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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Apple could announce the launch of a new “cheap” MacBook on March 4.
- It will likely come with the A18 chip found in the iPhone 16 Pro.
- Prices will start around $599.
Rumors of a new “cheap” MacBook have been circulating for years, but it looks like the laptop could finally launch in the next few weeks. On March 4, Apple is set to make a series of product announcements at a “special experience” here in New York, where I’m betting we’ll hear more.
Apple’s new affordable 13-inch MacBook is rumored to feature a low-power A18 processor — the same chip found in the iPhone 16 Pro — rather than the typical M-series processors used in MacBooks. This would allow it to keep costs low, particularly if paired with more modest hardware such as a less flashy display and a smaller form factor.
Also: Everything Apple may unveil at its March event: iPhone 17e, MacBook M5, new iPads, more
The A18 chip is a powerful piece of hardware, and although it doesn’t quite match the performance of the M-series processors found in the MacBook Air and Pro, it’s more than capable of handling everyday use cases for which affordable laptops are designed.
So, how affordable are we talking? Mark Gurman, Apple insider and author of Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter, is confident the device will be “well under $1,000,” which makes sense given the build components. But the new model’s price would still need to be lower than a MacBook Air, which can go as low as $749 during sales at third-party retailers like Amazon.
I would estimate a starting price of around $599, noting that anything higher than that wouldn’t be impactful enough to differentiate it, given the number of products in the expansive MacBook catalog (and the massive discounts available on renewed products). However, $500 or less would make for a product that would compete directly with budget PCs and Chromebooks.
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Apple’s entrance into the budget laptop market would be a big shift for the company, which has firmly occupied the premium tier for decades, but the product itself isn’t exactly uncharted territory. Apple released a razor-thin 12-inch laptop simply called MacBook back in 2015 when it was still using Intel chips. The model didn’t stick around, though — perhaps both a little too ahead of its time and not particularly well executed.
It was locked at 8GB of RAM, not exactly cheap at over $1,000, had the infamously-loathed butterfly switch keyboard, and just one single USB-C port. Still, all of this is a learning opportunity for how to do it right the next time. If I had to guess, I’d say Apple will call this upcoming device “MacBook” as well, positioning it as an addition to the already-successful brand line.
Read the room
It’s no secret that, in this economy, consumers are spending less, upgrading more slowly, and being far more budget-conscious. All this, combined with the upgrade fatigue of yet another new laptop or iPhone coming along to make their current gear obsolete, makes expanding to this area of the market not only strategic but necessary.
But would mass-producing a $500 laptop series dilute the brand’s premium image? Maybe, but Apple doesn’t really have anything to lose. The MacBook Air and Pro will continue to receive incremental upgrades this year with the M5 chip, and the launch of a cheap laptop will both offset the lack of major developments on its core lineup, but also give Apple access to market share in the one area it has historically lacked it: the budget sector.
Also: MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air: We tested both models, and here’s which one to buy in 2026
So who’s the intended demographic for this device? Students, obviously, but also budget-conscious users, kids and teens, or anyone looking for a portable travel device. The A18’s performance will make it well-suited to general web browsing, everyday productivity tasks, and of course, integrations with the iPhone, including FaceTime, Messages, and (hopefully) the Phone app.
There would be limitations, though. The A18 chip doesn’t support Thunderbolt technology, so the device’s ports would be regular USB-C connections. In addition, the display is unlikely to be as polished as a MacBook Pro’s Liquid Retina XDR. It’s unclear what kind of camera it would have (or if at all), but it’s also likely to be lower-end.
But none of these things are deal breakers. Not every consumer needs to connect to three displays at 8K; they need an affordable, battery-efficient device that handles web browsing and integrates with the phone they already have out of the box. That could be exactly what this device is designed for.
