timmodugdale
macrumors regular
A person who just wants to browse the web and write documents and email shouldn’t find these issues to be a problem. The price will determine whether they will buy it more than any of these limitations.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Leaker Says Apple's Lower-Cost MacBook Will Have These 8 Limitations
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
joshwithachance
macrumors 68030
If 8GB was out of the question Apple would be fitting these with A19 Pro chips. But alas… they are not.
JPack
macrumors P6
Every M1 Mac with 8GB supports AI.
Who said 16GB was the minimum due to AI?
All iPhones received a RAM boost to... 8GB.
jz0309
macrumors P6
so which market do YOU think Apple is targeting?
Clearly, this is not for the typical MR user who seemingly chase specs for chasing specs purpose.
My guess is that 80+% of the target market are non-Mac users, and while education is some target, I do not believe it will be that significant.
And I also believe that the actual price point will be the "dealbreaker" for its success, imho it got to be $599 max.
Apple sells ~ 20M Macs per year, rumors suggest this new one will make up 30% of Mac sales, so that makes about 6M in addition to the 20M, and that would represent an equivalent decline in Windows laptops sale ...
Might be good for people who just occassionally need a laptop for when they travel, a few weeks out of the year.
chars1ub0w
macrumors 6502a
For me - and I already own a MacBook Pro - it’s the early rumors that this new machine will be thinner and lighter than a base MacBook Air. This base MacBook would replace a 13-inch iPad Air with Magic Keyboard, which is heavier and clunkier than you might imagine. I have realistic expectations for the new MacBook, although I’d love 12GB of RAM. But my use case for the device wouldn’t be too demanding. If one doesn’t already have an Apple laptop then a base MacBook Air would be a better overall value - especially when it was going for $749 at the holidays.
Holding out hope that Apple will pair more RAM with the A18 Pro. They've had different RAM amounts on regular A chips in the past, like:
- A9X
- 12.9" iPad Pro – 4GB
- 9.7" iPad Pro – 2GB
- A10/A11
- iPhone 7/8 – 2GB
- iPhone 7+/8+ – 3GB
- A12
- iPads and iPhone XR – 3GB
- iPhone XS – 4GB
- A14/A15
- Pro phones had more RAM than base versions
kiranmk2
macrumors 68020
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.
The first gen Unibody Macbook (late 2008) did come with a backlit keyboard...but only in the higher SKU (2.4 GHz model). Sadly I got the base 2.0 GHz model and didn't get to experience a backlit keyboard until my 2014 MBA, which was revolutionary for me. I wouldn'e buy a laptop without one now. I know this low cost MacBook isn't aimed at me, but it just seems like one of those things that doesn't cost Apple very much at all (and might even cost them more to setup a new production line for none-backlit keys) and will just lead to a poorer user experience.
That’s one reason why I didn’t buy any of those devices. It’s 2026… backlit keyboards are not luxury items and not an unreasonable requirement.
My guess would be the grade/high school education market for use in classes. Where having a laptop would be a huge benefit. And could be loaned by schools And having a much more expensive laptop isn't necessary.
Or... perhaps parents would like to give their children a laptop to get them up to speed, but can't afford the $$$$ for a better Mac laptop (and likely wouldn't be necessary in that situation).
As unfortunate as it may be, I think non-backlit keys does seem likely. Both the iPad and iPad Air Smart Keyboards have non-backlit keyboards, so they already use that feature as a differentiation between low-end and high-end products. I'm not an expert, but it does seem like omitting keyboard backlighting would decrease complexity in building the MacBook as well.
JPack
macrumors P6
Why would you copy an answer from Google, which comes from Reddit? LOL
jz0309
macrumors P6
ok, thanks and we should find out soon enough from Apple themselves.
I just know that the "beating" upon release will continue here on MR as most will be "disappointed" ...
bradman83
macrumors 68000
I would guess 12GB. They could even surprise us and do 16 as long as the A18's memory controller supports it.
Tagbert
macrumors 604
The Chromebooks are tailored for education because of the support systems around them of managing the devices and keeping the data in the cloud. Apple doesn't have a device management system that would rival the one for Chromebooks.
Yeah, sad but true. 🙁
I also think Apple will do well selling a low cost Mac laptop to the general population, tech and non-tech, who don't need to have "the best." And can't or don't want to spend the $$$$ for one.
Tagbert
macrumors 604
but the cut off for devices to run AI has been 8GB of RAM. that is why the iPhone 15 Provwith its 8GB of RAM got Apple Intelligencebut the regular iPhone 15 with 6GB did not.
Any of the Apple Silicon Macs, even those with 8GB of RAM could run Apple Intelligence. Performance might not be ideal but frankly, a lot of people aren't going to really use AI anyway.
code-m
macrumors 601
code-m
macrumors 601
NT1440
macrumors P6
I get meeting a price point. But honestly one of the original “magic” parts of the Mac experience that drew me in was the backlit keyboard. In the sense that it was more thought out than things like the ThinkPad backlit keyboards.
The attention to detail of the automatic adjustments, and the gradient effect rather than just bright, brighter, brightest. It was a component that I really appreciated the clear signs of being *lovingly* implemented rather than just a feature to include in a spec sheet.
If this low cost MacBook doesn’t consider a backlit keyboard a bare minimum of the experience Mac experience I will understand, but be thoroughly disappointed. Given their entire hardware stack, this thing will be a monster upgrade in user experience for millions who have been priced out of the Mac experience in the past. It’s just sad to me that a small detail of the original “magic” I felt may be diluted out of what makes a Mac, a Mac.
The attention to detail of the automatic adjustments, and the gradient effect rather than just bright, brighter, brightest. It was a component that I really appreciated the clear signs of being *lovingly* implemented rather than just a feature to include in a spec sheet.
If this low cost MacBook doesn’t consider a backlit keyboard a bare minimum of the experience Mac experience I will understand, but be thoroughly disappointed. Given their entire hardware stack, this thing will be a monster upgrade in user experience for millions who have been priced out of the Mac experience in the past. It’s just sad to me that a small detail of the original “magic” I felt may be diluted out of what makes a Mac, a Mac.