Will the Rumored Lower-Cost MacBook Use an A18 Pro or A19 Pro Chip?

[navaira]

$699 would probably translate to €839 in Europe (70% of Air’s price). That’s too much – I can get a M2 Air refurb with 16 GB RAM for €857 on Amazon.nl right now. $599 would probably become €720, though, and then it’s going to be difficult for me to stop myself from buying one, I’m a writer and I’d like to have a dedicated writing-only laptop. I expect it to be close to Air’s size but with larger bezels and no notch, possibly slightly thicker because of polycarbonate chassis, same colours as base iPads – Kuo keeps mentioning silver, blue, yellow, and pink. 12 GB RAM, just enough for it to run Apple Intelligence really slowly. A three-year replacement cycle machine for someone who intends to actually use it for everything.

What I actually WANT is the return of tapered 12” rMB with a real keyboard and larger screen in sub-1kg body, but that’s unfortunately wishful thinking. The tapered chassis is not coming back. Snif. (Please prove me wrong, Apple.)

 

[JPack]

$699 would probably translate to €839 in Europe (70% of Air’s price). That’s too much – I can get a M2 Air refurb with 16 GB RAM for €857 on Amazon.nl right now. $599 would probably become €720, though, and then it’s going to be difficult for me to stop myself from buying one, I’m a writer and I’d like to have a dedicated writing-only laptop. I expect it to be close to Air’s size but with larger bezels and no notch, possibly slightly thicker because of polycarbonate chassis, same colours as base iPads – Kuo keeps mentioning silver, blue, yellow, and pink. 12 GB RAM, just enough for it to run Apple Intelligence really slowly. A three-year replacement cycle machine for someone who intends to actually use it for everything.

What I actually WANT is the return of tapered 12” rMB with a real keyboard and larger screen in sub-1kg body, but that’s unfortunately wishful thinking. The tapered chassis is not coming back. Snif. (Please prove me wrong, Apple.)

Like always, Apple will use software as a determining factor.

Macs historically get 6-7 years of major macOS updates, meaning M2 MBA will drop off by 2029. The low cost MacBook will run the latest OS through 2033.

Apple is building and selling brand new M1 units to Walmart for $599. There is no reason for Apple to drop to plastic.

 

[Churchman]

Just had an interesting thought...

What if the all-new redesign for the 2026 M6 MBP is being previewed in the features found on the iPhone 17 phones?
- MBP with vapor chamber cooling tech from iPhone 17 Pro
- MBP with Nx or N2 chip for better / more efficient wifi and bluetooth performance (which uses less battery per minute)
- MBP with Cx or C2 chip for better / more efficient modem performance (which uses less battery per minute)
- MBP with wide but "iPhone 17 Air" thin battery with better thermal management coding

**** Because of the above, Apple may remove the MBP heatsink.... or remove the MBP fans... or both... or put in a less significantly sized MBP fan****​

Those features on the MBP would definitely make the all-new MBP:
- great to use from a Thermal Management perspective
- more powerful / productive to use in terms of incorporating the advanced N chip and C chip tech.
- super thin due to the thinner 17 Air style battery, smaller profile MBP fan, and the packaging learnings from the 17 Air frame/chassis.

If they would also do a titanium housing for the MBP and finally get beyond the ages-old Aluminum casing / unibody / whatever - That would be nice. I think I have had Aluminum Apple notebooks since about 2004 or 2005 - so, 20 years of Apple and Aluminum notebooks. Time for some new metal in the MBP line.

 

[jlc1978]

If they would also do a titanium housing for the MBP and finally get beyond the ages-old Aluminum casing

I doubt we ever see a titanium MacBook, given higher raw material and production cost for no real benefit over aluminum.

 

[Quackington]

I’d love for this to be the size of the 11” MBA, but I don’t think it will be. I’d rather not have it be the size of the 13” MBA, so at the least I’m hopeful that it’s a bit smaller.

 

[jlc1978]

I’d love for this to be the size of the 11” MBA, but I don’t think it will be. I’d rather not have it be the size of the 13” MBA, so at the least I’m hopeful that it’s a bit smaller.

I doubt we'll see anything smaller than the current Airs, except for perhaps a slightly smaller bezel. I suspect Apple doesn't see much of a market for smaller Macs and figures people who want smaller devices are choosing iPads anyway; thus any market for them is likely too small to be worthwhile..

 

[Dirk Pieters]

Seems weird to launch a Mac with a chip slower than current iPhone. And 12GB seems like the right amount, regardless. I’d guess the volume of iPhone would bring the price down to a level where it doesn’t make sense to do a custom A18 Pro with 12GB.

I don’t see them launching it with 8GB. And to keep price down, I could see them launch only one version - probably different SSD sizes, but that’s it. With Air starting at 16GB ram, it doesn’t make much sense to do a cheap model and then upcharge on ram - if you want more than 12GB, get the Air.

It would be a very “Apple” thing to do though. Release it and limit the specs. A bunch of people won’t buy, because of specs. But a bunch of people will buy because it’s a new, shiny thing and they can afford it.

That second group will very likely also update to a new model when it gets a better processor/more ram/whatever.

Almost every time when a new device comes out and I play with the configurator Apple makes interesting combinations of processor/ram impossible. The “perfect” device can almost never be built. Need a processor bump? They’ll force you to upgrade ram too. Processor bump but don’t need all that storage? Sorry, no can do.

Some very clever people do that in order to get as much money from the customer as possible. This new device won’t be any different.

 

[Dirk Pieters]

What really is the difference between a 13 inch iPad Air and a MacBook Air?
Add the iPad Air keyboard and you're there.

I don’t think we’ve heard the last of a macOS/iPad OS “blend”. There is already talk that the next MBP will have an oled screen with touch digitiser built-in.

The fact that iPadOS now supports windowing/mouse/menubar is heading waaaaaaay too much into macOS territory. Some of the current macOS apps are almost copies of the iPad versions … reminders, weather.

More things are going to happen in that space if you ask me.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I think this new lower-cost laptop will use a modified A18 Pro SoC with a new memory controller to support 16 GB of RAM.

 

[jlc1978]

Almost every time when a new device comes out and I play with the configurator Apple makes interesting combinations of processor/ram impossible. The “perfect” device can almost never be built. Need a processor bump? They’ll force you to upgrade ram too. Processor bump but don’t need all that storage? Sorry, no can do.

I suspect that is simply smart supply chain management. By limiting the BTO options Apple can have a ready supply of motherboards, etc. on hand to meet anticipated demand and not have to custom build each configuration when ordered. This reduces cost, has less manufacturing disruption and speeds up build time.

 

[Velli]

It would be a very “Apple” thing to do though. Release it and limit the specs. A bunch of people won’t buy, because of specs. But a bunch of people will buy because it’s a new, shiny thing and they can afford it.

That second group will very likely also update to a new model when it gets a better processor/more ram/whatever.

Almost every time when a new device comes out and I play with the configurator Apple makes interesting combinations of processor/ram impossible. The “perfect” device can almost never be built. Need a processor bump? They’ll force you to upgrade ram too. Processor bump but don’t need all that storage? Sorry, no can do.

Some very clever people do that in order to get as much money from the customer as possible. This new device won’t be any different.

Unfortunately you make some very good points that I can’t argue against…

 

[Dirk Pieters]

I expect it to be close to Air’s size but with larger bezels and no notch, possibly slightly thicker because of polycarbonate chassis, same colours as base iPads

I don’t think polycarbonate is coming back. Too many environmental issues.

 

[lostPod]

Bring back the 11" form factor !