Folks, you do realize that the A chips and M chips are literally the same technology, right?
They share cores, same unified memory, same encoders and decoders, same TSMC process, same everything.
The A18Pro is equivalent to, and sometimes even outperforms, the M1 chip.
This is really not that radical of a concept.
Apple has been selling the M1 MBA at Walmart for the last several years at a discounted $649 or even sometimes $599 price point.
The M1 however, is no longer being produced, seeing as it’s a chip from five years ago.
So given that the A18Pro is literally just as powerful, but based on today’s technology, this product absolutely makes sense.
It’s a replacement for the Walmart MacBook Air that has been wildly successful for Apple, that has helped dramatically increase Mac market share in the sub-$1000 area.
People like to fearmonger, but using this new budget, MacBook will be basically no different than using an M1 machine.