Leaker Says Apple's Lower-Cost MacBook Will Have These 8 Limitations

[Lounge vibes 05]

128 GB for education? If 256 GB is already insufficient for that market!

This seems to be forgotten knowledge, but Apple actually did make a 128 GB version of the M1 MacBook Air, specifically and only for education.
Most education facilities don’t want things downloaded to their school laptops.
The Windows computer my school gave me *less than a year ago* only has 64 GB of storage, and 4 GB of RAM.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

I agree with you on everything but pricing. I'm thinking it has to be more along the lines of 8/128 for $399 or 8/256 for $499 if it's going to create a new segment for "brand-new" Apple laptops.

Anything above that (before hitting Airs) is already addressed by "certified" refurbs of old models (either Apple Certified or others such as BBY Geek Squad Certified)

I know that sounds a bit low, but Apple can recoup that with a montly AppleCare sub that'll be pure profit as the machine itself will be so stripped-down there won't be much to go wrong.

$799, $200 lower than now, is enough of a difference to bring in millions of new buyers. It doesn’t have to be $499 to do that, which is good because $499 is impossible for Apple. No way it only has 8GB of RAM and/or 128GB of storage. Everything is about AI now, and Apple won’t sell anything that can’t be advertised as great at Apple Intelligence. And by eliminating the $999 16/512 MBA, the new MacBook doesn’t hit the Airs at all.

And normal people don’t buy refurbs or used models. You nerds have got to stop projecting your habits onto the mainstream. The fact that this device confuses you proves it is aimed at the correct market.

 

[theluggage]

The storage limitation is really bad. I don't care much for the others, but not having at least 1 TB is kind of a deal breaker. What about RAM?

This shouldn’t be the revelation it appears to be for some people here but Apple would quite like to keep selling full-spec MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros. This is a low-cost (by Apple standards) entry-level MacBook so - guess what - it will have low specs.

We’ll have to wait and see what the price is - “analysts” can get leaks about specs and release dates from component suppliers, accessory makers, benchmark sites or references in MacOS… pricing is pure guesswork. However, this is clearly aimed at (a) mass-market retail where Amazon, Walmart et. al. are likely to sell these for significantly less than the Apple Store price and/or (b) education, where it will always be sold at a discount - maybe even as a loss-leader - and in the case of hardware+services contracts with school districts you’ll never get to hear what the actual unit price is.

 

[antonrg]

An iPad Air looks like a far better option for this price range then.

 

[MacHeritage]

I'm all for it but it needs to take on Chromebook's, price wise, if it is lacking all of that. I would prefer 1TB as an expensive option, along with a backlight keyboard. But maybe the A-series can't do that. Much of this looks like A-Series limitations and space limitations, more then just Apple wanting to cut corners. Hopefully, that means it will be small and sip power as well.

 

[neo_cs193p]

I would think a lot of people should already have the keyboard memorized.

Except for the top row, cause they keep changing it. Anyway, if this rumor is true, I hope they make the keyboards white. Much easier to see in the dark, with the help of some light coming from the screen.

 

[svish]

Everything in this list seems to be possible. Highly possible that Apple might tempt those considering to buy this one to spend an additional $200 and get the base 13" Air. If these items of the list end up to be true, then there will be a lot of downsides. Colors will be nice but that alone will not be enough. But still possible that there is a market for this and Apple will be able to sell quite a lot of these computers.

 

[McNoise]

No, a portable USB-C SSD is ideal for backing up photos. Or simply uploading to cloud storage.

Well, it's hard to write emails or watch Apple TV with a portable USB-C SSD, isn't it?

BTW: Have you ever tried uploading gigabytes of media files to your cloud while abroad? Cloud storage is an option if backup time isn't a concern.

 

[NightFox]

For people in this thread, what is about a "low cost" laptop that you do not understand? I mean, seriously.

Yeah, I'm laughing and smh at all the people who seem to think this is intended as a replacement for their MBPs, especially those 'power users' who absolutely need an M5 MBP to browse the web and watch TikTok videos.

It always amazes me the amount of people who lack the theory of mind to imagine beyond their own personal requirements.

 

[insomniac86]

Sounds pretty useless to me. Let's see what happens!

I think it will be great if it’s like…. $400.

 

[TechRunner]

No dealbreakers here for me if I'm looking for a basic MacBook to accomplish basic tasks.

 

[AND411]

An iPad Air looks like a far better option for this price range then.

An iPad Air does not run MacOS, so it is by no means a better option! An iPad Air is only suitable for web browsing and watching films; unfortunately, its other capabilities are too limited.

 

[hugogogo2003]

if it's priced similarly to a previous year device, these will be useless. M2 MBAs and later ones would be far better deals.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

if it's priced similarly to a previous year device, these will be useless. M2 MBAs and later ones would be far better deals.

I don’t know but I find these comparisons with used hardware irrelevant. Apples and oranges.

Used M2 MBAs are out there for those who need that power.

This new laptop will exist for those who want to buy new and/or don’t require M2 power.

 

[mk313]

An iPad Air looks like a far better option for this price range then.

100% depends on what you are using it for. I tried using my iPad for some mobile work a few times in the last month & it's painfully inefficient for what I need to do (nothing crazy, just standard personal or office work. One simple example, there are almost no shortcuts for the calendar app, so it's much more tedious to move events from one time slot to another or from one day to another. Even to tab between events, Everything (Again this is just my use case, but I don't think it's 100% unique) is just slower than it is on a MacBook. If we can get a smaller/lighter MacBook, with the limitations listed int he article, I would buy it in an instant.

 

[geta]

I think the fact the base 256 GB MBA configs vastly outsell the 512 GB models, much less the 1 TB+ BTO options suggests lots of people can cope with low storage. I'll bet a lot of people in their early 30s or younger won't have a video or music collection thanks to streaming, which is what always takes up a chunck of my storage.

I'd say it's popular because it's on sale everywhere unlike other versions/options.

 

[geta]

An iPad Air looks like a far better option for this price range then.

This is not a better option, but a different option for different needs.

 

[sprintsucks]

$799, $200 lower than now, is enough of a difference to bring in millions of new buyers. It doesn’t have to be $499 to do that, which is good because $499 is impossible for Apple. No way it only has 8GB of RAM and/or 128GB of storage. Everything is about AI now, and Apple won’t sell anything that can’t be advertised as great at Apple Intelligence. And by eliminating the $999 16/512 MBA, the new MacBook doesn’t hit the Airs at all.

And normal people don’t buy refurbs or used models. You nerds have got to stop projecting your habits onto the mainstream. The fact that this device confuses you proves it is aimed at the correct market.

So well said. Thank you.

 

[sprintsucks]

An iPad Air does not run MacOS, so it is by no means a better option! An iPad Air is only suitable for web browsing and watching films; unfortunately, its other capabilities are too limited.

And no different with iPad Pro. Just that you get a better screen and faster chip. But by no means are any professionals using an iPad for their income producing work.

 

[tomtad]

I can live without most of this for this product but no backlit keyboard would be a bummer. The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro has backlight.

And the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air does not.

I can certainly see Apple doing this unfortunately even though bargain bin Dell laptops come backlit keyboards.

 

[Artsketch]

And no different with iPad Pro. Just that you get a better screen and faster chip. But by no means are any professionals using an iPad for their income producing work.

There are many professional users who use an iPad Pro as a drawing device.

 

[Yr Blues]

Backlit is a must have. Don't skimp on that, Apple.

 

[chetzar]

1. Cosmic Orange
2. 360° Hinge
3) Touchscreen

 

[code-m]

right? Im thinking 'good, good, Fine, no problem... I dont see an issue.. I want a replacement for my 2017 MB retina. my 16" and 14" can do the heavy lifting, I want thin and light with tons of battery life, with macOS for travel.

Materials will define its weight and I suspect it will fall between the Pro and Air in this area. You want light then go with the Air.

 

[appelei]

Backlit is a must have. Don't skimp on that, Apple.

It won’t have backlit keys, because apple will use the exact same keys as the Magic Keyboard Folio from the base iPad. Therefore the keys will be white, just as the bezel around the screen.