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

[jz0309]

Clearly this is not targeted for the average MR folks …
And if they price it above $599, I doubt it will sell in the rumored quantities (eg 30% of MAC sales)

 

[awshucks]

Didn't even know my MBP had truetone 🤭🤭🤭

It's such a subtle feature I never think about it. I had it turned off on my MBA and couldn't tell a difference between it being off on that and on on my other devices.

 

[joshwithachance]

All these limitations make sense but I honestly hope they give this 16GB RAM baseline. If they price it right - it's going to be great.

Not gonna happen. The A-series of chips does not have configurable RAM. And the A18 Pro is 8GB only.

 

[macdisciple]

Lots of "Nos". No thanks!!!

Well that's the point. There need to be relevant reasons to buy Macbook Air and Pro. My family will likely buy one to take on the road with us as we travel.

 

[joshwithachance]

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

Because it's not made for you.

 

[orbital~debris]

This Mac is going to be extremely popular in the education sector.
The eMac returns, this time in portable form.

 

[bookcase]

The lack of a backlit keyboard would've been a dealbreaker for me, but it's moot since I picked up the heavily discounted M4 Air during the holidays instead of waiting for this. I do think this is a good alternative to people with more limited funds if Apple prices it right.

 

[JOLoughlin]

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.

 

[Analog Kid]

These all seem like reasonable compromises if you're cutting cost, size and weight and trying to intentionally position this below existing offerings.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

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

You aren't the target for this machine then

 

[Sowelu]

If this is true, this sounds like a $399/$499 (or $599 for a slightly higher spec'd SKU) Chrome Book competitor. Anything above $599 would bring you into the MacBook Air category (for only a couple of hundred more at some resellers), and for a whole lot more in terms of features. Curious to see what they actually come out with. I am sure they will make this MacBook a bit more compelling over Chrome Books.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

There should be a backlit keyboard but otherwise, it is going to be more than enough for most people.

 

[gigatoaster]

Do we know if MacRumors has been invited to the party or they are not allowed to tell us?

 

[ASentientBot]

do we think lack of backlit keyboard is evidence for white keyboard?

all sound acceptable to me, though 8 gb max would be worrying for long term software support..

 

[goonie4life9]

Folks, it's really not that complex. Apple is required to have a clear upgrade path for each device. It's not that they couldn't include many, or all, of these things. It's that if they did so, there would be no clear upgrade path, which disrupts the mandatory increased profits each quarter. Remember, Tim said the pipeline has never been stronger, and that's because Apple has clear upgrade paths to take their best-in-class products to a whole new level, featuring game-changing features.

 

[Artsketch]

8GB RAM and transparent colored polycarbonate instead of aluminum for only $499?

 

[CapitalIdea]

Maybe Apple will use this as an opportunity to increase the base storage option available for iCloud - from 200 GB to somewhere like 500 GB and the next highest tier from 2 TB to 3 TB

Sure thing. Let me grab the Elder Wand and make that happen.

 

[Madhatter32]

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

 

[JPack]

I'm only surprised by the "No N1 chip".
Isn't that supposed to be cheaper for Apple?

No, because Broadcom ships like 500-600M BCM family Wi-Fi chips each year, everything from routers to Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

N1 has always been about Apple-specific features and performance, not cost.

 

[macbookj0e]

I wonder if it’ll have the slow SSD’s of my M4 MBA which were a little disappointing…

 

[delsoul]

A no named leaker from China’s Weibo making claims? I’d trust gas station sushi before the no named leakers claims…

 

[johnrlaporta]

I mean, if the goal here is to make it truly low-cost, this all makes sense. Think of the Mac Classic sold at the same time as the SE/30 and IIfx.

 

[zellzoi]

While I get the intent here is to compete on price, I can't help but to think why anyone would want something other than a flagship product (MBA or MBP). I would hate to have a constrained version of a product but i think this will be a hit in education - I hope all Chrome Books are tossed in the garbage and replaced with these.

Because a sizable amount of people don't see the value in spending much on technology. They mainly think about the charge being sent to their card, not the value that the product will provide them

My family thought this way up until I got my first MacBook (nobody else had a Mac prior), and then they started spending a little more on technology

 

[autistic-savant]

👻

 

[CapitalIdea]

Clearly this is not targeted for the average MR folks …
And if they price it above $599, I doubt it will sell in the rumored quantities (eg 30% of MAC sales)

I would argue that $699 is palatable for people now that they are used to the absolutely-not-a-tax pricing that has trickled into the consumer component space. With even basic SSD prices now high, I see less of a sticker shock in play. If anything, I feel $599 would be a miracle.