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Apple's Cheap MacBook: What to Expect in 2026
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I wish Apple would not make this product. The MacBook Air is already that product with a great experience. Wait till we see someone by this entry level product and say it sucks. That’s all you need to get a bad reputation. You are only as good at your worst product.
They are already in the mainstream market with existing M1 MacBook Air. The new MacBook will be an updated version of that with an updated processor. Assuming the new device will be at least as good as the M1 Air then they have little to worry about.
Besides consider Apple already offers their base iPad with an aluminum chassis while every other tablet in that market is made of plastic. Have you picked up a mainstream laptop with one hand recently? No matter how decent the specs the plastic chassis flexes noticeably. Now pick up a MacBook Air the same way and you’ll see a notable difference.
If the new MacBook turns out to be made of aluminum like the higher priced MacBooks it will definitely be an outlier. It will have a much more premium feel of construction compared to the plastic of all the other mainstream laptops. Thats definitely going to make an impression.
There’s a zero percent chance it’ll be called M5 SE or anything like that. Maybe it wasn’t clear in my other comment but me and you are in agreement. I would bet all my money that this is happening, but I do fully believe it will be the A18 Pro for cost saving measures and not the A19 Pro, the A19 Pro is too new for something like this. And Apple does seem to be naming all of their products by which chip it has and no longer using the “# generation” name anymore. So the official name for this product will be: MacBook (A18 Pro)
The reason why it’s important and not a pointless comparison is because it is still a current device that Apple is still manufacturing and selling. The M1 MBA is still part of their laptop lineup, the only difference is they don’t sell it directly, but it’s still a current product. It’s not like it’s discounted just because it’s old inventory that needs to be sold etc. So this MacBook is coming out specifically to replace that product in their lineup.
It may be but that’s largely due to inertia at this point. It’s certainly not trending the right direction.
The whole point is the fact that we know this product will not suck. The A18 Pro is a very powerful chip. The current MacBook Air is overkill for the majority of its users. This new MacBook will be a perfect choice for 90% of users and it will be great, I have very little doubt of that.
I would agree with you that I like the simplicity of the Steve Jobs 2 product lines approach, but Tim Cook has made it clear he prefers the 3 product lines much more. So I don’t see that changing at all. And honestly more choices is good for consumers, but there is a fine line before crossing into confusing, so I get it. But honestly I for sure think this MacBook makes perfect sense and definitely has a place in the lineup.
Confusion during the rumor stage is completely different from confusion after announcement stage. Even the dumbest people in this thread that don’t get it right now would all understand after it’s announced, simply because it’s not hard at all to understand this product. A good example is the guy who said “mark my words, it will not be an A chip”, after this MacBook gets announced with the A18 Pro chip, he’ll know he was wrong and go silent.
If Apple is aiming at the Chromebook and lower end laptop market, then they may have to look lower than $500, in the UK, that would be £500, because all they seem to do is replace the $ sign with the £ sign and for basic use it is possible to get some okay machines for around £400 for basic use.
Apple isn’t going for the lower end market. You already see this with the base iPad and the iPhone 16e—those aren’t “budget” entry level devices in the conventional sense although they are entry level by Apple’s standards. The lower end market is comprised of what I think of as rent-a-device (phone, tablet or laptop) because the cheap price is getting you a largely throwaway item with limited capability and subpar components. This new MacBook is definitely not that.
If this comes in at $999 or $899 CA it’s going to generate a lot of interest. Ideally this could be priced at no more than $949 CA. If sales prices of about $799 CA happen periodically it’s going to be a very appealing option for a lot of people.
Must be hard for you to buy a car from a major manufacturer. Perhaps you limit brands to Fiat, Tesla, and Rivian where there are fewer choices.
For the many, if not most, people it is very difficult to buy a car. The car industry is the worst example to follow
Most consumers do in fact have a hard time choosing, which is also one part of why Steve dramatically simplified the lineup in 1997.
Plastic can be plenty rigid, especially carbon fiber variants. As used on high end bicycle and exotic car frames. When designed well, also more resistant to dings, and lighter than aluminum and titanium bodies and frames. As well as thinner structural components than metals (Apple seems to obsess about every thousands of an inch). Main downside other than cost is thermal conductivity but that can be easily be remedied with a small square of aluminum or fan (or maybe their new vapor cooling system). Using plastics means simpler antenna issues, no cutouts needed to allow transmission and reception.
As to the added expense, I'm already on record to be willing to pay $1,500 for a premium product under 2 pounds.
Edit: maybe I'm lowballing. Just looked up my original Apple Store purchase of my 2016 12" MacBook 1.3Ghz and 512GB of storage at $1,684 plus another $183 for AppleCare. I wanted the 2015 12" MacBook when it came out but the processor was a bit gimped. I wisely decided to wait for the 2016 but it was hard. Zero issues with the 2016 but it is end of life because no one is updating software for the last available MOS 10.13.6. Most likely I will have to buy something next year so I'm hoping this does materialize. When the M1 MacBook came out, I bought one but returned it in days. Who knew there was such a big practical difference between 2 pounds and 2.7 pounds! I pick up my laptop and move it dozens of times daily and I hated that heavy MacBook Air.
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Feel free to substitute "car" with bicycle, or curtains, or many other manufactured products. I'm a bit OCD when it comes to buying a new to me product and I do hours of research over which one and pricing. Yup, difficult I agree. Apple choices are far easier, but honestly, they would get more business with more choices. Certainly the typical Apple product buyer is not cross shopping other manufacturer options.
Really off topic, but it is very easy for me to quickly sort new car choices but I only do it once every 10 or 15 years - I have very specific needs that most cars don't fulfill. Different brand each time, so nothing to do with brand loyalty that many car buyers have.
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