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Here Are All the Rumors About Apple's New $599 MacBook

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Rumors continue to surface about Apple launching an affordable MacBook as early as this year.

Low-Cost-MacBook-Feature-A18-Pro.jpg

Below, we recap all of the reports and rumors so far.

Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes expects the laptop to have a starting price of between $599 and $699 in the United States.

The publication said the lower-cost MacBook will be equipped with a 12.9-inch display, and a version of the A18 Pro chip that debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro models last year. It would become the first Mac to ever use an A-series chip from an iPhone.

The lower-cost MacBook could launch in late 2025 or early 2026, according to the report.

Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was first to reveal that Apple is allegedly planning a more affordable MacBook. In late June, he also said the laptop will have around a 13-inch display, and an A18 Pro chip. Kuo said potential color options include silver, blue, pink, and yellow, so the laptop could come in bright colors, like the iMac.

A18 Pro specs include a 6-core CPU, a 6-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. The chip is around 40% slower than the M4 chip, but its performance is comparable to the M1 chip, so this new MacBook could effectively be a replacement for the old MacBook Air with the M1 chip, which Apple still sells through Walmart for $649 $599.

In the iPhone 16 Pro models, the A18 Pro chip has 8GB of RAM, whereas all current MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models start with at least 16GB of RAM. In addition, the chip lacks Thunderbolt support, so the new MacBook would likely be equipped with regular USB-C ports. They would look the same as Thunderbolt ports, but data transfer speeds would be limited to up to 10 Gb/s, and the new MacBook might natively support only a single external display, but that limitation can be overcome with DisplayLink adapters.

The lower-cost MacBook could have a lot in common with the discontinued 12-inch MacBook, including an ultra-thin and lightweight design. It would slot in below the MacBook Air, which has a slightly larger 13.6-inch display, an M4 chip, and a starting price of $999. However, the latest MacBook Air is often on sale on Amazon for as low as $799.

Apple often announces new Macs in October, so stay tuned.

Article Link: Here Are All the Rumors About Apple's New $599 MacBook
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/13/lower-cost-macbook-rumor/
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It would be nice if it came with 12GB RAM, but 8GB is likely since the 18 Pro currently manufactured with it. The single core performance is just below the M4 iPad, so for the targeted audience performance will be just fine. It will support Apple Intelligence, but the 8 GB of RAM may limit its future application.
 
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mannyvel said:
So many people have iPhones that they could actually just release a dock for it and call it a phoneBook.
Click to expand...
I remember home on iPod. ive always waited for this to come back in a new fashion. I wish this was the case. let our phones do the heavy lifting and dock into an ultralight package.... some extended battery, extra storage, bigger screen, keyboard touchpad and speakers. this to me work as a laptop and a desktop model. but it would eat into the "you need them all" apple cultivates. Ive always wanted to just click my hdd in, or iPod, or iPhone and be logged into "my" computer, but on another piece of hardware. very thin client, but not remote.
 
A perfect computer for many sadly the posers and youtube reviewers will ruin the market for it..a simple machine perfectly adapt at: email, web browsing, watching youtube videos, writing school papers. However the posers will complain about ram (8gb enough for the intended tasks but not in the mind of a poser fantasy), lack of Thunderbolt--as if the intended users would ever attach anything to the computer, lack of multiple external monitors- again, nothing the intended user would do, lack of ProMotion -which has almost zero impact on 99% of users, can't play graphic intensive games on it (booo hoo) nor can you edit an hour long 8k video....ahhh the world of posers who believe a $599 base machine should run just like a $3,000 Pro Machine....
 
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it really would be crazy to see a redemption of the MacBook. I will never forget one of my best friends going thru Ivy League school with one of those—of particular note is the time she had to stick it in a freezer, to stop it from overheating to the point of burning her—and how laughably underpowered they were by way of Intel Core M. sad way to end a brand that had so much recognition by way of the plastic white MacBook era.

realistically, this kinda model is meant for a very specific market segment: people who don’t need $1k+ worth of power, but who still want the Mac experience. college kids will thrive on these, though Chromebooks will certainly continue to capture the sub-$500 market.

Apple is a notoriously expensive brand, but I’ve noticed that the Mac is one place they love to showboat about how far affordability has come. $1k could barely get you a proper Mac 20 years ago. if this product becomes more than a rumor, they’ll be at almost half that price point for a fully functioning MacBook. that’s pretty remarkable.
 
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Does anyone know if the A18 Pro can handle more than 8GB of RAM? 8GB is fine for most on an iPhone, but macOS is not iOS and that 8GB will get used up fast. I hope there is a higher spec'd and or BTO option. IMO, 16GB should be the minimum, but I can see the need to go with 8GB in the cheapest model at that price-point.

I've used a MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM and while it was very usable, the inevitable and constant swapping can get noticeable with slight slowdowns if you keep many browser tabs open. We also don't know the speed of the SSDs that Apple is going to be using in this MacBook, which might make a difference when it comes to swapping.
 
I just bought a new MBA M4 13" at BB for $800. Apple could easily have the M3 or M2 for $600. Not sure why they need to create a new underpowered laptop category. Just use the old models but they rather not.
 
The sad thing is - Windows 10's end-of-life is October 14, after which it will no longer get security patches. Microsoft has been pushing people hard to upgrade to Windows 11, and to replace any older PCs that can't run it.

If Apple had released a $599 MacBook in, say, July, I think they could have gotten a lot of switchers; people who can't or won't upgrade to Windows 11 and are ready for an alternative.

Instead, it looks like this new laptop will hit the stores right after a lot of people have already bought new Windows laptops.
 
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I'm curious if they'll actually brand it as the A18 when the device is released or if they'll make it part of the M family and call it M4 Mini or M4 Lite or M4 SE or something like that. Half the reason Apple even launched the M branding was so that the Mac chips could be distinct from the iPhone chips despite the M chips basically being beefier versions of the A series with added capabilities.
 
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It’s cos stuff made in the US is going to get expensive so to boost sales they need to have another tier to get US consumers still onboard. I would buy one though. Just look at all the price reductions already on Amazon etc as shown on this site. Middle class is gonna find it more difficult - still the price points are still all over the place.
 
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