Apple Launching Budget MacBook in 2026

[JPack]

Glad to hear Gurman confirm Kuo's scoop on this product.

For lots of people, M4/M5 MBA is simply overkill for content consumption and productivity. Students for sure don't need that power and they're not running Adobe CC or local LLMs. This low-cost MacBook is perfect for most people, similar to the way iPhone 16e and 17 are great.

 

[kotaKat]

Oh, is this Gurman’s Guess on the budget MacBook we all already know is on the way? Yawn, f*cking yawn.

 

[So@So@So]

I feel that the reason this hasn't already happened is that Apple would't like to cannibalize iPad sales. A lightweight small MacBook would be a hit!

 

[MysteriousStain]

I take one in Bondi blue

 

[JPack]

Bingoooo

Brand damaging or brand cannibalization. The same reason budget iPhones don’t work.

Nah, iPhone 16e is doing decently well. So has SE since 2016.

 

[navaira]

I just got an Air on sale because it looked like this was not happening. I went with 15” to have a larger screen and now I’m surprised by how large the laptop is (I am not very smart). If this is the new incarnation of the 12” rMB, I need it. As in, I don’t, but I crave it.

 

[jz0309]

Gurman "predicting" a new timeline...

With the discounts we're seeing for the base Air this thing cannot be more than $599 tops

 

[deconstruct60]

While Apple has long had a more affordable "SE" version of the iPhone, Macs have always been more expensive, premium devices.

More like:
" While Apple used to long have a more affordable "SE" version. "

The "SE" now is now covering the "iPhone n-2" slot in the line up. Apple abandoned the more/most affordable slot.
It used to be iPhone n, iPhone n-1 , iPhone n-2. , "SE". Apple walked up the entry price point and cut the legacy "SE" slot off completely. Goes the the 'hand waving' that Apple die about the new SE doing better than the old. Well, if throw two product demographic groups at one product ... it probably should do a incrementally better relative to just a singular old category. ( old iPhone n-2 and upper 'half" of old "SE")..

And also likely a contributing reason to why want to stuff an iPhone "Pro" SoC into a Mac since phones are not covering as much time as before. The An Pro die driting away from the regular phone is another related problem. They need a 'hand me down" product for those instead of just tossing them each year.

 

[tuckerjj]

Bringing back the "iBook"?

And plot twist: it will run a version of iOS/iPad OS.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

En****ification much. COMPLETELY lost direction if this is true. Reminds me of Sony. Used to make great products, then tried to make every product known to man with more misses than hits and now where are they?

Absolute nonsense.
The A18Pro is basically just as powerful, if not more so, than the M1 chip.
The M1 chip is already more than enough for most basic tasks.
Guarantee for day-to-day tasks this budget MacBook will barely be noticeably different than the M4 MacBook Air.

 

[DavidSchaub]

My half-donkeyed $599 specs for (in order of likely):
- A18 Pro
- smaller battery
- no Rosetta 2
- one external display
- M1's webcam
- two 10 Gbps USB-C
- headphone jack
- two speakers
- 256GB storage (one chip)
- 12GB RAM
- sub-retina screen
- non-backlit keyboard
- no charger in the box
- plastic case

 

[klasma]

A low end machine will either:

1. Provide a bad experience, so people won't like it and it will damage the Mac brand
2. Or provide a good experience, then people don't need to buy higher-end devices

It might conceivably provide a meh experience.

 

[sw1tcher]

Nah, iPhone 16e is doing decently well. So has SE since 2016.

iPhone SE has sold "decently well" because they tend to be heavily discounted with zero trade-in. MVNO's frequently sold them at a huge discounts.

These low priced MacBooks are not going to be carrier subsidized. Sales will depend on how they're spec'ed vs regular MacBooks and its price.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-se-2020-for-49-at-cricket-wireless.2280906/

 

[turbineseaplane]

En****ification much. COMPLETELY lost direction if this is true. Reminds me of Sony. Used to make great products, then tried to make every product known to man with more misses than hits and now where are they?

This is the legacy of Tim "SKU-fest" Cook.

I'm just happy that more and more people are getting sick of it.

He needs to go.

 

[klasma]

Bingoooo

Brand damaging or brand cannibalization. The same reason budget iPhones don’t work.

That’s a weird take, given that the iPhone 16e does neither.

 

[AppleTO]

I bet there will be some drawback, such as it runs macOS, but can only install/run apps from the Mac app store.

 

[GypsyScot]

Does this scream eMate 300 to anyone else?

 

[turbineseaplane]

All y'all getting excited about this ..

We'll see where you're at when this is the first Mac that only runs Mac App Store sourced software.

 

[redjar597]

I like this idea tbh and I'm looking forward to it even though I usually use a higher powered desktop. Especially if it's even thinner or lighter than the MBA.

A18 Pro chip should be more than powerful enough seeing a what it could do on iOS for all day to day tasks, RAM could be an issue if limited to 8 GB, but 12 GB should be enough.

Other issue is price point if only $200 cheaper than the Air then probably not worth it.

But if form factor is good then could see myself throwing this into my backpack for slack, teams, office, text editor, email, basic work, plus entertainment, not having a bulkier more expensive laptop, and letting my desktop do the heavy lifting for work at home.

Rather this form factor than iPad for all of the above.

 

[klasma]

If the iPhone SE branding hadn't gone away, I would have proposed the MacBook SE?

A MacBouquet maybe?

 

[turbineseaplane]

I bet there will be some drawback, such as it runs macOS, but can only install/run apps from the Mac app store.

This is my prediction as well.

You KNOW they want to do it .. $$$SO BAD ... and have to start somewhere, and I think this machine will be it.

The "budget" nature of it, making it attractive for kids and schools, will also be used to justify their total BS about "security and privacy of Apple App Stores".

 

[JPack]

iPhone SE has sold "decently well" because they tend to be heavily discounted with zero trade-in. MVNO's frequently sold them at a huge discounts.

These low priced MacBooks are not going to be carrier subsidized. Sales will depend on how they're spec'ed vs regular MacBooks and its price.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-se-2020-for-49-at-cricket-wireless.2280906/

View attachment 2576090

MacBooks don't need to be subsidized. People are buying $999 MBA even without discounts. With edu, it drops down to $899. During back to school, it was down to $720 using the AirPods loophole.

A $599 or $699 low-cost MacBook just needs to outperform similarly priced Windows notebooks. With A18 or A19, it will do that for sure.

 

[mikethebigo]

If macOS can run on A18 Pro, I'd like the ability to plug an iPhone into a display and get a desktop, similar to Dex.

 

[turbineseaplane]

If macOS can run on A18 Pro, I'd like the ability to plug an iPhone into a display and get a desktop, similar to Dex.

That doesn't help Apple milk you out of more money for extra devices, which is the only reason you don't have that functionality at this point.

We are way past it being a technical limitation.

 

[DavidSchaub]

I like this idea tbh and I'm looking forward to it even though I usually use a higher powered desktop. Especially if it's even thinner or lighter than the MBA.

I actually hope it is thicker and maybe even heavier than the MacBook Air.

I think Apple needs a cheaper tough laptop for students, not a super-thin-and-light delicate machine for executives.