Last June, Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that Apple is developing a more affordable 13-inch laptop to compete with Chromebooks and expand MacBook users. Although he did not announce the price, he said the device will use the A18 Pro chip, instead of the traditional M-series.
This is considered an unusual move by Apple, but reasonable in terms of performance and cost. The chip A18 Pro is said to be about 40% slower than the M4, but the multi-fold CPU performance is equivalent to the M1 chip (MacBook Air 2020) and is even superior in terms of graphics.
The low-cost MacBook model can start from $599 to $699, significantly lower than the 13-inch MacBook Air ($99).
However, the A18 Pro chip does not support Thunderbolt, so the device will only have a regular USB-C port, which is said to not affect common users much. RAM capacity has not been confirmed, as the A18 Pro only supports 8GB, while current MacBook models start from 16GB.
Regarding the design, Kuo said the device will be extremely thin, light and may have silver, blue, pink and yellow options.
According to the forecast, the low-cost MacBook will enter mass production in the late fourth quarter of 2025 or early first quarter of 2026, with the possibility of opening for sale at the end of this year or early next year.
