Low-Cost MacBook Expected on March 4 in These Colors

[mansplains]

Cheers! As for the white bezels, It's not my intention to trigger people. Although I personally like the silver / white combo, my thinking was that it clearly differentiates it from Apple's more expensive laptops. If this cheap MacBook ends up being silver with a black keyboard and bezels it will surely annihilate MacBook Air sales.

The white bezel hate is undeserved in my opinion. It would position the device alongside the iMac, the less powerful and lower cost desktop. (Lower than Mac mini depending on monitor and peripheral choice.)

 

[macdaddy43]

1000% this thing will be locked down to the App Store. No way Timmy is going to miss out on his chance to make sure he gets his fair share.

 

[michaelscarn]

I didn't realize Netbooks were still a thing...

 

[nickf]

I didn't realize Netbooks were still a thing...

They're not. Who's talking about netbooks?

 

[actcyclist]

Colours would be great. I’m so sick of grey metal of various shades. Unfortunately, if Apple follows the last few years the colours will be duller in person. I wish they’d use plastic because colours would be brighter and plastic is more tactile and less slippery than the god awful aluminium Apple keeps using.

 

[ghanwani]

Which dithering problem?

This was covered in an article here:

OnePlus is more important than you think, especially for people like me

Competition in the U.S. smartphone market is already on a fragile edge, and only one company makes flagships that work for flicker-sensitive people.

www.androidcentral.com

"Metzler told me he realized his "eye twitching problem" was caused by dithering, which was introduced in a Mac OS update. He identified the problem by using a program called SwitchResX on his Mac, which forces the OS to stop using dithering. It helped solve Metzler's problem when using older Apple hardware, but newer laptops with M4 silicon no longer allow this setting."

Plenty of threads on this both here and on reddit. Here's one to get you started.

Now that we have no PWM on MBA M2 what to do with FRC/Dithering?

It was as a joy to hear that M2 MBA display has no PWM at all brightness levels (refer notebookcheck review) it is excellent news for people who are sensitive to PWM. For them them the only option is to reduce white point and keeping brightness high. But there is another concern with M2...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Apple_Robert]

I am guessing that by the time you upgrade the RAM and storage, (provided BTO is offered) the new MB will be pushing the same price as the base Air. Many will say get the Air instead but, if you like the smaller form factor, the new MB will still win.

 

[platinumaqua]

• Why no colors for the pro line? 🙁
• Why does it need to be an A chip? Wouldn't it be cheaper overall (less R&D and fewer SKUs to worry about) to just reduce the price on the MacBook Air? Is the M chip that expensive compared to the A chip?

 

[warriors2017]

Colours would be great. I’m so sick of grey metal of various shades. Unfortunately, if Apple follows the last few years the colours will be duller in person. I wish they’d use plastic because colours would be brighter and plastic is more tactile and less slippery than the god awful aluminium Apple keeps using.

Yes use more plastic and replace MacOS with Windows while you're at it 😂

 

[Bazza1]

Why wouldnt it be able to run anything that runs on macos? It’s still gonna be a mac…

Oh, it's meant to run Mac - but it is an iPhone chip, and even their advertising is downplaying what it is capable of doing. Basic office tasks, wander about the internet, etc.

Frankly better off finding a real MacBook Air - I understand Apple's own refurb site had M2 Airs on sale for $US599 the other day. From their store, so that would mean each fully checked (arguably better than factory), eligible for AppleCare and free shipping.

 

[Bazza1]

There is no reason to believe it would NOT run Rosetta.

Rosetta is a feature of macOS. There is no special "rosetta magic stuff" baked into the M series.
The very first Developer Mac mini was running on an A12 Chip and it obviously had Rosetta.
First benchmarks from 2020 here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/hi182q/rosetta_2_benchmarks_surface_from_mac_mini_with

That is normal. The first time you launch an Intel app on an AppleSilicon chip, the download is initiated.

EDIT: added link to reddit post

I was reading somewhere over the last day or two Rosetta about to be phased out as next OS will not support Intel MacBooks. Don't recall if that's going to be within current 26.x.x or with 27. If they're hoping to release this Air with an iPhone chip, I'd guess sooner rather than later for Rosetta to disappear.

 

[M3Stang]

Depending on size and weight, this thing may be enough to make me switch from "OP laptop" to "OP mini/studio + this thing". After 4 years with my M1 Max MBP it turns out that when I'm on the road I don't really need full compute power.

I am thinking of selling my M4 Max 14" for this. I only use the power when docked anyway. Otherwise it's for light browsing and media consumption on the go. I almost want to try to sell it in the next 2 weeks, but will be devastated if this laptop isn't $599 because that's my mental price on this. If not, I'll just wait for the seemingly bi-weekly Best Buy sale on the 15" MacBook Air for $999 I guess. At least that will have an M5 and a bigger screen, which I do desperately miss from my old 16" M3 Pro. I do have an M4 Mac mini and some Powerbook G4s that could hold me over laptop wise till this thing gets announced if I can sell the 14" by this weekend.

 

[IvyKing]

I still lug my MacBook Pro M4 because I do need a laptop with some of my work. However, I probably don't need much in the way of heavy processing power. And the truth is it's a heavy thing to carry.

I've got an M3 MBP, which is working very nicely for me, but would be interested in the Low-Cost MacBook for vacations. It would fit my needs better than an iPad and wouldn't be carrying around a lot of the files that I have on my MBP.

 

[Bazza1]

Huh? The original Air was over $3,000 and the price has been falling steadily since then. It was $1,199 in 2012, and it's $999 now -- which is a drop of over 40% accounting for inflation. This is why if you go out to a cafe or college campus out in the real world, MacBook Airs are all over the place.

Paid $CDN999 for my first Air - the 11" 2011 model, brand new. A 13" 2017 cost me $CDN1099. A current M4 13" - $CDN1399.

 

[CEmajr]

Looks like Apple is finally going to make a play at the low-end laptop market. This could get interesting.

 

[darngooddesign]

1000% this thing will be locked down to the App Store. No way Timmy is going to miss out on his chance to make sure he gets his fair share.

It’s going to run Mac OS so… nah

 

[Rade0]

Predictions:

1. Fun colours only (no silver/black) = “fun”/“cool”/“student”, not “serious”/“elegant”/“professional” (nothing wrong with any of that btw, and not trying to belittle it - I’m just trying to describe the vibe I’m predicting)
2. 12GB RAM = same as the phones and middle iPads, enough for some Apple Intelligence stuff for people not running heavy workloads in the background
3. 256GB GB SSD = keeps costs down, and gets people hooked on iCloud immediately for photo + file syncing with enough space to accommodate some Creator Studio subscriptions apps etc.
4. Thin + light = no brainer for someone carrying it around all day in a backpack, but also with thermal throttling going on when using beyond office and web apps
5. Wildcard: Comes with a decent Free trial of iCloud+ for .edu accounts, pitched as “sync with your iPhone and iPad” but also to combat objections to storage size for those not willing to upgrade and climb the ladder (this new lower rung will be architected expertly and Air sales will increase)
6. Extreme wildcard: Over the next generation or two, this SKU becomes the new Air and the current Airs become the “plain” MacBook

It will be the premium “basic” laptop - as macbooks are perceived to be vs windows laptops, so will this be to chromebooks/Dell Inspirons/whatever.

As others have said, a replacement for the Walmart M1 but in all regions.

All in all a very attractive, and capable option for a lot of students and people who don’t use heavy apps (in terms of RAM/storage/sustained CPU) thus couldn’t justify MacBook prices just to browse the web or dislike the weight of the Airs (not airy at all btw!) or Pros. Equally a great new rung on the ladder and a lovely entry point or next step into the subscription eco system.

 

[MacMikePro]

I hope Apple doesn’t try what Microsoft did with their “R” edition of Windows and ship this will a version of iOS. Keep it macOS and it will be amazing. And 16GB RAM please. 8GB is useless in 2026.

The Apple TV doesn’t run iOS, it runs tvOS, the iPad doesn’t run iOS, it runs iPadOS, the HomePod doesn’t run iOS, the Studio Display doesn’t run iOS etc etc. All of those devices use A series chips, it makes NOOOO sense at all to think that a MacBook would run anything other than macOS. The chip has absolutely nothing to do with what OS is used, the product determines that.

 

[schopaia]

I hope they dont call it A18 Pro, but something like M5e.

The most interesting thing is pricing. Amazon is constantly selling M4 MBA for $799 ( sometimes $749 )

If it is $699 with 12GB RAM, Surely most would simply buy the M4 MBA.

If it is $599 with 12GB RAM, that sounds too good to be true, and a price point too low for Apple.

$599 with 8GB RAM? How is this not in the junk category?

$749 is not a typical price for a current model MacBook Air. 11 months out of the year it's closer to $900 and 12 months out of the year it's $999 at the Apple Store. The difference between $699 and $999 to people looking at buying the least expensive apple laptop is going to be considerable.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Paid $CDN999 for my first Air - the 11" 2011 model, brand new. A 13" 2017 cost me $CDN1099. A current M4 13" - $CDN1399.

Imagine that. Product pricing in non USD currency may show different trends than product pricing in USD currency.

 

[seek3r]

Oh, it's meant to run Mac - but it is an iPhone chip, and even their advertising is downplaying what it is capable of doing. Basic office tasks, wander about the internet, etc.

What advertising? They havent even announced it yet… there’s literally been zero advertising…

But the chip rumored to be in it beats the M1 soundly, comes close to/matches the M2, so what, exactly, do you expect it not to run?

Also you know the iPhone chips and the Mac chips are based on a common arch, right?

Also worth remembering that the AS development kit was a mac mini with an A12z in it…

Frankly better off finding a real MacBook Air - I understand Apple's own refurb site had M2 Airs on sale for $US599 the other day. From their store, so that would mean each fully checked (arguably better than factory), eligible for AppleCare and free shipping.

For the target market getting a newer machine that’ll be supported for longer in the same performance range seems like a better deal…

 

[MacMikePro]

The M5 is just an A18 Pro X.

Same when iPads had the iPhone processor with an X o Z.

It’s just the same technology with a different marketing name.

Anyway… does anyone believe they are going to release something with the SAME internals than an iPhone 17 Pro… but with a bigger battery + bigger screen + keyboard, the only difference is the absence of 3 cameras, and sell it for a lot less than an iPhone 17 Pro?

Yes, because there’s a lot that goes into it. Just because the screen is bigger doesn’t mean it’s more expensive, the iPhone has OLED, it has a much higher pixel density, and it has to go through the complex expensive process of cutting out the Dynamic Island. The iPhone also has the cellular modems, Face ID, LiDAR sensor, and yes the 3 high quality cameras. All of those things allow them to save a lot of money on this MacBook, also more importantly the A18 Pro is much cheaper now to produce compared to when the iPhone 16 came out, and most importantly, Apple has their highest profit margin on the iPhone because it’s their most popular product by far. Today right now Apple sells the M1 MBA for $599 and that has the M1 chip, the A18 Pro chip will be cheaper to produce because it’s physically smaller, meaning more chips fit on a wafer. So basically to answer your question, yes, they will absolutely be able to sell this MacBook for much cheaper than the iPhone 17 Pro.

 

[darngooddesign]

Oh, it's meant to run Mac - but it is an iPhone chip, and even their advertising is downplaying what it is capable of doing. Basic office tasks, wander about the internet, etc.

What advertising?

 

[seek3r]

What advertising?

Apparently in GPs head? 🤷‍♂️

 

[dmfresco]

Apple will announce its rumored low-cost MacBook at its event on March 4, with the device coming in a selection of bold color options, according to a known leaker.

Earlier this week, Apple announced a "special Apple Experience" for the media in New York, London, and Shanghai, taking place on March 4, 2026 at 9:00am ET.

Posting on Weibo, the leaker known as "Instant Digital" said that the color scheme of the Apple logo graphic used for the upcoming "Apple Experience" should match the colors of the new entry-level Mac. The invite graphic shows a 3D Apple logo made up of transparent discs in yellow, green, and blue. The post effectively constitutes a claim that the device is set to arrive at the event.

In June 2025, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the more-affordable MacBook could come in silver, blue, pink, and yellow finishes, which would match the entry-level iPad. In his latest newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple has tested a range of playful color options for its upcoming low-cost MacBook, going well beyond the muted tones available on its current laptop lineup.

Gurman said the colors tested so far include light yellow, light green, blue, pink, classic silver, and dark gray, although he added that it is unlikely all of them will ship. The color palette would make the budget MacBook the most colorful laptop Apple has offered since the iBook G3 era in the late 90s, which included Tangerine, Blueberry, Indigo, Graphite, and Key Lime.

The low-cost machine is expected to feature a 12.9-inch display, an aluminum chassis, and an iPhone chip, likely the A18 Pro, rather than an M-series processor. It will likely retail for well below $1,000.

Article Link: Low-Cost MacBook Expected on March 4 in These Colors

I wish to get a laptop to replace a circa 2020 Intel MBP that has 16 GB RAM and 1 GB storage. I made the mistake of of installing MacOS 26 on it and it really cannot take it. If I knew a good way to blitz the OS and go back I would do so. Failing that I am thinking a 13 inch MB Air but the current models only come with 16 GB RAM. Any reason to think the new MB Airs anticipated with in this article can be built with more RAM? Or how well does the current 13 inch MB Air work with 16GB RAM?