MacBook be for? Students? Web browsing and spreadsheets? A glorified Netflix machine? I’m imagining something more like a Chromebook, but for Apple services. Whatever the case, I’m intrigued.
It also seems like Apple might lean more into the “fun” side of things. The MacBook’s expected to come in Silver, Blue, Pink, and Yellow finishes. That’s similar to the base-model iPad (or the iBook G3 if you remember it), and honestly, I’m quite glad. Kuo reckons this new MacBook is expected to enter mass production at the tail end of 2025 or early 2026.
It’s price point is an interesting discussion point. Apple will have to sell this for less than $999/£999 – that’s how much the MacBook Air costs. But if it goes too low, there aren’t many reasons left to buy an iPad instead. I’m think it’ll arrive for somewhere between $599/£599 and $799/£799 – but we’ll have to wait and see.
Connor Jewiss
