Let's Face It, the Next MacBook Needs to Be Cheap

We need an affordable MacBook, now more than ever. It’s time to face the fact that today’s headlining laptop chips are overkill for what most folk need a computer for. If the majority of internet users are browsing the internet on phones that cost $200 or $400 less than the cheapest MacBook Air, it only makes sense to put a mobile chip into a laptop shell and call it a day. New rumors suggest that Apple could do just that, and we could see this cheapo Mac before the end of the year.

Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a semi-reliable source for upcoming Apple products, proposed the Mac maker was on the road to a cheaper MacBook. A new report from DigiTimes Asia (spotted by MacRumors) adds fuel to that kindling rumor. The site reported, based on anonymous “supply chain sources,” that there’s a 12.9-inch MacBook in the works that could hit the scene this year. Better yet, it will cost between $600 and $700. The reason it will go for close to $400 under the current MacBook Air M4 is because it will use one of Apple’s A-series mobile chips, likely the A18 Pro found on the iPhone 16 Pro, rather than Apple’s M-series silicon.

The next MacBook would be slightly smaller in size compared to a MacBook Air with a 13.6-inch display. If Apple does manage to push out this cheapo Mac, it likely won’t be here until the tail end of the year. Recent rumors from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggest Apple could push its next MacBook Pros to 2026. A cheap MacBook would be one way to fill the gap in its release schedule. In the meantime, today’s iPads are also split between devices like the iPad mini with an A17 Pro chip and the iPad Air and iPad Pro with M-series silicon. It makes sense for Apple to split up its laptops in the same way.

Apple’s current cheap iPhone, the iPhone 16e, lacks some of the modern amenities of today’s iPhones, like the Dynamic Island and wireless MagSafe charging. A cheap MacBook would likely sport a basic IPS LCD panel and very few I/O ports. It could feature lower resolutions of earlier Intel-based MacBooks like the discontinued 12-inch MacBook. No matter what, its main selling point will be its affordability. Apple would allow users to access the new macOS 26 features alongside quality-of-life capabilities like AirDrop and access to iMessage. Today’s A18 chips are based on a 3nm process, which in layman’s terms means they’re very fast and power efficient. As long as you’re not looking to play AAA games or work on more-intensive rendering apps, such mobile chips would be perfectly serviceable.

While us computing nerds press our noses to the screen to identify the minute differences between single- and multi-core CPU benchmarks across PC and Mac chip generations, the rest of the world isn’t aware or just doesn’t care about how powerful their laptop is. Most consumers just want a device that can browse their socials, hit up their favorite apps, and let them type out a few emails. A phone can do all that, and it’s small enough to fit in your pocket. U.S. census data shows us that most households use phones as their main computing device. Families who only access the internet via a smartphone normally make much less money as a whole than those with home computers and are much more likely to live below the poverty line. There are some people who have no choice but to opt for cheaper devices. Luckily, with today’s variety of chips, cheaper doesn’t need to be worse.

We’re in a place where affordable laptops don’t have to be so much worse. Today’s sub-$500 PCs are relatively serviceable, even with low-end Intel and AMD chips. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a floor for specs that users need to make a laptop worth the money. Today’s Chromebook models have been supplemented by the addition of “Chromebook Plus” with minimum specs like 8GB of RAM. Still, even an excellent laptop like Lenovo’s Chromebook Plus 14 feels constrained by the focus of cloud-based apps on ChromeOS. If Apple sticks macOS 26 on its cheapo MacBook, users would have access to the full gamut of Mac-enabled features.