Apple plans low-cost MacBook based on iPhone processor

AppleInsider

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple intends to launch a MacBook using the processor currently in the iPhone 16 Pro, as part of a plan to produce a significantly lower-cost Mac.

Apple could be looking to bring out a successor to its lower cost MacBook

Apple has been designing its A-series processors for the iPhone -- and originally the iPad -- since its A4 release in 2010. Consequently, when Apple Silicon's M-series was first announced for Mac, comparisons were made between the then-current Intel Macs and the existing A-series processors.

Now according to Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is going to turn that theoretical comparison into reality by making a MacBook that runs on an iPhone's A-series processor.

https://t.co/LHhpjzHxVI

-- (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo)

June 30, 2025

Kuo is unusually specific in his claims. He says that this new lower-cost MacBook will:

• Enter mass production at the end 2025 or early 2026


• Have an A18 Pro processor


• Have approximately a 13-inch screen size


• Come in silver, blue, pink, and yellow

The A18 Pro processor is currently used by Apple's iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Then Kuo further claims that Apple plans to sell between five and seven million of the devices in 2026. Between this and other MacBook devices, Kuo says Apple wants to get back to the COVID peak of 25 million sold across 2026.

The one area Kuo has no claimed detail on is pricing, but that sales estimate is aggressive, which implies a lower price. If the estimated screen size is correct, that would mean this Mac has the same size display as the MacBook Air, which is already the lowest-cost Mac.

Switching from an M-series to an A-series would certainly enable lower production costs, as the current Mac processors are physically larger and more complex than the iPhone ones. The A-series have fewer CPU and GPU cores, and are not really built for the same heavy workload as a Mac.

That would immediately mean that the low-cost Mac would not be suitable for power users, which then implies it would be much more of a casual or consumer device.

There's no indication that it would run iOS or iPadOS, but only an implication that it would continue to run macOS in some form.

Having some Macs on the M-series and some on the A-series sounds complex from a marketing perspective. Except Apple already has a similar split with the iPad, and the company always sells on features instead of processor specifications.

If the claim is correct, then this could be Apple effectively bringing back a version of the MacBook -- as opposed to the MacBook Air or the MacBook Pro. While it had keyboard issues for many users, and was smaller than Kuo's claim of 13-inches, the MacBook had a lot going for it at launch in 2015.

And when it was discontinued without a direct replacement in 2019, it was also much missed.

Note that Ming-Chi Kuo is no longer as accurate as he was just a few years ago, but he does have sources in the supply chain, and he has got things right. He now almost never specifies whether his claims are leaks from sources or just his speculation, but equally this claim has more precise detail than usual.

Rumor Score: Possible

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michelb76

Curious what tradeoffs will be made. Most of the 'cost' is in the profit on the base and upgrades like RAM. Does this need to compete with Chromebooks?

caffiend

Is this A-Series MacBook Lite a response to Trump's Tariffs?

How about convergence of MacOS and iOS / iPadOS. Some tech(s) with curiosity and time may try to run iPadOS but problems will abound starting with the lack of touch screen on Macs. 

greg.edwards69

So it's an iPad, without a touch screen, with a fixed keyboard and runs MacOS.

.... I don't get it.

longfang

greg.edwards69 said:

So it's an iPad, without a touch screen, with a fixed keyboard and runs MacOS.

.... I don't get it.

That’s like saying the current Macs are iPad Pros without a touchscreen, with a fixed keyboard and runs MacOS. 

penzi

C’mon 12” MacBook…

dmitrek

There are no tradeoffs except for total computing speed — whole transition to Apple silicon started from Apple Dev Kit (or Dev Transition kit) where A12 Bionic was put into Mac Mini enclosure, and it was already faster than Intel macs back then.

michelb76 said:
Curious what tradeoffs will be made. Most of the 'cost' is in the profit on the base and upgrades like RAM. Does this need to compete with Chromebooks?

edited June 30

starof80

As much as I like him, I highly doubt Apple will do this

applezulu

The only way I can think of for this not to be complete nonsense is if Apple wants to make a major push into the elementary education market. 

Apple doesn’t make cheap devices just to compete on the low end of the market. They do have a history, however, of putting Macs in front of kids, which builds generational brand loyalty. Selling or even leasing a model like this exclusively for that market would serve that purpose. That would also mean the devices would just be running software for kids, which an underpowered device could handle. This would avoid the negative user experience of adults buying cheap Macs, trying to run more demanding software, and then complaining about the sluggish response. 

prof

Apple going back to 8GB base RAM for a notebook? Unlikely... and if they have to spin a dedicated chip just to do notebooks with it, then the cost advantage is gone... There's a number of reasons why the higher end iPads are using M processors...

blastdoor

The A18 pro would be plenty fast. The big question is RAM. Is the idea here to sneak an 8GB model back into the Mac lineup? That’s the thing that would really keep “pro” users away.

randominternetperson

One more thing... say hello to iBook!

doggone

I've been waiting for this ever since Apple started releasing the silicon Macs.  This is potentially a game changer.  
When Apple first released the iPod, it was a high end device only.  Then in gradually made cheaper models.  That and the windows version of iTunes meant revenue and market share skyrocketed.  That pushed the competition into lower and lower margin offerings.
Finally Apple released the shuffle and effectively killed off the competition.  
It also led the way to the iPhone dominance.  

Now Apple releasing a low cost Mac will push the competition into an even lower margin market than it already is.  The cheapest MacBook Air is 999 so Apple releasing a cheaper offering at 799 would be typical of them.  I would like them to be more aggressive maybe 599 but it is not very Apple.  This would hit windows laptop hard and compete in the same price range.  There is no point trying to compete with Chromebooks yet.

danox

No make it better not cheaper… All your (direct?) competitors or would be competitors Google, Microsoft, PC box makers and Meta, already sell cheap hardware at a loss you don’t need to join them in misery. Unless Apple is planning on on expanding into some other markets that they haven’t really tried to seriously make a difference in because of the lack of reliable hardware and software (the Intel years) like server’s, and the Mac tower beyond the Mac Studio. And last where is that big screen iMac?

Apple is still leaving too many possibilities on the table but we may see some of them when they get their in house GPU’s beyond the Nvidia 5080 which is two generations away. No Nvidia isn’t standing still but their iteration and power signature (wattage) keeps climbing up in comparison to Apple with every generation. Note the M5 laptops are coming in the fall 2025 and the performance is up and the wattage is in ballpark of the previous generation. Apples position is very good inside the tech world.

One other thing to consider is that maybe this cheaper Apple product is not for the United States/EU maybe this product is designed for other parts of the world?

https://opendata.blender.org/benchmarks/query/?compute_type=OPTIX&compute_type=CUDA&compute_type=HIP&compute_type=METAL&compute_type=ONEAPI&group_by=device_name&blender_version=4.3.0  

edited June 30

hobesounddarryl

doggone said:

Now Apple releasing a low cost Mac will push the competition into an even lower margin market than it already is.  The cheapest MacBook Air is 999 so Apple releasing a cheaper offering at 799 would be typical of them.  I would like them to be more aggressive maybe 599 but it is not very Apple.  This would hit windows laptop hard and compete in the same price range.  There is no point trying to compete with Chromebooks yet.

You do realize- and if not, perhaps a few searches are in order- that there is SUBSTANTIAL competition already well below $799 and even $599 in laptops. Try doing some searches for "best laptops under $800" and under $600... and under $400 and $250 too. They won't have to cut their margins to compete with a new cheaper Mac(?) if they are already substantially BELOW either price. If you assume this is ONLY Chromebook territory, slug Windows into the search words.

Where your margin worries apply is that those competitors can pack more computer into those lower prices... because they are not chasing towards 50% margin on each unit sold. On the other hand, Apple seems to be a margin-foremost company, so a hypothetical $600-$800 A-series MB can't have total costs out the door of more than $300-$400 for the actual computer. 

What this could do- if true and it actually pans out- is provide a little lower entry price to a Mac laptop. Since cheaper Air is already the most popular Mac laptop, if price drives computer popularity among the masses, perhaps this becomes the NEW, most-popular-Mac laptop? I don't know if that's a good or bad thing though. More adoption can bring some benefits to all Apple people. However, cutting baseline specs for 'most popular' can result in app choices that cater towards low specs. 

If me, I'd probably keyboard case an iPad and scratch this apparent internal itch with further evolved iPad OS. But where's the $300-$400 margin per keyboard case sold? So bring on the A-Series MB MIN... presumably with standard (Apple) upgrade pricing for core tech so that a favorably-specced one runs right up into Air and low PRO territory like Mac Mini vs. Studio or Air vs. PRO considerations now.  

edited June 30

misterkit

"Apple could be looking to bring out a successor to its lower cost MacBook."

Excuse me, but the 12" MacBook was by no means a lower cost MacBook. Thank you.

randominternetperson

Where your margin worries apply is that those competitors can pack more computer into those lower prices... because they are not chasing towards 50% margin on each unit sold. On the other hand, Apple seems to be a margin-foremost company, so a hypothetical $600-$800 A-series MB can't have total costs out the door of more than $300-$400 for the actual computer. 

Apple targets (and hits) margins in the 36-38 percent range for products. (And 75% for services!).

mpw_amherst

Penzi said:

C’mon 12” MacBook…

I've been waiting for this ever since they killed it. I have an M2 Air but that 12" was my favourite form factor. If they could make the new one also sub 1kg then perfect!

9secondkox2

Incredibly stupid idea. 

Apple already has the MacBook Air. 

Now they want to make an iPad with a keyboard but no touchscreen?

the iPhone SOC is for the phone. 

Don’t weaken the Mac just to have an even cheaper model. 

Sounds really bad. 

michelb76

dmitrek said:

There are no tradeoffs except for total computing speed — whole transition to Apple silicon started from Apple Dev Kit (or Dev Transition kit) where A12 Bionic was put into Mac Mini enclosure, and it was already faster than Intel macs back then.

michelb76 said:
Curious what tradeoffs will be made. Most of the 'cost' is in the profit on the base and upgrades like RAM. Does this need to compete with Chromebooks?

Well then how will they make it cheaper? The CPU will be binned as it doesn't make sense to scale this out. They can already offer the M2 Air for much less if they let go of the 30-35% margin, but why would they? So it's going to need cheaper parts, reduced ports, functionalities or else this will cannibalise the lowest offer. 8GB RAM is not going to be enough next year, so there's an expense already. the M2 is at a theoretical $999, a $799 model does not make sense. Competition(whatever that will be) is at $400-$600. I can't see Apple go below $600 and higher than $600 does not make much sense. And if they CAN make a cheaper model without too many compromises, the Air is too expensive.

9secondkox2

Could be the apple home hub and not a laptop.