Apple is working on a more affordable version of the MacBook that's powered by an A-series iPhone chip rather than an M-series Apple silicon chip. We've rounded up all of the rumors about the new machine, which is expected next year.
Design
The upcoming low-cost MacBook will have a 13-inch display (approximately), according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. That means it will be right around the same size as the 13-inch MacBook Air that Apple already sells.
Apple used to have a super thin 12-inch MacBook and there have been some off and on rumors over the years suggesting it could see a revival. A thin and light MacBook with an iPhone chip in it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.
The first version of the 12-inch MacBook had a low-power Core M chip, and it came out in 2015, well before Apple transitioned to Apple silicon. There were no fans inside and that kept it thin and quiet, a design that Apple has continued with the MacBook Air.
An A-series chip would not run as hot as an M-series chip, and it would need even fewer heat dissipation features. Even though thinner and lighter often means more expensive with Apple devices, that might not be the case with an iPhone chip in a body the size of the MacBook Air.
Colors
Apple reserves stately colors for its "Pro" machines, and often uses fun colors for its lower-cost products. Rumors suggest that the low-cost MacBook could be made available in silver, blue, pink, and yellow. Those color options actually sound similar to the color options that Apple offers for the iMac, so we could be looking at iMac-style shades.
Apple has tested light yellow, light green, blue, pink, silver, and dark gray options, according to Bloomberg. Not all of those colors are likely to ship, but it sounds like we'll get at least four of them.
Chip
Kuo says the low-cost MacBook will use an A18 Pro chip, and we've also seen signs of a MacBook with an A18 Pro in Apple's code, so all signs point to the A18.
The A18 Pro is the chip that Apple introduced in the iPhone 16 Pro. It uses a second-generation 3-nanometer process and for an iPhone chip, performance is impressive.
There's a 6-core CPU with four performance cores and two efficiency cores, along with a 6-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine for AI-based tasks. In Geekbench benchmarks, the A18 Pro has an average single-core score of 3451, and a multi-core score of 8572. For comparison, the M4 chip in the iPad Pro earns a single-core score of 3694 and a multi-core score of 13732.
The A18 Pro outperforms the M1, which is the chip that Apple kept around in a lower-cost version of the MacBook Air for several years. An A18 MacBook wouldn't be too far off from the M4 Mac/iPad chips in terms of single-core performance, but there would be a difference in multi-core performance.
A MacBook with the A18 chip would be more than powerful enough for day-to-day use like web browsing, document creation, watching videos, and even light photo and video editing. It won't be ideal for system intensive games or tasks like 4K video editing and 3D rendering, but it will do almost everything an iPhone or iPad can do.
Thermal Design
The iPhone 16 Pro has a thermal architecture that combines a titanium frame with a graphite clad aluminum substructure, and some parts of that build could translate to a MacBook.
RAM
Macs start with 16GB RAM, but the iPhone 16 Pro has 8GB RAM, the minimum for Apple Intelligence. We can expect an A18 Pro MacBook to have at least 8GB RAM so it can support Apple Intelligence, but it's possible Apple will give it the 16GB that all Macs have.
Ports
The A18 Pro chip in the iPhone 16 Pro models doesn't support Thunderbolt, so the MacBook will be limited to USB-C (10GB/s) and won't offer Thunderbolt speeds. That will limit display connectivity, so it's likely the A18 Pro MacBook will only support a single external display.
Name
There's no word on what Apple will call the low-cost notebook, but just "MacBook" is a strong possibility. Apple has used the name on and off over the years, but right now, we only have the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro.
Another possibility is MacBook SE, which would align with the iPhone SE and Apple Watch SE naming. Apple calls the most affordable iPad just the "iPad," though, so MacBook is still the most likely option.
Price
The MacBook Air with M4 chip is priced starting at $999, and it comes with a 10-core CPU, an 8-core GPU, 16GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD. The A18 Pro MacBook could be a couple hundred dollars less expensive, though we have no insight into pricing right now. Bloomberg says the MacBook will cost "well under $1,000," but the rumors don't get more specific than that.
Apple probably won't want to undercut its iPad pricing. The low-cost iPad with A16 chip starts at $349, and the iPad Air with M2 chip starts at $599. A price around $599 to $699 could make the most sense because it wouldn't be as expensive as the MacBook Air or iPad Pro, but would come in at or just over the iPad Air's cost.
$599 would be on par with some of the highly rated Chromebook options that people often purchase for school use. $599 is also the cost of the iPhone 16e, Apple's most affordable iPhone that uses a slightly less powerful A18 chip.
Launch Date
Rumors suggest that the low-cost MacBook will be introduced at or just before Apple's March 4 Special Experience that's taking place in New York, London, and Shanghai. Apple CEO Tim Cook teased a "big week ahead," with product announcements that will start on Monday, March 2.
Select members of the media have been invited to the mini event, and it's likely to provide them with a chance to try the new MacBook and other new devices.
