Next year, Apple is reportedly going to debut a new MacBook model beneath the MacBook Air. It’ll be the first MacBook to utilize iPhone silicon, and it’ll be the first MacBook that sells far beneath the $999 price point. It sounds like a winning formula – but will it actually be one?
Key specifications
The budget MacBook has a couple key specifications already rumored, though a lot of it is up in air still:
LCD display, slightly smaller than current 13.6-inch MacBook Air
A18 Pro chipset, from iPhone 16 Pro
Colorful casing options, including silver, blue, pink, and yellow
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes this’ll sell around 5-7 million units in 2026, bringing the Mac lineup back to its COVID-19 peak of around 25 million annual units. This means that the new budget MacBook might make up at least 20% of overall MacBook sales.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also reports that this’ll target “would-be iPad buyers who might prefer a traditional laptop experience instead.”
Will it win?
Ultimately, whether or not it’ll win depends on the price point, as well as what it offers at that price point. Given Apple’s ambitious sales numbers, it might be closer to $600 or $700, which would be quite compelling.
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