I really hope Apple are planning to support these with the latest macOS for many many years.
Otherwise, these people are getting royally fleeced.
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New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code
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I really hope Apple are planning to support these with the latest macOS for many many years.
Otherwise, these people are getting royally fleeced.
The A12Z was not an iPhone chip, that was an iPad chip. It’s also just a name, the M1 was just an A14X with a new name, so technically the A12Z was just an “M0” so it’s all arbitrary.
It’s for everybody who wants it. It could be an entry computer for students. Or it could be a quirky, little computer with funny colors for anyone who has some ****-you money lying around. ****-you money being i-have-cash-i-don’t-need-and-will-happily-spend-it.
If it runs macOS and if it’s light enough and powerful enough to maybe write some Pages documents, set some reminders, send some mails, do some light work and if it comes in funky colors with 6 hours of battery life or so … I’ll get one.
I’m sure Apple doesn’t care who buys it if they can make it and sell it at a 30% margin.
If this is a 12" macbook revival, it's an insta day one buy for me.
True there are still some distinctions. Which is why I continue to own all device types (as evidenced by my signature lol).
I think Apple may use the A18 Pro to enable cellular option for the first time in one of their laptops.
imho Cellular will come to the upper class mbs (mb pro) first
as an option, as they do with the iPads
over time that option may then trickle down to the lower end mbs (for a mark up)
Note Apple won't compromise on KBD width meaning it can't get smaller than the last 12".
Well the could go thick bezel or ultrawide aspect ratio to get a <12" but I think it's more likely they would go the other way with even smaller bezels giving us a 12.5 MBTA (MacBookThinAir
).Well next issue, the 12" MB was positioned above the Air at the time.
So my guess:
a) drop in replacement in the old M1 Air chassis.
b) BTO downgrade for whatever MBA is current at that time
If there's ever been a 'pro' feature that Apple should have on laptop, IMO, it would be cellular connectivity...
Hehe.
My first Mac had a Motorola 68K chip in it.
Then I had a PowerMac 7500.
Then the G3 Pismo, laptop.
Then a white plastic iBook, followed by a white plastic MacBook.
Etc. etc.
My all time favourite Macs are the 2010 11" MacBook Air and my current 2020 M1 MacBook Air.
My least favorite was the 12" MacBook (for its abysmal performance), tied with the 2019 MacBook Pro (the baby one with 2 TB ports), which is the only Mac I ever sold...
The 12" MacBook was a work issued machine, and after relatively short time I started taking my - then 5 year old - 11" MBA to work instead.
Apple doesn’t need A18 to enable cellular. The modem is a separate chip. iPad Pro uses M chips with cellular.
It makes no sense to add an expensive feature to a low-cost device.
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I think this may be referring to the return of the 12" MacBook, but this time it will have a modified A18 Pro SoC with 16 GB of RAM (for Apple Intelligence compatibility and/or faster overall performance) and either 256 or 512 GB local storage. Using a modified A18 Pro SoC means much lower power usage than any M-series SoC. In short, it will be smaller than the MacBook Air 13" but with the same battery life per charge.
As the owner of an "ancient" M1 iPad Pro 11 (16gb, 1tb, 5g) and Magic Keyboard, I wonder when any of these developments will sink my rig, including this new 12" MacBook? Seems like I'm safe for a few years to come on the small Mac-like device frontier...
To spread the cost of production for the Pro chips across more than just the high end phone line. It makes sense.
There's already another MacBook Air with lighter specs - the $650 M1 being sold at Wal-Mart. Using this chip instead would let them keep that model going without having to continue the M1 chip. That scenario makes much more sense than introducing some wildly new model.
I'd trade in my M4 Air for this if it were 11.5-12". Apple needs to have an ultraportable running MacOS.
I keep hearing the term “backend code” without any such code being shown. What does MacRumors mean when they use the term? Are you even actually talking about code, or is this some data returned from a web service somewhere?
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors.
Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow.
MacRumors can now reveal that it first spotted evidence of such a device in backend code related to Apple Intelligence last summer, and subsequently confirmed its use of the A18 Pro chip. The machine features the identifier "Mac17,1."
This would be the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series chips, which offer higher core counts, support for larger amounts of memory, and better external display support. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year.
According to Kuo, the new MacBook is expected to enter mass production late in the fourth quarter of 2025 or early in the first quarter of 2026, which situates launch in the first half of next year.
Article Link: New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code
So...would it have a touch screen? I mean...iPadOS 26 will be more macOS-like so technically this could be a touch-enable MacBook device...
Not in the same way a 12" was, especially perception wise with the tapered design.
It felt almost magical, how tiny and light it was but still running macOS.
It tucked away like iPads do.
12" MB
13" MBA M4