Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple's 2026 Low-Cost A18 Pro MacBook: What We Know So Far

Indeed, such a low-cost MacBook would be good for light/basic computing. I could see it quickly becoming popular in the education market for that reason.
Heck, thanks to the Apple Silicon transition, even the MacBook Air has ended up becoming a pretty good computer for moderate digital media work, at least with 16 GB of RAM or greater (i.e. my M1 MacBook Air), with performance fairly close to the base-like MacBook Pros (compared to their Intel predecessors).
 
  • Like
Reactions: dave559 and Omega Mac
257Loner said:
Here's a comparison of transistors across Apple's chips:
M1: _ _ _ 16 billion
A18 Pro: 20 billion
M2: _ _ _ 20 billion
M3: _ _ _ 25 billion
M4: _ _ _ 28 billion
M5: . . . ~28 billion (estimated)

A low-cost MacBook with the A18 Pro will have more transistors than the M1 MacBook Air had when it debuted in 2020. It would also equal the transistor count that the M2 MacBook Air had when it came out in 2022. In view of that, any customer who might be content with the performance of the M2 MacBook Air will likely be satisfied with the performance of this MacBook. They'll be even happier to have such a capable laptop at a reduced price and under a brand-new One Year Limited Warranty with the option of paying for an AppleCare+ plan.
Click to expand...
Why not slap an M2 or M3 and be done with it?
 
Ceecephous said:
The base m1 air barely works on MacOS Tahoe, let alone an 18pro.
Click to expand...
Looking at the benchmarks the 18 Pro is faster than the M3 in single core, faster than the M1 in multi core, and on par with it in graphics (but also has ray tracing). I’m thinking they’ll increase the clock speed and rebrand it, but I agree with you, it doesn’t leave much overhead for future updates…

The 19 Pro with 12gb RAM makes more sense to me, but idk if they’ll have enough of those stockpiled for the launch of something that’s bound to be this popular
 
If it's significantly smaller than the 13" Air and there is an upgraded model that has a 5G option, I'm all in. If this looks and feels like a 13" MacBook Air but its only differentiator is that is is a bit cheaper (how much lower can they go than EDU and or retailer-sale pricing with the current Air), and with a bit more battery life, It's a pass for me.

I would love a 'MacBook mini' with a 12" OLED display, super thin bezels, built in 5G, an edge to edge keyboard and a Thunderbolt port on each side. I'd gladly pay a premium for this model (that I made up in my head), but I know it's never going to happen.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Mescagnus, AND411 and MacMediaNet
code-m said:
Why not slap an M2 or M3 and be done with it?
Click to expand...
The A18 Pro chip is smaller, with a die size of 105mm², compared to the M2 chip, with a die size of 155mm². The reason both chips have a similar transistor count despite being different in size is because the A18 Pro has a higher transistor density.

A smaller chip is a cheaper one because you can print more of them onto a single silicon wafer.
 
Last edited:
So A series chip does it mean that there won’t be memory swap? As far as I know A chips did not offer memory swap on iPads which sometimes results in lagging when browsing with more windows open.
 
throAU said:
One USB-C USB3 10G port.

Enough to hook it up to a type C dock for everything else including charging. That’s what the iPhone the chip is from has.
Click to expand...
I rarely disagree with your posts, but I’m going to say one USB4 port, one MagSafe 3 and one combo audio jack. They can always add an extra support chip for USB4 or it’s already in the A18 Pro and just not turned on for the iPhones that used it.
 
perfect for kids. We have Apple products everywhere at home and it is quite an eye sore they have to use cheap Google Chromebook from school.
 
Atog said:
So A series chip does it mean that there won’t be memory swap? As far as I know A chips did not offer memory swap on iPads which sometimes results in lagging when browsing with more windows open.
Click to expand...
Didn't the original AS transitional devkit, which featured an A12Z, run macos just fine with swap memory?
 
  • Like
Reactions: code-m
Populus said:
That wasn’t an A-class SoC, but rather an M-class SoC. Remember, the M1 was nothing more than an A14Z chip.
Click to expand...
I always thought A12Z was a top-bin A12X with further optimized thermal performance. But I've never seen one up-close, so I could be wrong. Did the A12Z feature the hypervisor/virtualisation enhancements of the M-series?
 
Very much needs 16GB or RAM or it will be extremely gimped running macOS. Spare the 8GB is enough comments, it is not enough.
 
seek3r said:
It’s a lower TDP SoC than the M2, and with less cores, half the performance cores of the M2 (and a more anemic GPU as well). I would expect this machine to match, maybe exceed, the performance of the M1 MBA, it wont pass the M2 except maybe for limited duration single core tasks
Click to expand...
According to Geekbench, the A18 Pro outperforms the M3 in single-core tasks despite having 2 fewer cores:

iPhone 16 Pro vs iPad Air 11-inch (7th generation) - Geekbench

browser.geekbench.com browser.geekbench.com
 
  • Haha
  • Disagree
Reactions: wyrdness, TruthAboveAllElse and snipr125
Zdigital2015 said:
I rarely disagree with your posts, but I’m going to say one USB4 port, one MagSafe 3 and one combo audio jack. They can always add an extra support chip for USB4 or it’s already in the A18 Pro and just not turned on for the iPhones that used it.
Click to expand...
That might be what you want, but it isn't what you're going to see.

Thats MacBook Air/Pro.

This is/has to be cut down to fit into the tier structure.


Apple COULD add the ports you want but that isn't what this product is going to be and not what its aimed at. Adding those ports to A18/19/Pro would be additional design, this product is to get rid of existing inventory of chips. Not make more and certainly not spin up bespoke designs. That would cost money and shouldn't be in the budget.

If you want MagSafe/audio/etc that product already exists in the lineup. Apple aren't going to make something cheaper for you with that 😀
 
stownsend3 said:
Will likely try to find an excuse for this in my workflow. The idea of a small, cheap, light laptop I can toss in the bag for a trip is so alluring. I know I’ll end up disappointed, but this is the way.
Click to expand...
This already exists, it’s the MacBook Air. The OLED version should be coming by the end of next year. This thing look and feel cheap and slow by comparison. If you’re the type of person to look for excuses to buy more tech, the Air will be better in every way, especially when it gets OLED.

I’m hoping on the 2nm process that Apple will be able to offer the M6 Pro in the MacBook Air, kinda like they do with the Pro chip upgrade option on the Mac mini. Idk if the M6 Pro will go up to 64GB of memory, but if it does, having that in a 15” Air would be incredible. I’m finally to the point where the latest Max chips are beyond my needs, but I do a lot of multitasking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back