New Delhi: Apple might be planning to shake up its Mac lineup again. And this time, not by pushing performance to the sky, but by pulling the price down. According to well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is working on a new, more affordable MacBook. What’s different? It won’t run on the usual M-series chips. Instead, it could use the same chip that powers the iPhone 16 Pro, the A18 Pro.
If Kuo’s prediction holds, Apple will start production of this budget MacBook by late 2025 or early 2026. That means we could see it in stores sometime next year. What’s also interesting is the expected design. Kuo hints at colourful options: silver, pink and yellow, something we haven’t seen in a long time from Apple’s laptop range.
Powered by A18 Pro, not the M-series
Apple’s current entry-level MacBook is the ₹87,000 ($999) MacBook Air. But this new Mac could come in cheaper. That’s a big deal, because Apple has never gone below this price point before.
The A18 Pro chip is no slouch. It might be an iPhone chip, but its single-core performance on Geekbench touches around 3500, just a bit behind the M4 found in the latest Mac mini. On the multi-core front, it’s not as powerful, 8780 for A18 Pro versus 15000 for the M4, but it’s still roughly equal to the original M1 chip. That’s the same chip many people are happily using even today.
This new MacBook could handle everyday stuff easily, web browsing, video calls, light photo editing, maybe even some casual gaming. For users not doing high-end video editing or coding, it might feel just as good as a regular MacBook Air.
Apple may be eyeing high volumes
Kuo believes Apple is planning to make 5 to 7 million units of this MacBook in 2026. That’s a big number. It suggests Apple wants to make this a high-volume product. But the real question is – how cheap will it be? Apple hasn’t revealed a price yet, but for it to make sense, the cost will have to be low enough that people don’t mind the smaller performance bump.
If this product hits around ₹65,000 ($750) or lower, it could be a game changer, especially in markets like India where MacBooks are still luxury buys. We could finally see a MacBook that’s aimed at college students, basic office users or even those just looking for a second machine.
Same size, different brain
Kuo says the new MacBook will have the same 13-inch screen as the Air. So the biggest difference will likely be under the hood, the A18 Pro chip instead of the M-series.
It’s unclear whether other specs like RAM or storage will also be cut down. But it’s possible Apple keeps those decent enough to avoid any bad user experience. After all, they’re still selling Macs under their own brand, not a budget spinoff.
If all this goes through, this could be one of Apple’s boldest moves in years. A MacBook that doesn’t try to wow you with power, but wins you over with price. We’ll have to wait till at least 2026 to see if it plays out the way Kuo predicts.