Apple's Cheap MacBook: What to Expect in 2026

[MacRumors]

Apple is going to release a low-cost MacBook in 2026, with the device set to be more affordable than the $999 MacBook Air. With the affordable notebook, Apple is aiming to better compete with cheap Chromebooks and Windows PCs.

If you're thinking about picking up a computer for lightweight tasks like document editing, web browsing, watching videos, and doing homework, you might want to wait to see what Apple has in store before making a purchase. Below, we highlight what we know about the new Mac so far.

Size

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes the low-cost MacBook will have a display that's around 13 inches in size. The MacBook Air has a 13.6-inch display, so the more affordable MacBook could be slightly smaller. It's sounding like it won't be too far off from the 13-inch MacBook Air, though.

There are no details on how thick it might be, but Apple probably won't prioritize a thin design for a machine optimized for a low price. Since the MacBook Air can run fine with an M-series chip and no fan in an enclosure that's 0.44 inches thick, there's no reason for the MacBook to be any thicker than that.

Design and Display

The low-cost MacBook will have a standard LCD display with no mini-LED technology or ProMotion refresh rate. It could come in bright colors like the iMac, with Kuo suggesting Apple will offer it in silver, blue, pink, and yellow.

A-Series Chip

Apple is planning to use its A18 Pro chip in the MacBook. We first saw the A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro models. The chip is built on Apple's second-generation 3-nanometer process, featuring 8GB RAM and support for Apple Intelligence.

It's fast and efficient, and more than capable of handling day-to-day tasks. In Geekbench 6 benchmarks, the A18 Pro offers single-core CPU performance scores at the level of the M3 Ultra, and multi-core performance scores higher than the M1 chip that Apple used in the first Apple silicon MacBook Air. Metal scores that measure GPU performance are also similar to the M1 chip Metal scores.

The A18 Pro will be equivalent to the M1 for some tasks, and faster for other tasks. Apple no longer sells the M1 MacBook Air from its own store, but it has offered the machine through Walmart at a $599 price point.

Capabilities

With the A18 Pro chip, the low-cost MacBook would be able to do anything that can be done on an iPhone 16 Pro. It would be a suitable replacement for the low-cost iPad paired with a keyboard, and it would also support Apple Intelligence features.

Right now, an iPad is essentially the only option for a low-cost portable device that can serve as a computer, but the low-cost MacBook will add a solution that runs macOS instead of iPadOS.

Tasks like browsing the web, watching videos, creating documents, editing photos, and even light video editing would be no problem. A low-cost MacBook with A18 Pro chip could play all of Apple's iPad and iPhone games, including Apple Arcade titles, but it would not work well with high-end system intensive games.

It would also run apps like Final Cut Pro, but speeds for things like exporting video would not be as quick as with a more powerful Mac.

Apple probably won't go all out on ports, and the MacBook is likely to get just a single USB-C port, though two like the MacBook Air is also possible.

The A18 Pro chip is efficient, and there's a lot of space inside a 13-inch enclosure for a battery, so we could be looking at MacBook Air-level battery life or better. The MacBook Air's battery lasts for up to 18 hours when watching videos, or 15 hours when browsing the web.

Price

There are no specific details on price as of yet, but Bloomberg claims it will cost "well under $1,000." The MacBook Air is priced starting at $999, so it would need to come in under that.

Apple has a 13-inch iPad Air that has a display in the same range rumored for the low-cost MacBook, and it's priced at $799. The iPad Air has a higher-end M-series processor though, so the low-cost MacBook could be less than the iPad Air.

The closest iPad approximation for the chip is the iPad mini, which has an A17 Pro. The iPad mini is priced starting at $499. A price somewhere between $499 and $799 could make sense looking at Apple's existing product lineup. The older M1 MacBook that sells for $599 at Walmart also gives us a hint at what Apple might charge.

Launch Timing

Apple could launch the low-cost MacBook in the first half of 2026. Updates are planned for the MacBook Air in early 2026, so the low-cost model could launch sometime in that same timeframe.

Read More

For more information on Apple's budget MacBook, we have a dedicated guide.

Article Link: Apple's Cheap MacBook: What to Expect in 2026

 

[iHorseHead]

So it won't run Mac apps?
It's like an alternative to a Chromebook.

Edit: Has the article been edited? Before there wasn't that it'll run macOS and will run iPad apps or is it one of them Mandela effect things? Or am I developing scizophrenia?

 

[ralph_sws]

you wrote that it will be available this year! 🤔🤔🤔🤔

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Expect regular macs to go up in price that's what

 

[Elwe]

Who knows, but I still would hazard the guess that it would be the A19 Pro. Maybe a binned version, maybe not. For two reasons:

1) I don't think 8GB ram is enough given AI, as Apple clearly determined a year or so ago. But 12 GB ram may be.
2) The current 3nm TMSC node is apparently a lot more robust in its yields than the previous iterations. Therefore the cost of the A19 Pro can't be more expensive to manufacture at this point in time.
3) The GPU cores (which include a number of enhancements) are meaningfully better, particularly with AI and graphics; and Apple says it intends to continue down the AI road.

Who knows? But these points seem logically to me.

 

[iHorseHead]

Who knows, but I still would hazard the guess that it would be the A19 Pro. Maybe a binned version, maybe not. For two reasons:

1) I don't think 8GB ram is enough given AI, as Apple clearly determined a year or so ago. But 12 GB ram may be.
2) The current 3nm TMSC node is apparently a lot more robust in its yields than the previous iterations. Therefore the cost of the A19 Pro can't be more expensive to manufacture at this point in time.
3) The GPU cores (which include a number of enhancements) are meaningfully better, particularly with AI and graphics; and Apple says it intends to continue down the AI road.

Who knows? But these points seem logically to me.

What do you mean? What features am I missing on MacBook Air M1 8GB? There is Apple Intelligence.

 

[joshwithachance]

I’m expecting it to be priced at $699 personally.

 

[hieranonymous]

Just bring back the 12-inch MacBook. Intel was the main bottleneck. That same form factor would fly with Apple Silicon.

 

[MacMikePro]

Please be the 12” MacBook with thinner bezels, please be the 12” MacBook with thinner bezel, please be the 12” MacBook with thinner bezels.

That chassis is perfect for a machine like this. Plus with it being a few hundred dollars cheaper than the MacBook Air I don’t know if they would even want it to have better battery life than the Air. So the 12” is perfect, that could still easily have around a 12 hour battery with the A18 Pro.

One single USB C is perfectly fine on a device like this, and so is 8GB of RAM, but give it MagSafe too, a refined keyboard and a better webcam with a $699 price point and they’ll have a winner. I would get it just as a secondary machine, I prefer macOS so much more over iPadOS.

 

[MacMikePro]

Expect regular macs to go up in price that's what

There’s zero reason to suspect this will cause other Mac prices to rise. It’ll be no different than the base iPad, or Mac mini, or iPhone 16e, or Apple Watch SE. All of those are Apple’s base products for cheap and none of them have caused them to raise prices on the other products.

 

[MacMikePro]

So it won't run Mac apps?
It's like an alternative to a Chromebook.

It will for sure run Mac apps, it’s gonna be macOS, so software-wise it’ll be no different than any other Mac.

 

[Tagbert]

So it won't run Mac apps?
It's like an alternative to a Chromebook.

Yes, it will run anything that runs on a MacBook Air or any other Apple Silicon Mac. The A18 chip is compatible with the M-series chips like the M3.

 

[Naraxus]

I call ******** on this. When has Apple ever competed in a race to the bottom pricing competition with Microsoft and Google?

 

[starlabjump]

So it won't run Mac apps?
It's like an alternative to a Chromebook.

the low-cost MacBook will add a solution that runs macOS instead of iPadOS.

 

[verdi1987]

So it won't run Mac apps?
It's like an alternative to a Chromebook.

It says it will run macOS.

 

[Moonjumper]

Size

There are no details on how thick it might be, but Apple probably won't prioritize a thin design for a machine optimized for a low price. Since the MacBook Air can run fine with an M-series chip and no fan in an enclosure that's 0.44 inches thick, there's no reason for the MacBook to be any thicker than that.

I expect the cheap MacBook to have a smaller battery to keep costs down, which should result in a thinner device.

A smaller battery shouldn't be a problem as an A-series chip will use less power, and Apple Silicon already sips power compared to the Intel era, so the battery could be much smaller and still beat anything pre Apple Silicon.

 

[verdi1987]

I call ******** on this. When has Apple ever competed in a race to the bottom pricing competition with Microsoft and Google?

A lot of schools use Chromebooks. Apple may want to capture some of that market.

 

[Elwe]

What do you mean? What features am I missing on MacBook Air M1 8GB? There is Apple Intelligence.

Apple unleashes M5, the next big leap in AI performance for Apple silicon

Apple today announced M5, delivering advances to every aspect of the chip and the next big leap in AI.

www.apple.com

The items I had in mind, and that you can read about above, are:

• next generation of the GPU cores (iteration)
• a neural accelerator included with each core (completely new)
• higher shared memory bandwidth (iteration)
• faster neural engine (iteration)

And the above is just the difference between M5 and M4; if you are comparing M5 to M1, there are lots more changes (including lots of interactions and the introduction of wholly new features like ray tracing and hardware-based AV1 encoding). Depending on your intended use, maybe none of this matters. But for several graphics, gaming, AI, encoding, and/or other such types of use cases, these enhancements can make a lot of difference.

If your M1 MacBook Air is doing fine for you, keep rockin' it. Those have been stellar deals if you look back over time. They have been the greatest value in the Mac line-up in at least the last decade. And Apple hasn't given any indication that they are imminently stopping OS support of this first Apple Silicon generation, though there is speculation about this mostly because of the 8GB ram amount that the baseline versions of the M1 came with. But I think the use cases that need more are growing; a half decade is significant.

 

[iVoid]

So, basically a stripped down Air (which is already somewhat stripped down from a MacBook Pro). I don't see the point except to squeeze into a low priced niche for schools.
We use M4 Airs for execs and managers not doing any engineering or design work, but MB Pros (with Mx Pro chips) are needed for higher end users.
The 14" M5 MB Pros are on the edge between the M4 Airs and M4 Pro. At the moment they aren't are on our to buy list.
We'll see what the next revision in early 2026 brings.

 

[Corefile]

The median price for a PC laptop is 500 bucks so I'd expect this to be $599. But knowing Apple, they'll plump for $699 to wring the extra profit potential but list it for $799 when they totally forget why they're releasing it. It can only succeed at $599 or less, otherwise Tim Apple has another flop on his hands, like the iWatch or iGoggles Pro.

 

[JohnC1959]

Smart move as this will move a lot of users over to Apple for the first time. Countless many don't need much more than mail, web, photos and such. Many have been using cheap Windows machines but they also have an iPhone. The iPhones made them curious about Macs but they're on a tight budget. Now the price issue is lifted so they can try a Mac for the first time.

 

[reyesmac]

Apple could turn phone chips into their chips for all the low end macs and keep the M chip series for the pro $2k+ models. That would really stink and its something they would totally love to do.

 

[code-m]

I’m expecting it to be priced at $699 personally.

$699 - 899 that way Apple can discount it for certain conditions, Think eMac.

 

[JohnC1959]

Apple could turn phone chips into their chips for all the low end macs and keep the M chip series for the pro $2k+ models. That would really stink and its something they would totally love to do.

If they did that then they would make less money because a huge number of those that might buy MacBook Airs would get the cheaper computer.

 

[Siliconguy]

What do you mean? What features am I missing on MacBook Air M1 8GB? There is Apple Intelligence.

Something must be missing with 8 GB, or something will be missing in the near future. Tightwad Tim finally gave in and raised the standard RAM to 16 GB when Apple Intelligence came out.