Last June, Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple was developing a more affordable MacBook that would use an iPhone-class chip. This would be a great idea as it could not only give customers more options in choosing a Mac, but it could also help boost MacBook sales overall. Now, the Taiwanese research firm, TrendForce, has reported this week that this upcoming MacBook is expected to launch this coming spring, and it would be competitively priced somewhere between $699 or $799. This would sit below the MacBook Air, and with this pricing, this laptop would definitely go after the budget laptop/Chromebook market.
As this is expected to be a budget option, Apple would have to repurpose older parts to save costs. As this MacBook is expected to feature the A18 Pro chip instead of the M-series chip, it’s not going to support Thunderbolt speeds. Additionally, the A18 chip on this MacBook could possibly be a binned variant based on what we saw on the base iPad and iPad mini. We should expect this MacBook to feature a Liquid Retina (LED LCD) display, and TrendForce expects this MacBook to feature a smaller display at 12.9 inches (diagonal) than the MacBook Air at 13.6 inches. Just like with the base iPad, we could see Apple bringing some fun colors to this upcoming MacBook that would be similar to the base iPad’s color options. This upcoming MacBook may as well be a revival of the 12-inch MacBook from 2015 to 2019, but this time, Apple is going to get this MacBook right now that it features Apple Silicon.
