Any chance Apple will be making dirt cheap Mac Mini and iMacs with A18 chips? Maybe for the education market or emerging markets. Would this make sense?
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A18 iMac and Mac Mini
- Thread starter bunce66
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The Mac mini is already cheap (as far as Apple prices go). I find Apple usually puts one product in a lineup that notably undercuts the others as an entry point. A cheap iMac doesn't really fit with this, a cheap MacBook does since the mini isn't portable.
It seems pretty certain that Apple will be releasing a cheap A-series based MacBook this year, possibly by the end of January.
IvyKing
macrumors 6502
With occasional sale prices of $399 for a base M4 Mini, I don't think the A18 would lower the cost enough to make it worthwhile. The cheap MacBook is a slightly different story as the A18 may have lower power consumption than a base M4 or M5 processor. The lower power consumption would allow for smaller battery and simpler heat sinking, neither of which would make much of a difference in a Mini.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Pressure
macrumors 603
These come in stock in the evening and sell out quickly so you have to buy it online and then pick it up in the store the next day. If you can catch them when they have it in stock during the day, which does happen, then you might be able to get Best Buy to price match it.
I think not.
The cost of Ax is, I am sure, not much less than that of the Mx chips. And there is little benefit for iMac (with its expensive screen) or Mac mini.
But for a portable device, the lower power consumption allows for a longer battery life or, more likely, a smaller and lighter device. Couple with a lower cost screen this would allow a significant cost saving.
A-series are likely quite a bit "cheaper" than M-series due to being made in huge volumes for iPhones, which shift far more units than Macs, and Apple already have a decent return-on-investment for those chips vs. brand new M-series chips. Anyway, I don't think Apple prices are really determined by component costs (apart from "don't make a loss" - but I don't think Apple are anywhere near that threshold). It's more about strategically chosen price point, what the consumer perceives as "value", the likely volume of sales and the likely effect on other models.
The price points for Macs barely changed in the move from Intel to Apple Silicon, and the base iMac price has been the same number of dollars since 1998!
There's a huge market for lower-end MacBooks - an ultra-portable laptop is the go-to personal computer product for the mass market. There's also a proven, existing niche for a bargain-bucket MacBook Air - Walmart have been (still are?) selling "new" M1 Airs for a knock-down price - which doesn't seem to have cannibalised new M4/M5 MacBooks. The rumoured A-series MacBook is likely aimed at that slot (it will be interesting to see whether it ever appears on the main Apple Store or is an exclusive for large retailers and/or an education-only model).
Minis and iMacs sell in far lower volume (and probably tilted more towards enthusiast/hobbyist users) - and the Mini is already cheap (by Apple standards) and widely discounted - I don't think there is even room in the market for a bargain-bucket Mini or iMac.
IvyKing
macrumors 6502
I tend to agree, $399 Mini's from Microcenter don't leave much room for price reduction. In the case of the iMac, the selling point of an iMac over a MacBook is a much larger screen, which limits how low the price can go.
Funny Apple Man
macrumors 6502a
An A18 Mac mini Neo for around $300-400 would be great. Not going to happen, but I also had thought a $600 MacBook Neo wasn't going to happen either.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
That computer would certainly impact sales of the current Mini that can be had for 500 dollars (and less when on sale). I don't see apple offering a low cost mini when they already have a low cost mini
Basic75
macrumors 68030
Why would it be so much more expensive than an Apple TV? It'd not be much different. Surely they could make it for $200 if they wanted to. If.
I was wondering exactly the same thing. If you look at the price point Apple has been able to bring the MacBook Neo to market at ($599/$699 for non-edu) I would think that stripping out the screen, the battery, the keyboard, the trackpad and presumably using a chassis that would be cheaper than a hinged laptop chassis might make a $399 or even a $349 entry point achievable.
I've seen some MacBook Neo teardowns now so one other thing that I was thinking about clearly hasn't happened which makes me think that an A18 Mac Mini is now less likely. What I was thinking before we saw the MacBook Neo in real life was that if Apple had used an internal layout for the Neo that had different shapes for the battery and motherboard that what we now see - a motherboard that was more square-shaped than the long thin shape that we actually see - then potentially Apple could have used exactly the same MacBook Neo electronics in an A18 Mac Mini. It might well have wanted to track the motherboard for HDMI and RJ45 sockets that would have been populated for a Mac Mini build but left blank (or with spacers) for a MacBook build (similar to how the physical SIM card slot on iPhone was handled in previous years depending on country variant being built) but that's pretty much a software change on the production line. That economy of scale would presumably have been helpful to Apple in achieving a very aggressive price point for such a derived A18 Mac Mini.
I think it's a shame that we haven't seen such a system from Apple (yet?) however it is realised. As well as being an even lower priced entry point than the MacBook Neo to entice new users into the MacOS world it could also have made a very interesting product for industrial control and lab monitoring (and maybe video security systems as well) for situations where single-board computers such as a Raspberry Pi don't have quite enough power for whatever is required. The cost of something like a like Raspberry Pi does start mounting up once you add case & SD card and while an A18 Mac Mini would almost certainly still be more expensive than a built-out Raspberry Pi system it would have significantly more power and would be a more turnkey system vs messing around with cases, SD cards & (probably) Linux builds to get the basic system up and running.
iMacs historically cost a lot if you want higher spec levels.
The MSRP on my 2017 iMac Pro was $5K and that was the base model.
The economy of scale for the Neo is the A18 Pro chip which is designed already for the iPhone from the prior year. Circuit board layout is much cheaper to do so you rarely have a common board system board for different form factors. A Mini Neo was never a thing as this isn't about flooding the market with cheap Macs. Apple is focusing on a market segment that is filled with plastic junk which still delivers decent performance by offering a premium product.
Vincent Hanna
macrumors regular
The point of the Neo is hitting the psychologically important $599 price point. Anything lower than that just hurts Apple’s brand.
The M4 mini is already $599, and already the best value in any desktop computer.
The M4 mini is already $599, and already the best value in any desktop computer.
Who says what is the psychologically price point for APple? until now for mac it was the 999 and desktop 499
If now is 599 then who says in next future will not be 299 for an fan-less A18 Mac mini
Since the first gen cheaper devices in every segment, Apple lowered the price point..apple watch SE, iphone SE, ipad and now Neo...soon can be an Mac Mini Neo. Their business changed a lot under Tim
If now is 599 then who says in next future will not be 299 for an fan-less A18 Mac mini
Since the first gen cheaper devices in every segment, Apple lowered the price point..apple watch SE, iphone SE, ipad and now Neo...soon can be an Mac Mini Neo. Their business changed a lot under Tim
The M4 mini was selling at $499 for about 1/2 of 2025 at Microcenter. They usually got in about 20-25 a day in the evening and they were reserved for sale by the morning.
Vincent Hanna
macrumors regular
The only people that want $299 desktops are broke nerds that Apple doesn’t want anywhere near an Apple Store. Regular consumers wouldn’t buy it, even at the price, because they want laptops.
Vincent Hanna
macrumors regular
That Neo soon will be offered at under $500 by Apple...
Apple made a cheap laptop and removed their highest Mac Pro...Apple now has a lot of bargain bins
Apple made a cheap laptop and removed their highest Mac Pro...Apple now has a lot of bargain bins