Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

[dazey]

End of the day, if they get it under a kg (like the 0.9kg retina 12 inch) then I will update mine. Even an iPhone chip will outclass the old intel

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

I’ve been waiting for Apple to release something like this. They already have lower-cost options for iPad and iPhone; they should have a Mac option that starts below $999. They could really increase market share with something like this, especially in schools and poorer countries.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

I don't doubt it. It would be worth it though because we would be saving even more of the planet while we use something already powerful enough to run Mac OS for 90% of the people on the planet.

No comment.

 

[wonderings]

No comment.

well said.

 

[wonderings]

I’ve been waiting for Apple to release something like this. They already have lower-cost options for iPad and iPhone; they should have a Mac option that starts below $999. They could really increase market share with something like this, especially in schools and poorer countries.

Don't think Apple actually cares anything about increasing their market share. They are dominating as is and one of the wealthiest companies on the planet, depending on what day it is and how the stocks are fairing. I am sure they care as much about the poor countries and schools just as much as they do the environment.

 

[racerhomie]

Yah any low-cost Mac is going to sell like crazy. The trick is to make sure its actually cheap, like <$500

That’s never happening. Apple has iPads with iPadOS 26 for that $330 price point. This will most likely be $700-900 from what I heard

 

[akeita]

iPad (entry level) - iPad Air (mid tier) - iPad Pro (pro)

MacBook (entry level) - MacBook Air (mid tier) - MacBook Pro (pro)

I suppose it makes sense how they segment the market.

Now, if the target market is K-12, perhaps 13" is too big? 12" sounds better. One can always get the 13" MBA to get the bigger screen.

 

[whelmedjedi]

Completely different market - just get a UPS to use with the Mac mini?

I hate ups market. Very low quality products. And why should i endure the hassle? Included battery would be way better.

 

[whelmedjedi]

Just get a UPS…

Have you ever looked at ups market? They are ****** products.

If that's your preferred setup, the laptop is what's best for you. In my case, I use a Mac Mini headless connected to the same UPS as my other networking and storage equipment in the office. A battery inside the Mini would be pointlessly redundant, as it would unnecessarily take up more space just like a laptop would. It wouldn't fit in the small cabinet I put it in currently. A UPS is ideally a separate device, because that gives you much better options and lets you put everything important on battery backup.

ups only holds you for few minutes. And power house’s are way expensive.

 

[GlamCheese666]

First Mac?? Did we really forget about Mac Mini A12?

 

[Eidorian]

It's ARM in their stack for personal computers already. No shock or surprises here.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

This morning I bought a brand new MBA base model from an authorized dealer for $699…obviously Apple is overpricing their products.

 

[turbineseaplane]

This morning I bought a brand new MBA base model from an authorized dealer for $699…obviously Apple is overpricing their products.

By design .. that way things are ON SALE! all the time.

 

[seek3r]

Have you ever looked at ups market? They are ****** products.

I spent years working in datacenters, I have UPSes on all my personal gear, and we have UPSes on all the racks for our on prem gear at work

ups only holds you for few minutes. And power house’s are way expensive.

Get a bigger UPS

 

[whelmedjedi]

Wait. If the power goes out in your house, then EVERYTHING goes off...so why are you mad at the Mac Mini server for not having an internal battery?

Buy a good UPS for $150 and it will power your Mac Mini (M2 model only uses about 25 watts) for easily over an hour. Of course you're going to need a UPS for your router, cablemodem, network rack, etc.

What's great about the Mac Mini (I have 20 of them at home) is that if they lose power, they boot right back up when the power comes back on. You can even configure the machine to auto-log-in in case you have some scripts or software that doesn't start until actual log in.

p.s. For years and years I've hoped that many low powered desktops would include a battery long enough for the machine to run for 1-2 minutes for very short power outages and/or time for your home generator to kick in and also for the machine to write what's in memory to disc and gracefully shut down. Alas, I've never seen said desktop even though hard disks are basically gone and replaced with very low-power-sucking SSD and NVME as well as the industry move to lower-powered CPUs.

Macs are expensive devices. I would like to have that damper to protect electronic components. UPS’s are mostly ****** products. And some of them dont have good latency to work with pc’s. They get broken after some time.

 

[snakes-]

Lower base price make sense. Many will consider to max it out 24-32 gb ram, 2tb ssd, and apple knows this.
Even for schools , startups or small companies who want ditch windows 10 once and for all, this machine will be interesting.

 

[jlc1978]

Didn’t Mark Gurman say something to this effect a few years ago? This is likely to offset their losses in K-12 to the likes of Chromebook. Chromebook rules schools now. If Apple were able to pull off a $600 notebook that could definitely help.

K-12 pricing would be key; but if they pull it off they could also get college and casual users to consider a Mac as well by offering a compelling price point with a machine that is powerful enough for those users.

It also gives them a machine to be in the mass consumer market, such as Walmart and Target in the US, worldwide.

 

[MacMikePro]

This morning I bought a brand new MBA base model from an authorized dealer for $699…obviously Apple is overpricing their products.

I don't think you understand how it works lol

 

[MacMikePro]

I’ve been waiting for Apple to release something like this. They already have lower-cost options for iPad and iPhone; they should have a Mac option that starts below $999. They could really increase market share with something like this, especially in schools and poorer countries.

I agree, though Apple does still currently sell the M1 MacBook Air exclusively through Walmart for $699. That's not like old leftover stock or refurbished or anything, that's still a brand new device coming from Apple's manufacturing line that they currently sell, my guess is that this new MacBook would replace that machine in their lineup.

 

[seek3r]

Macs are expensive devices. I would like to have that damper to protect electronic components.

So a UPS...

UPS’s are mostly ****** products.

[citation needed]

And some of them dont have good latency to work with pc’s.

What does this even mean?

They get broken after some time.

You mean the battery needs to be replaced...? That would also happen on an internal battery too....

 

[Mactagonist]

How much cheaper could this really be then a last gen (or last last last gen in the case of the M1 Air)?

Is it really worth adding another SKU for that difference?

 

[seek3r]

You dont event know ups’s have latency in case of an outage and you still talk.

What do you mean by latency? You mean the transfer time? If your mini cant manage the standard transfer time on a UPS you have a hardware problem on your computer. Also, hate to tell you this, but internal batteries often have the same thing

 

[Kayak49]

MacBook for the masses! I like it. I’m going to assume it will be browser/internet ready, so I can see its growing use among lots of people who have been on-line shy or hesitant before this. The ability to access info, services, different points of view is always a good thing.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

I don't think you understand how it works lol

There’s a lot to it but I’ll standby for your supply chain/retail distribution class. However, I have a little bit of knowledge to understand a big company wouldn't purposefully lose money selling something unless absolutely necessary. They obviously had enough flexibility to take 30% all MBA SKUs online and in-store with no limit on amount. These are Apple devices so they wouldn’t have any problem moving them.

 

[macbookj0e]

I could definitely see this getting named just MacBook to match the low end iPad. For everyone wanting/expecting something as small and light as the 12" MacBook, though, that extra thinness wasn't exactly cheap, with the 12" costing more than the Air. Lower cost probably will mean something thicker for parts like the display. Maybe the return of a wedge shape to make up for that?

Yeah I think you’re right, if this is a low cost ‘Macbook’ it may be thicker than the Air, having said that the more efficient A chip could counter that by using a smaller battery? It could even be plastic to cut costs down but not sure if apple would go that far in 2025.

It’ll definitely be interesting to see what’s released, if anything!