Apple to Sell Low-Cost 12-Inch and 13-inch MacBooks for $700 or Less

[MacRumors]

Apple is actively developing new 12-inch and 13-inch MacBook models for sale at a planned price point of around $700 or less, claims a rumor out of Korea.

According to the operator of news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog, supply chain sources have "consistently" seen evidence that Apple has low-cost MacBooks in two different sizes in ongoing development.

The account's sources suggest that while Apple has yet to fully commit to mass producing the low-cost Macs, they are now "more likely than ever" to make it to market because of a sharp fall in iPad and MacBook sales.

The latest rumor comes after Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo this week claimed that Apple is considering launching a low-cost MacBook series next year to boost ailing MacBook shipments, with a target of 8-10+ million units per year.

A DigiTimes report last month also said Apple could launch a more affordable MacBook series in late 2024 to differentiate from the company's existing MacBook Air and Pro lines, and to help the company compete with Google's popular Chromebook models.

The number of educational institutions that have adopted Chromebooks over the last few years has seen rapid growth, especially when compared to Apple's iPads, sales of which have declined in the education market.

Apple's attention is said to be increasingly focused on the sector as a possible avenue to boosting flagging MacBook sales, and is considering offering cheaper and more compact student-friendly machines to claw back its market share. Higher-performance Chromebooks can be picked up for around $700, hence the ~$700 figure Apple is targeting, according to the latest rumor.

• Could Apple's Rumored 2024 Budget Mac Be a 12-inch MacBook?

The Naver blog account has a mixed track record for forecasting Apple's plans, but some of its claims last year proved to be significant. For example, in March 2022 it accurately revealed some details about the third-generation iPhone SE ahead of Apple launching the model. In October of the same year it also accurately predicted that Apple would delay the release of new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models until early 2023.

Article Link: Apple to Sell Low-Cost 12-Inch and 13-inch MacBooks for $700 or Less

 

[MayaUser]

So the news is about the 12" since we already have a "budget" 13" Macbook M1

 

[truesepho]

I’m already in line for a new 12”, hope this is real

 

[azentropy]

Would love to see the revival of a 12" MacBook. Although I still think it makes more sense for Apple to reuse the older MacBook Air design, update the internals from time to time and rebrand it the MacBook SE with a $799 price tag or so.

 

[abatabia]

I miss my 12” 2016 a lot. I’d use this more than an iPad.

 

[oofio2461]

I'm kind of nervous that Apple will make the Macbook lineup too big and confusing like the iPad lineup is now.

 

[pugxiwawa]

Never seen so many confusions in an Apple line up. What a cluster. And why is MBP13 stilll being produced?

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

It's going to have a butterfly keyboard, isn't it.

 

[jonnysods]

I sure hope this is real - man a 12" MacBook would be the shiznit.

 

[zombierunner]

Base storage 64GB 💩

 

[chrono1081]

Good. Many college kids would LOVE something like this. Get them hooked on Apples ecosystem while they're in college and they'll likely stay as adults provided it meets their needs.

 

[antiprotest]

Give me a carbon-positive "unapologetically plastic" Macbook that I can abuse and travel with as a secondary laptop.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Don't do it. The race to the bottom helped put the PC industry in the sad state it is today. I hope they don't start sacrificing standards for the sake of short term sales.

Edit: I guess you guys weren’t around in the 2000s to see what happened to Windows PCs when they started getting cheap. Not saying Apple is going to do that necessarily, that was just my gut reaction. Apple is supposed to maintain the quality and standard of what a computer should be. If they do make an affordable plastic 12” MacBook like the old days then good, they can do a good job with the M1 vs the crap Intel had at the time which they still did a comparatively good job with. Just don’t want to see them chasing Chromebooks as I have heard rumors of.

 

[antiprotest]

Base storage 64GB 💩

Maybe 4GB RAM and 32GB storage, so you have to buy iCloud storage and store everything there.

 

[Ludatyk]

I don't see a low priced MacBook competing against Chromebooks... especially in the educational realm. And I know, I know... macOS is a much better OS. But the problem is Chromebooks can go as low as $150 and most education districts have tight budgets.

 

[ph001bi]

Never seen so many confusions in an Apple line up. What a cluster. And why is MBP13 stilll being produced?

Corporate customers are buying those. Unless you're a Touch Bar aficionado I don't see the attraction.

 

[krspkbl]

Crazy idea I know but could maybe drop the Air to a sane price? Nah, didn't think so.

Who buys a Chromebook outside school needs? If that's the market they are targeting then why not offer students/schools a better discount on the Air? Oh yeah... profits.

I don't see the point in a <$700 MacBook.

Also I don't want to use a tiny 12" screen lmao. 13" is bad enough.

 

[zilchfox]

I'm kind of nervous that Apple will make the Macbook lineup too big and confusing like the iPad lineup is now.

Honestly, it kinda makes sense, especially if these could be more affordable. It’s really just three types of MacBooks; Regular, Air, and Pro— we’ve seen all three of these twice before. Also the screen sizes also make sense. Typically, the larger they get, the more powerful it is:

- MacBook 12”
- MacBook 13”
- MacBook Air 13.6”
- MacBook Air 15”
- MacBook Pro 14”
- MacBook Pro 16”

 

[aonez]

12 inch again, yes!! To be fair the old 12 inch is similar to the current 13 inch in size.

Anyway I’ll buy anything smaller, always, and if it has a M Pro/Max I’ll pay it 🤩

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Look up the pricing of “low cost” Chromebook. Do you really think Apple is going to compete with that kind of pricing?

Else, if pinched-budget school is weighing 3-5 Chromebooks vs. 1 “low cost” MB, which do you think will get the order? There’s always a LOT of students to equip. Extrapolate 3-5 to 1 to 300 or 3,000 students and the dollar differences really show.

Want to sell more MBs? Get much more competitive on RAM & SSD. I was literally credit card in hand ready to buy that beautiful, new 15” Air but wanted more than minimum specs. Add some RAM, add some SSD and it’s suddenly at MBpro pricing.

Meanwhile, I also wanted a true PC for old fashioned Bootcamp and was able to buy a fairly loaded gaming PC with 10TB of fast SSD and 32GB of RAM for LESS than Apple charges for only the 8TB SSD upgrade in Macs. One can buy an 8TB stick of fast m.2 at retail for about 1/3rd of that upgrade price right now. Too bad we’re all proprietaried out of even an option of installing it.

Desirable configs are too expensive… by pricing the sole supply of RAM & SSD at many times market rates. That’s great for shareholders if everyone just pays up… but it gave this near-Apple-everything consumer a full stop on buying a spectacular new MB a few months ago.

Maybe it’s time to find a better balance between maximizing shareholder ROI and maximizing consumer value? As is IMO, it feels like it’s 10 for shareholders and 1 for consumers. Yes, pursuit of profit is crucial in every business, but it’s important to not lose sight of the source of those profits. Accumulated goodwill and halo effect has its limits.

“Let them eat cake?” 💰💰💰

 

[Pezimak]

Will be nice for those that are eligible to get it. Cool little machine, I can see endless accessories for it already being made.

 

[zilchfox]

Crazy idea I know but could maybe drop the Air to a sane price? Nah, didn't think so.

Who buys a Chromebook outside school needs? If that's the market they are targeting then why not offer students/schools a better discount on the Air? Oh yeah... profits.

I don't see the point in a <$700 MacBook.

Also I don't want to use a tiny 12" screen lmao. 13" is bad enough.

A ton of people would want this. I see people buying $200-$800 laptops all the time, and if it has the typical Apple quality and premium feel, it would be game changer.

 

[ScottLV]

This math book is made from 100 percent recycled paper and uses an Etch a sketch for a screen. The low cost MacBook consists of an iPad and a keyboard.

 

[NazgulRR]

480p webcam

 

[CrazyMacUser]

After 2 MacOS upgrades, surely this will be a slow computer. Not worth it.