I will. In fact, if it is $200 more, it will be still an immediate sale for me. I have zero need for better multicore performance (and noise and space taken up by cooling fan), much more interested in low weight and small form factor. My 12" is fine for now but I will replace it sooner than later if Apple comes through. I tried the M1 MBA, but 2.7 pounds turned out to hamper the usability for me by a huge margin and I returned it after just a day.
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Here Are All the Rumors About Apple's New $599 MacBook
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I’ll guess 2 USB-C ports, no MagSafe. I think they’ll divide iPads and Macs in that respect (2 ports v. 1). But will they drop the headphone jack? Probably, so there’s your port reduction.
No Thunderbolt, agreed. But you will be able to connect one external display, probably at up to 4K/60 Hz. Apple might get “clever” and wire only one of the USB-C ports for an external display, but I think that’s too clever.
I think this’ll be 12GB with options for 20GB and 28GB (or possibly 12/24/32 with a “parts binned” base, a 16GB CPU that may have a faulty bank). Apple just recently eliminated everything below 16GB in their Mac lineup. Maybe they’ll even go with a 16GB base in this new MacBook. I’m going to be slightly contrarian here; I don’t see 8GB happening. A 12GB base seems likely to me given what Apple just did with the 6GB base iPad. This might even be a Mac with non-unified memory if you get a higher memory configuration such that the additional memory increment is slower but still better than not present.
And for weight. This’ll be a 999 grams (2.2 pounds) machine in part for marketing reasons. The 13 inch MacBook Air is 1.24 Kg.
Yup, effectively or actually the larger iPad Air’s 13.0 (rounded up) 60 Hz screen, sans touchscreen. Possibly 90 Hz if Apple is in a good mood, but I doubt it. (A 90 Hz upgrade may come in the model refresh.)
An iPad Air (or Air-ish) display implies a 4:3 aspect ratio. Yup, I think so! This “FrankenMac” will be in some sense an “iPad Maxi.” And that’s not a bad thing at all.
Base will be single chip 256GB, like some of the prior MacBook Airs. Still perfectly fine. Yeah, they might go with single chip 512GB and 1TB storage options. They could reclaim some board real estate here. Effectively it’d be half the MacBook Air’s storage.
Considering that Apple doesn’t actually publish minimum security support lifecycles (it should!), we won’t know.
12MP with Center Stage. Apple is putting those on base iPads and has for a while. But will there be a notch? I’ll guess no. I think this’ll be remarkably iPad Air-ish on the display, right down to the same pixel count.
Probably not, except where required by law. Gotta make that price point/margin.
Agreed. I think it’ll be 999 grams, up from the prior MacBook’s ~920 grams but about 20% lighter than the MacBook Air 13. Smaller display, smaller chassis with slightly smaller touchpad, smaller battery.
The whole appeal of the 12 inch MacBook was the size and the weight. I really don’t see the point of a 12.9 inch MacBook. Not when we have a 13 inch MacBook Air.
Maybe this is intended to replace the M1. Perhaps Apple feels the M1 is too powerful for a 599$ laptop.Wait what?! Walmart has M1 for $599. Guess this will have more memory.
The A18 Pro is considerably faster (40%+) for single core tasks than the M1, and multicore performance pretty much on par despite having fewer of them. Also it has ray tracing enabled.
12.9 inches is still smaller than the old 13 inch MacBook Air/Pro. My gut feeling is they're going with a form factor that is like the 12 inch, but stretching out the screen to be edge to edge to get almost an extra inch out of it.
Well it better be built for Apple Intelligence otherwise I’m not buying it. I’ll only buy Apple products if they are build for Apple Intelligence, preferrably from ground up.
😂
My goodness, think about it! The 12‘ MacBook had thick bezels, which will be reduced so that the approximate size of the chassis of the popular MacBook is achieved. Perhaps they will use the exact chassis of the MacBook, with reduced bezels allowing a 12.9’ display to fit perfectly into the frame.
That would be what many have been dreaming of: a high-performance chip compared to the sluggish Intel M chips in a form factor that no other laptop manufacturer can offer!
Why not just continue to make the M1 MacBook Air? Is it because they want to shut down M1 manufacturing as they are probably going to use the A18 Pro chips in other devices as well, like iPad mini and Apple TV, etc?
This experiment will ultimately fail for Apple. Just as the iEye did. Trashcan Mac and iPod with video.
I am very confident there will be ony ONE USB C port, we'll know soon enough
See above
I tend to agree on 12, but the cap will be at 16, that's what the only rumor about it is saying
I don't think so, I believe it will around 1.1kg, but this is not a strong conviction like the one for the USB C port
Rumor says 12.9 but in 16.10 so smaller than the iPad. And no chance of anything above 60hz not even in the greatest mood....
no, 16.10
That's totally possible, M2 like
Indeed
No strong opinions here
Agreed
Smaller battery indeed, I still doubt 999, I think more 1.1 to 1.15 kG but we will see
I wouldn't expect the smallest bezels on the most budget MacBook, I think some people here will be disappointed in terms of weight and size...
Excuse me sir, but please don't offend my iPod Video just because it wasn't built for Apple Intelligence. It's still the best iPod ever made.
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You think Apple will give Europe a MBA for €729? It would probably be €899 or €929 if this machine happened. I question the wisdom for the existence of the machine though. Especially with the additional overhead of the coming world of AI.
Apple should let iPads target the lower market and keep Macs where they are. However, MBA needs a better port selection for improved interoperability with MBP in real-world use. It doesn't need Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 4 is sufficient, but should include one port on each side for convenience, plus HDMI and SD Card. These ports are invaluable when needed, addressing critical use cases for a more practical machine akin to the old wedge model, allowing users to have their cake and eat it too. Apple is mistaken in wanting to make MBP thinner to meet this need. For one, it will never be as thin as the MBA. And two, keeping MBP thicker allows for a full-size battery for the best possible battery like, and best possible speakers, and pro cooling for enhanced performance.
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I hope that Apple keeps the focus on a cheap, entry-level machine and effectively lacks all the things you mention. I’d like a small laptop that runs Pages, Numbers, web and mail. Save my work to iCloud and pick it up on a more capable machine.
I will be guilty of slight posing myself if it only has 8gb of ram though. I don’t mind if it lacks things by design (like Thunderbolt) but if it lacks things because of Apple’s greed … that’s always a bit tougher to swallow.
Plus: by putting an “old” chip in it now, they already have next year’s update ready and waiting.
I’d be ok with a single USB C port. I’d prefer magsafe but anything else wouldn’t be a deal breaker.
No need for it, considering the device’s purpose.
Slightly worried that 8gb is what we’ll get, with no option to upgrade. That way they could make 12 or 16gb a selling point a few years down the line. Knowing Apple, that’s how they’ll play it.
If that A18 chip consumes less than an M1 then they could fit a smaller/lighter battery without sacrificing too much battery life, which would help thickness and weight.
Agreed. The MBA 13” screen is too big, needs to be smaller.
My guess is 256gb to keep the base model really cheap with a max of 512gb as upgrade.
All sounds good.
I might be too optimistic. I sigh a lot when people keep pointing at the Walmart M1s. We don’t have those. We don’t have Walmart. But a refurbished ‘excellent condition’ M1 Air can be had from amazon.nl for €627 (8/256).
Apple tends to adjust euro prices (even down, sometimes!) when the Apple Store gets updated and the exchange rate has changed. It’s currently very favourable for the euro. If they ignore that €1 = $1.17, ‘translate’ $599 to €599, and add 21% VAT = €721.
As for its existence, despite updating everything else for Apple LOLtelligence they released the base iPad (which I bought, it does everything I need). This would simplify the product line, actually. Low end, lower price MacBook = iPad = iPhone basic model, Air = Air, Pro = Pro. (Not sure where the ‘e’ iPhone goes here, but I won’t be too shocked if this new machine is called MacBook 26e.) Pricing the 12” rMB so high was the confusing bit.
If they really bring back the tapered chassis and the new shiny weighs less than 1kg, I might buy it, even though I have a M4 MBP. I’d really like to have a basic computer dedicated just to writing, with everything else, including the browser, deleted or perma-blocked with FocusMe. Scrivener and Pages run perfectly fine on 8/256. If it’s €599 – ahahahah, dream on – I will be very tempted. And this should get OS support for longer than the 2020 M1s, not that I can see why Apple would drop support for M1 anytime soon except for ‘buy new stuff, peasants’ reasons.
Let's play devil's advocate here. What if this device runs iPadOS 26? What if this is a device that makes users run iPadOS 26 with keyboard and mouse (like it can) in a laptop form factor without touchscreen? So ... a smaller MacBook Air that runs iPadOS without touchscreen?
Who would be tempted?
Who would be tempted?