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Report: Low-Cost iPhone, iPad, MacBook Coming Early 2026

Anaxarxes said:
No they don't. Brands are represented on how they are perceived and there might be nothing that Apple can do for a phone that costs sub 300 usd.

Apple already has marketshare and creating a phone that is so compromised is only going to damage their brand becuase of the perception of the brand does not sync with the experience of that device.

the iPhone e is there not to be the cheaper phone. IT's there for the non tech savvy person that does not care about wireless chargin, the top tier camera system or th super thin and lightness of certain high end phones. IT's for a person that just wants and iphone for the experience and a good to great battery life for their light to medium use.

I think what apple needs to do is to adjust the iPhone XXe price back to 499 and not 599.
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The e model phone is primarily for corporations, and less-so the prepaid market. My company is buying a ton of them (it's the only employer-provided phone they offer), my brothers employeer only offers the 16e.

As for individuals in the US, almost no one pays the full price, and if you do, you're an idiot. They can routinely be found on sale from prepaid carriers for >$200, out the door and no contract.
 
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ChrisMac47 said:
Agreed. Apple needs a proper low cost model, say $349 or better $299, which would grow their iOS market share outside the US. You can buy very nice Android phones in the EU for less than €250, they are well-built phones, but the downside is they run Android!
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I'd love to see it, but €250 is the same price as they sell their orange knitted sock for.
They have lost me though, it's just the OS that's keeping me in the Apple universe at the moment.
I don't feel they want me as a customer any more.
 
carniesandrubes said:
A very stripped down MacBook selling for $700-900 will be a tough sell when you can currently pay $749 for the current base MacBook Air and still get an M4 chip, 16GB memory, etc. At least until that stripped down model sees its own discount to get it close to $499.
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But you’ll be paying more for that air later.
 
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carniesandrubes said:
A very stripped down MacBook selling for $700-900 will be a tough sell when you can currently pay $749 for the current base MacBook Air and still get an M4 chip, 16GB memory, etc. At least until that stripped down model sees its own discount to get it close to $499.
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They will likely stop the cheap sales on the base M4 and later M5 Air.
 
$799 Macbook, A18 Pro with 12GB Memory, 256GB NAND.

$999 MacBook Air, M5, 16GB Memory, 256GB NAND.

$1599 MacBook Pro never quite make sense to me, You are paying $600 for extra 256GB NAND, better screen and two more port. I would have thought it should be $1399.
 
kiranmk2 said:
Apple needs to be really careful if it launches a new laptop with 8 GB RAM. That would mean they would need to ensure that MacOS caters to 8 GB devices into the 2030s (or risk cutting off OS support for a laptop in 4 years or less).
Apple's future OS development easier.
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my guess is 16GB RAM but the SSD will be 128GB or 256GB to start

either way, very excited for this one.
 
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kiranmk2 said:
Unless the MacBook Airs stop receiving such large discounts when the new A18 model launches...
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Exactly. These discounts will no longer be available, and prices starting with the Air M5 will be raised and remain more stable.

How can people here not recognize this? The Air will then be the first premium device.
 
carniesandrubes said:
A very stripped down MacBook selling for $700-900 will be a tough sell when you can currently pay $749 for the current base MacBook Air and still get an M4 chip, 16GB memory, etc. At least until that stripped down model sees its own discount to get it close to $499.
Click to expand...
Not sure, but isn't that $749 Air deal something that is on for this week only?

Hard to compare an exceptionally low but temporary price for one device with the normal base price for another device.
 
Just allow us to start using our iOS devices as a computer with dual boot support, one into iOS and one to macOS. :rolleyes:
 
It'll need 16gb if Apple doesn't want to be insulting.

And if it only has one USB-C port, for goodness sakes make sure it has a magsafe charging port too!
 
Seanm87 said:
This MacBook will sell like hot cakes. I'm surprised Apple haven't done this sooner.

Don't underestimate the amount of people that don't care about tech specs but just want something nice, well built and basic.
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I seriously wonder how Apple is going to position this in terms of what apps it can run tho - surely MacOS isn't going to be a pleasant experience on an A18-19 SoC unless it's cut down, and on the flip side, if it runs iPadOS, well it's just an iPad with built-in keyboard and trackpad.

We all assume this is aimed at the low-end and education markets so that it competes against cheap Windows S notebooks and especially Chromebooks, but I feel an identity crisis coming as we all know Apple isn't going to shove these out at the $300 price point they should be going for.
 
If an iPhone chip can run macOS, there's no good reason to not offer macOS as an option on at least the iPad Pro.
 
ksec said:
$799 Macbook, A18 Pro with 12GB Memory, 256GB NAND.

$999 MacBook Air, M5, 16GB Memory, 256GB NAND.

$1599 MacBook Pro never quite make sense to me, You are paying $600 for extra 256GB NAND, better screen and two more port. I would have thought it should be $1399.
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Better screen is an understatement.
 
neuropsychguy said:
However, what percent of MacBook (Air) users ever use more than one USB C port at a time?
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Having to unplug the charger to use a USB stick would be a nuisance. Yes I do occasionally need to move a file while charging.

We'll have to wait and see what they do. Also take a look at what the competition is doing. The M1 Air at Walmart's price is thoroughly trounced in performance, RAM, and storage by similarly priced machines. The M1 still has an edge in screen quality and battery life. The M1 is a five year old chip at this point, AMD has more than caught up to it, I'm not so sure about Intel on the laptop chips.
 
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All this is great and everything, but is/when a new AppleTV (the device, not any of the other products with the same name) going to be released? I have an old one starting to act flaky so I would like to replace it sooner rather than later. 🤔
 
kiranmk2 said:
Apple needs to be really careful if it launches a new laptop with 8 GB RAM. That would mean they would need to ensure that MacOS caters to 8 GB devices into the 2030s (or risk cutting off OS support for a laptop in 4 years or less).
Apple's future OS development easier.
Click to expand...
It isnt really apple that’s risking anything or has to be careful.

Only the buyer takes the risk that the new laptop will get no updates a few years earlier than expected.
 
you know what would be the cheapest entry iphone could be?

iphone se '22 form factor (with home button+touchid) with upgraded specs!

do iiitttt!!
 
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