Apple’s rumored low-cost MacBook, powered by an iPhone A-series chip, is said to launch in early 2026.
New Low-Cost MacBook with A18 Pro Chip Likely Coming in Early 2026, According to Research Report
The notebook was previously rumored to launch at the end of 2025, but clearly, nothing has happened so far, and I doubt that will change in the coming days either.
According to a research report by Jeff Pu (via MacRumors), Apple is going to launch its low-cost MacBook in early 2026. But that’s not all, it will be accompanied by other important Apple hardware as well.
That hardware includes the lower cost iPhone 17e as well as the iPad 12. The former is said to feature a Dynamic Island, a faster A19 chip, a Center Stage camera, and the C1 modem.
On the iPad side of the fence, the new entry-level model is said to keep the same design but will get a chip upgrade to A18. That itself is an important change since this iPad model will finally get 8GB of RAM, enabling Apple Intelligence – a first for the entry-level iPad.
Coming back to the low-cost MacBook, it is rumored to feature the A18 Pro chip. But I have a hunch Apple might go with the A19 Pro chip instead, but a binned version of it, the one Apple is using in the iPhone Air with one less GPU core.
But, if price is truly important for Apple, then using the A18 Pro instead of the A19 Pro makes far more sense.
A lot of reports keep suggesting that Apple is aiming to hit the $799-$899 mark for the cheaper MacBook, but if you know where to look, you can get the latest M4 MacBook Air for that price most of the year.
