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

[Tyler O'Bannon]

If they do this, the it needs to be MBA, the MBA is now MacBook, and the MBP is unchanged. Why? Because the Air is supposed to be the smaller and slimmer than the regular. This is backwards on the iPad right now, and if they do this with Mac then it will be backwards as well.

 

[rp2011]

These should do really well. And more importantly it makes it easier for people to get these amazing machines. The hardware of the Mi-series Macs and the OS are just amazingly robust. Absolutely no issues with any of my Macs or iPads or iPhones. I grew up on Windows machines are they are absolute junk. The hardware and the OS. My concern now is, Windows losing ground and ignorant people in the media and government "blaming" Apple for Windows machines being so bad and taking marketshare because of that. Just as they blame Apple for being better than a Blackberry, Nokia and everything else for taking marketshare when they released a better product.

 

[MayaUser]

If they do this, the it needs to be MBA, the MBA is now MacBook, and the MBP is unchanged. Why? Because the Air is supposed to be the smaller and slimmer than the regular. This is backwards on the iPad right now, and if they do this with Mac then it will be backwards as well.

Apple named 12” macbook while the macbook air was bigger and thicker
So..no

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

Apple named 12” macbook while the macbook air was bigger and thicker
So..no

They did. And that was the first time the “out of order” began. Go to the origin of the Air - thinner and less powerful than the MacBook and MacBook Pro but more portable. You have merely referenced the beginning of the problem that needs to be corrected.
So..no

 

[mannyvel]

Is the Chromebook market that big? Yeah, probably. Can Apple make a device rugged enough and cheap enough for K-12? Who knows? I just read that putting a piece of paper on a MacBook Pro then closing the screen may be enough to cause the screen to crack. That definitely won't survive K-12.

And it's not necessarily about cash, it's about depreciation. The standard depreciation schedule is 5 years. Does a Chromebook even last that long? And from what I understand Chromebooks are tied to a software contract, so their value at EOL is usually zero. One thing about Apple gear, it still has value after 5 years. That may be what could push Apple over the top vs Chromebooks financially.

 

[MayaUser]

They did. And that was the first time the “out of order” began. Go to the origin of the Air - thinner and less powerful than the MacBook and MacBook Pro but more portable. You have merely referenced the beginning of the problem that needs to be corrected.
So..no

Again, 12” is in the era of tim cook not steve jobs when we had 3.5” iphone ..so if you love living in the past ..

 

[deevey]

They did. And that was the first time the “out of order” began. Go to the origin of the Air - thinner and less powerful than the MacBook and MacBook Pro but more portable. You have merely referenced the beginning of the problem that needs to be corrected.
So..no

MacBook has historically been "cheaper" ... miniaturization used to be insanely expensive, unlike nowadays.

Cost is not based on device size anymore, and is more based on physical volume and quality of materials used e.g. screens, camera / speaker components, and battery size.

Yes the naming convention is skewed, the "Air" moniker never made any real sense beyond 2012 when it should have been dropped, but trying to re-educate people after 12 years? Difficult. Air will forever now be associated with "Midrange".

Or just call this the Macbook Air as well and make the differentiation the screen size and speed.

 

[jecowa]

This strategy would be inspired from the iPad strategy:

• Entry-level iPad with an A chip and basic specs.
• Midrange iPad Air with an M chip.
• Top-tier iPad Pro with an M chip and the most advanced features.

The only difference, I guess, is that there won't be a MacBook Mini because macOS isn't designed for such a small screen.

I think there’s people out there who miss the 11” MacBook Air who might enjoy a MacBook mini.

 

[Chet-NYC]

This would be a great things for schools. The school I worked out has about 3000 Dell Chromebooks. Yes, 3000! They are approaching the end of their warranty period (five years) and they cost about $450 a piece with that warranty. While a $600 MacBook would be more expensive, they would be a lot easier to maintain.

As far as performance, no idea how an A18 Pro compares to an Intel N100 chip, but I'm sure it can handle Google classroom access and the College Board's Bluebook app without any difficulty. Beyond that, the kids would need access to the web via Safari or Chrome for a few other things.

 

[deevey]

The only difference, I guess, is that there won't be a MacBook Mini because macOS isn't designed for such a small screen.

Mac OS is just fine on a 12" screen, even a 10.5" screen.

I use my iPad as a secondary screen all the time.

 

[deevey]

As far as performance, no idea how an A18 Pro compares to an Intel N100 chip

Slow vs Really Fast!

Just for giggles, compared to an i5 12600k as well

 

[mlayer]

The Competition,

Dell 15 Laptop​

Model: DC15255

$399.99

• AMD Ryzen™ 5 7530U, 6 cores
• Windows 11 Home
• AMD Radeon™ Graphics
• 16 GB DDR4
• 512 GB SSD
• 15.6" Non-Touch FHD
• 3 USB ports, an SD card reader and a headphone jack.

But no Thunderbolt or 4K output.
Tightwad Tim better not nerf the low end laptop too much.

The low end is designed to be nerfed or gimped or whatever you want to call it. If it doesn't have Thunderbolt or full external monitor support or MagSafe that's because they know there's a substantial audience that doesn't need these features, just look at the iPads. The rubicon for Apple with this product is the headphone jack.

 

[deevey]

The low end is designed to be nerfed or gimped or whatever you want to call it. If it doesn't have Thunderbolt or full external monitor support or MagSafe that's because they know there's a substantial audience that doesn't need these features, just look at the iPads. The rubicon for Apple with this product is the headphone jack.

Somehow doubt Apple will be fitting any device with a 1080p display either. 2304 x 1440 will probably be minimum.

And the A18 pro uses half the power with almost double the performance.

Honestly I don't think I've been this excited for a laptop launch since the 10" Asus EEE.

 

[macjaffa]

The 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro with the Intel Core i9 processor has a single-core performance score of around 1356 in Geekbench 5.


The A18 Pro chip and has shown Geekbench 5 scores ranging from around 3296 to 3570 in single-core tests.

So this looks like an excellent replacement for an Intel mbp , if you are looking for a portble MacBook especially to compliment a desktop Mac Studio. Any complaints about battery life are irrelevant since its bound to be better than what i get out a 6year old mbp which is about 2-3 hrs tops

 

[azentropy]

What will this sacrify compared to a MacBook air?
- 1 UBS C port (remains to see if there is magsafe or not, or if it's like the iPad)
- Thunderbolt
- likely base RAM will be lower (8 or 12GB) with the option to upgrade to 16, but not more
- battery size, probably a smaller batter to avoid this having longer battery life than the air.
- slightly smaller screen
- storage options will probably cap at 1TB (also possibly slower storage too)
- long term support (may be supported 1-2 years less than the regular M series Macs, just like the iPad A series is supported for 5 years of OS updates instead of 7 for the air/pro)
- webcam quality
- charger in the box?

As for weight, it will probably be lighter than the air but definitely not as light as the 12" MacBook.

- I don't need MagSafe, but would like to see 2 USB-C ports ideally one on each side
- I don't need Thunderbolt
- Could live with 8GB but yeah 12GB would be better
- Ok with smaller battery if battery life is still pretty good.
- Ok with smaller screen (but still retina) if overall size is smaller. Wouldn't want smaller than 12.5" or so though.
- Storage starting at 256GB is fine, I think 128GB is just too small now even for lighter users.
- Fine with a basic 1080 webcam.

Again, make it smaller/lighter than the Air and I'm willing to give up some stuffs especially at that price.
However if it isn't, then I'd pass. This wouldn't be my primary machine, but a travel machine for me (vacation, taking over my mom's etc). So I'm probably not the use case they are looking for.

 

[AND411]

They will price it at €729 in Europe despite the exchange rate being €1 = $1.17.

VAT is in Europa included! (19-21%)

 

[UltimaKilo]

1) money and 2) no way Apple will put in the base mac...a faster SC chip than current Air/Pro models

An A19 or A20 will not be faster than the M5 or M6 (if it is indeed 2027). Nowhere near it.

The A18 is a 3 nm chip so it's on the standard production line not the new pricey one.

If it matches M1 performance it's quite good enough for the 99% of people who are not doing 4k video editing. It will use less power than the 5 nm M1 improving battery life.

Because in 2026 or 2027 the A19 N3P will have already been several months old and will bring some real world improvements in graphics while being 5-7% faster than the A18 and use 10% less power. The N2 (2027) would far exceed even that with power consumption at 25-30% less than even the N3P and up top a 15% boost over the N3P as well.

Moreover, there are rumors of a 12th generation iPad before the end of next year sporting an A18 + more RAM with LLM capabilities.

 

[Trusteft]

After I saw in person the tiny MacBook few years ago, I didn't like it, I thought it looked cheap. For some reason every year since then, especially since it was discontinued, I can't stop thinking about it at least a couple of times a month. It reminds me of that bit with George Costanza and that woman salesperson.

The idea of a super cheap (for Apple) laptop, sounds like a very good idea, but if I had money I would buy it only if there were some things.

a) Must use proper full macOS
b) Must have at least 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD.
c) Must be able to connect to an external monitor and still use (through a hub or whatever) wired accessories, including input ones, and external storage.
d) If it has an exclusive power port, it must have at least 2 USB ports.

Do I believe this will happen? Not for the price mentioned.

But the idea of having an alternate option of the Mac Mini, but in a laptop form, that sounds fascinating.

 

[JosephAW]

Wait what?! Walmart has M1 for $599. Guess this will have more memory.

 

[MysteriousStain]

I have an M4 mini but I would buy one of these for a portable machine for writing. I think these would be very popular for anybody with basic requirements.

 

[Ctrlos]

This would have beeen the perfect excuse to resurrect the sorely missed 11” MacBook Air.

 

[madebybela]

I have an M4 mini but I would buy one of these for a portable machine for writing. I think these would be very popular for anybody with basic requirements.

same boat. I have a spec'd out M4 mini for my work stuff, so even getting a MacBook Air feels like overkill and too expensive for a secondary/leisure device. Really looking forward to this MacBook.

 

[macjaffa]

The Competition,

Dell 15 Laptop​

Model: DC15255

$399.99

• AMD Ryzen™ 5 7530U, 6 cores
• Windows 11 Home
• AMD Radeon™ Graphics
• 16 GB DDR4
• 512 GB SSD
• 15.6" Non-Touch FHD
• 3 USB ports, an SD card reader and a headphone jack.

But no Thunderbolt or 4K output.
Tightwad Tim better not nerf the low end laptop too much.

Thats a 15.6 inch. Apples to oranges

 

[Apple_Robert]

This would have beeen the perfect excuse to resurrect the sorely missed 11” MacBook Air.

 

[Think creative]

I'm going back to school (for a masters) and while I have an m2 Pro MacBook Pro and a Mac mini M4 Pro, I considered grabbing something like this for just when I'm on campus. But if it only has 8 gigs, I might as well spend an extra $50 and get a air on sale with 16 gigs of ram, or just suck it up and bring my pro to class if I need a computer on campus