Low cost MacBook could launch for $599 in late 2025

AppleInsider

A new report claims that the expected lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone's 18 Pro processor will go into mass production in the third quarter of 2025, with a possible launch before the end of the year.

Apple is said to be working on a low-cost MacBook with an iPhone system-on-chip.

First analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that Apple was planning to produce a MacBook that would use an iPhone's A18 Pro processor to reduce costs. Then it was learned that references to such a device had already existed in the code for macOS Sequoia, released in 2024.

Now according to Digitimes, at least some components for such a MacBook are expected to enter mass production by the end of 2025's third quarter. Citing unspecified sources within the supply chain, the report further claims that the new MacBook will be priced between $599 and $699.

That would put the new MacBook at around the same price as the desktop Mac mini. It would also put it at between $300 and $400 less than the current base 13-inch MacBook Air, which starts at $999.

Reportedly, the new MacBook would have a slightly smaller display at 12.9 inches. As first spotted by MacRumors, the production schedule means a late 2025 or early 2026 release. That also fits with Kuo's previous report.

Kuo did not give a more precise release schedule, nor did he specify a price. But he did say the device would have an approximately 13-inch screen, and also that it would come in silver, blue, pink, and yellow.

Apple's aim, said Kuo, was to sell between five and seven million of the new MacBook in 2026.

Note that Digitimes has a strong record for its supply chain sources, but a much poorer one for its predictions extrapolated from that information. Similarly, Kuo has sources in the supply chain, although his accuracy has declined in recent years.

Separately, leaked product identifiers have recently shown that Apple is, unsurprisingly, working on an update with the MacBook Air, and others.



Read on AppleInsider

fred1

Will it have a touchscreen and lie flat so I can use an Apple Pencil? That would be cool. 

prof

Rumors of a cheaper MacBook have been resurfacing ever since Apple stopped the affordable iBook line. A cheaper CPU wouldn't provide that much of a saving, so Apple would have to save massively somewhere else and in the end they're also canabalising their slight more high end MacBook sales... at the expected sales volume that would be a stupidly low revenue, likely just barely a black number. I think this is wishful thinking...

greg.edwards69

I, for one, would love to see this. I've maintained for years that the 12" MacBook was a brilliant form factor - small, light, fanless and lovely retina display. The design and internal engineering set the stage for what would become the current MacBook Air. It was just hampered by a terrible processor. The MacBook lineup is missing a lower-tier non-Pro, non-Air MacBook for many users. I reckon this could do quite well. For some, it could be a viable iPad replacement and everyday carry.

But on the subject of the iPad, we should address that particular elephant in the room.  I've also maintained for some time that the reason a lower-cost, 12" MacBook doesn't exist is because the iPad has become so powerful that many potential MacBook users can do everything they want to do on an iPad. iPadOS 26 with a keyboard case somewhat blurs the lines even more.

mike wuerthele

fred1 said:

Will it have a touchscreen and lie flat so I can use an Apple Pencil? That would be cool. 

The odds of this happening at the low-end are extremely close to zero.

penzi

fred1 said:

Will it have a touchscreen and lie flat so I can use an Apple Pencil? That would be cool. 

You have just described the base iPad. With cost savings to boot! No need to wait…

Agree with @greg.edwards69 - a return of the 12” MacBook form factor would lead to my purchase of that device. Mind you, that wasn’t a low price device…

charlesn

prof said:

Rumors of a cheaper MacBook have been resurfacing ever since Apple stopped the affordable iBook line. A cheaper CPU wouldn't provide that much of a saving, so Apple would have to save massively somewhere else and in the end they're also canabalising their slight more high end MacBook sales... at the expected sales volume that would be a stupidly low revenue, likely just barely a black number. I think this is wishful thinking...

Yes, definitely! This is exactly how a $3.5 trillion dollar company and the most successful consumer computer company in history makes its product launch decisions: "wishful thinking." And I'm sure no one at Apple ever considered the ratio of new sales a lower end Macbook would make vs cannibalizing Macbook Air sales. Please reach out to Tim immediately with these essential observations! Gosh, I hope it's not too late to pull the launch. 

Meanwhile, in actual reality where Apple knows what it's doing, I'm sure Apple sees this as a kind of IPhone 16e for laptops. Sure, it can bring in new, lower price point customers to the Apple ecosystem, but it can also get customers with long outdated Macbook Airs to finally upgrade and it can offer a compelling alternative for customers who are shopping the used Macbook Air market. 

edited 8:49AM

abujazar

>The design and internal engineering set the stage for what would become the current MacBook Air. It was just hampered by a terrible processor.

Yep – it's kind of weird that the 11-12" form factor hasn't returned yet with the much more energy efficient Apple Silicon chips.

An iPad + keyboard is not a good alternative. Ends up taking up nearly as much weight and space as standard MacBook Air, and doesn't run macOS which is still required for many kinds of jobs.

ios_guy80

If there’s any truth to this, that means some components for this device are being produced right now since Apple recently reported it’s third quarter earnings.

edited 9:06AM

victormortimer

abujazar said:

>The design and internal engineering set the stage for what would become the current MacBook Air. It was just hampered by a terrible processor.

Yep – it's kind of weird that the 11-12" form factor hasn't returned yet with the much more energy efficient Apple Silicon chips.

An iPad + keyboard is not a good alternative. Ends up taking up nearly as much weight and space as standard MacBook Air, and doesn't run macOS which is still required for many kinds of jobs.

Every other computer company has figured out how to build a cheap computer with a decent size screen in a plastic case and sell it for a reasonable price.  I just worked on a Lenovo 15" with an i3 last week, the user had gotten it on sale for about $200.  It was even a touchscreen.  Not as bright or high resolution a screen as a MacBook, but less fragile, and very much usable.  Handled web browsing and Word just fine, which is what the user needed it for.  I was cleaning up malware, which wouldn't have been a problem on MacOS, but also wouldn't have been a problem if I'd put Linux on the Lenovo.  Oh, and it came with a physical camera shutter installed at the factory, and no idiotic notch in the middle of the screen.

And an iPad is a toy, not a computer.

tht

abujazar said:

>The design and internal engineering set the stage for what would become the current MacBook Air. It was just hampered by a terrible processor.

Yep – it's kind of weird that the 11-12" form factor hasn't returned yet with the much more energy efficient Apple Silicon chips.

An iPad + keyboard is not a good alternative. Ends up taking up nearly as much weight and space as standard MacBook Air, and doesn't run macOS which is still required for many kinds of jobs.

Broken record here. 12" display sizes, and smaller, are too small for modern web page and application design, for PC operating systems. It is usable for some people, but overall, it is not a good experience using MS Office or a web browser at such small display sizes. 13" is basically the practical minimum for a mass market PC device. So, a 12" laptop will have a niche set of buyers.

So, it is good news to me that this device is 12.9". Basically 13". I think that means potential for mass market sales.

eightzero

VictorMortimer said:

abujazar said:

>The design and internal engineering set the stage for what would become the current MacBook Air. It was just hampered by a terrible processor.

Yep – it's kind of weird that the 11-12" form factor hasn't returned yet with the much more energy efficient Apple Silicon chips.

An iPad + keyboard is not a good alternative. Ends up taking up nearly as much weight and space as standard MacBook Air, and doesn't run macOS which is still required for many kinds of jobs.

Every other computer company has figured out how to build a cheap computer with a decent size screen in a plastic case and sell it for a reasonable price.  I just worked on a Lenovo 15" with an i3 last week, the user had gotten it on sale for about $200.  It was even a touchscreen.  Not as bright or high resolution a screen as a MacBook, but less fragile, and very much usable.  Handled web browsing and Word just fine, which is what the user needed it for.  I was cleaning up malware, which wouldn't have been a problem on MacOS, but also wouldn't have been a problem if I'd put Linux on the Lenovo.  Oh, and it came with a physical camera shutter installed at the factory, and no idiotic notch in the middle of the screen.

And an iPad is a toy, not a computer.

Right. Because everyone wants and values what you want. 

doggone

When Apple released the iPod mini it transformed their business. It is coincide with the release of iTunes for windows.  The combination of a cheaper iPod and accessibility to windows users boosted sales dramatically.  Later Apple completely killed the MP3 market with the introduction of Shuffle. What the Shuffle did is to squeeze the market to a point where other competitors could not be profitable.

Apart from saving Apple and allowing for the development of the iPhone, the Mini provided access to Apple products to a vast number of new customers.  The iPhone benefited from that and there are millions of iPhone customers that use a PC because of the price but will spend money on the iPhone.

So the argument can be made that providing a low cost Mac will be a gateway product for Apple.  We'll see if this happens. 

netrox

I hope it'll be a very light and thin MacBook and as long as it's as fast as M1, it's good enough for most users who are conscious of their budgets. I suspect the A18 Pro chip will run at a higher clock rate since it'll likely be using bigger battery and much easier to cool the chip with bigger heat sink. 

charlesn

tht said:

Broken record here. 12" display sizes, and smaller, are too small for modern web page and application design, for PC operating systems. It is usable for some people, but overall, it is not a good experience using MS Office or a web browser at such small display sizes. 13" is basically the practical minimum for a mass market PC device. So, a 12" laptop will have a niche set of buyers.

I had a Macbook 12" Retina from the day it first debuted. And during a several year stint at Discovery Networks (now Warner Brothers Discovery) that began in 2016, the Macbook 12" Retina was the standard issue laptop for pretty much every media exec I knew--not because it was a company dictate, but because it's what the execs requested. No one had a problem with them ever, and the full suite of MS Office apps was what most people were using most of the time. We could have requested tradeouts for an MBA or even MBP, but no one ever did. The lightweight and compact size were huge selling points for a mobile laptop. Was the processor slower than it might have been? Sure, and I'd love to see this resurrected with Apple Silicon, but it wasn't slow to the degree that it was a hindrance to anyone. This was a case where Geekbench test results and the caustic commentary on message boards in the technosphere echo chamber were completely disconnected from the average user experience. 

mike1

doggone said:

When Apple released the iPod mini it transformed their business. It is coincide with the release of iTunes for windows.  The combination of a cheaper iPod and accessibility to windows users boosted sales dramatically.  Later Apple completely killed the MP3 market with the introduction of Shuffle. What the Shuffle did is to squeeze the market to a point where other competitors could not be profitable.

Apart from saving Apple and allowing for the development of the iPhone, the Mini provided access to Apple products to a vast number of new customers.  The iPhone benefited from that and there are millions of iPhone customers that use a PC because of the price but will spend money on the iPhone.

So the argument can be made that providing a low cost Mac will be a gateway product for Apple.  We'll see if this happens. 

I seriously doubt the shuffle was the final nail in the coffin for mp3 players. That was likely the result of the iPod Mini and as you mentioned, iTunes for Windows.

I would argue that with it's limited control capability, the Shuffle was a very niche product. Apple never released sales figures for iPod models, but I personally saw very few of these being used while everyone seemed to have Minis in their pocket or strapped to their arm.

alandail

Walmart already has a $599 M1 MacBook Air.

libertyandfree

VictorMortimer said:

abujazar said:

>The design and internal engineering set the stage for what would become the current MacBook Air. It was just hampered by a terrible processor.

Yep – it's kind of weird that the 11-12" form factor hasn't returned yet with the much more energy efficient Apple Silicon chips.

An iPad + keyboard is not a good alternative. Ends up taking up nearly as much weight and space as standard MacBook Air, and doesn't run macOS which is still required for many kinds of jobs.

Every other computer company has figured out how to build a cheap computer with a decent size screen in a plastic case and sell it for a reasonable price.  I just worked on a Lenovo 15" with an i3 last week, the user had gotten it on sale for about $200.  It was even a touchscreen.  Not as bright or high resolution a screen as a MacBook, but less fragile, and very much usable.  Handled web browsing and Word just fine, which is what the user needed it for.  I was cleaning up malware, which wouldn't have been a problem on MacOS, but also wouldn't have been a problem if I'd put Linux on the Lenovo.  Oh, and it came with a physical camera shutter installed at the factory, and no idiotic notch in the middle of the screen.

And an iPad is a toy, not a computer.

  These companies also make almost no money off of these very low cost PC’s and that’s not something Apple has done or will ever do.  Almost all low cost PCs I have used and seen are also worthless after about 2 years of use. 

mtanika

Agree with Fred1: it will be an iPad Pro innards in laptop dressing with fixed keyboard and a A18 SOC.