Apple’s most affordable new laptop is a MacBook Air of $ 999. For many people, it’s still too expensive, especially compared to Chromebooks and Budget -PCs. But Apple may finally do something about it.
According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple plans to release a brand new MacBook model designed for the low cost market. The laptop does not use an M-Series chip, but an A18 Pro, the same chip found in the iPhone 16 Pro. Kuo believes it will have a 13-inch screen and come in blue, pink, silver and yellow.
Kuo claims that the new laptop will be available either at the end of this year or early 2026. Apple has established late autumn as a timeframe for the MacBook Pro releases and the company is expected to update this laptop to M5 this year. If Apple does not release the new A18-PRO-based laptop at the same time, the company could launch it with the M5 MacBook Air update in 2026, which usually arrives in the first quarter.
The use of an A18 Pro is interesting. It is an iPhone chip, but Apple’s A and M series chips are based on the same general architecture-M chips benefit from MacBook’s size and is more equipped to handle larger treatment tasks. An A18 Pro MacBook will be able to do everything an M-Series MacBook can, but it will be slower. In our previous reviews, the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro has a geekbench multi-core score of 8048, while the M4 MacBook Air’s score is 14680, but it will still be plenty.
A16 Pro vs. M-Series Chips: Geekbench 6.4
The results are expressed as geekbench scores. Higher score/longer bars are faster.
Compared to all bass level M chips, the A18 Pro is even slower than M1 released five years ago, although the difference is nominal. Even if Apple can improve the performance of an A16 Pro in a MacBook, it will feel like an M1 MacBook Air – which is not bad at all. Even today, an M1 MacBook Air is a good laptop for many people who use it only for basic tasks such as E email and web browsing.
The use of a 13-inch screen is also interesting. While the display is likely to match the MacBook Air-one LED background Panel-What will Apple do to maintain the profile difference between this laptop and the air? The 13 inch air is 0.44 inches (1.13 cm) thick and weighs 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg). For starters, it looks like Apple would need to make this new laptop thicker and heavier to avoid negating the air’s air, but that may not be the case because Apple could emphasize the air’s blend of performance and portability.
Offers the new laptop in blue, pink, silver and yellow bring back memories of iBook and its candy colors. But it also raises the question: Will these laptops have aluminum cases? KUO does not offer details of the case material. Apple ditched plastic portable cases many years ago, but that doesn’t mean it won’t return. Plastic is cheaper than aluminum, and KUO reports that Apple’s goal is to sell 25 million MacBook devices a year, which would be an increase of 5 million. To move 5 million devices, Apple may have to bring the price significantly lower and plastic can allow the company to do so.
Macrumors reports that there may be references to this new laptop in the Code of Apple Intelligence. KUO does not offer more details about the laptop, but if this rumor stops, we should hear more about it in the coming months.