Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple plans to release a lower-cost MacBook to “woo customers away from Chromebooks and Windows PCs” during the first half of 2026. The unnamed laptop is being actively tested at Apple, and overseas production is said to have begun.
Apple has been rumored to be working on an inexpensive MacBook that would be priced lower than the $999 M4 MacBook Air. Apple has never really competed in the “cheap” laptop market, instead promoting iPads or older models as affordable options. For example, Apple struck a deal with Walmart in 2024 to sell the M1 MacBook Air for $699, the price was later reduced to $649 and now $599. However, this model, which was originally released in November 2020 and only has 8GB of RAM, does not run Apple Intelligence, and was not promoted by Apple.
The new cheap MacBook will reportedly be powered by an A-series iPhone chip instead of an M-series Mac chip. Early reports said the chip would be the A18 Pro, but Apple has since released the A19 Pro chip in the iPhone 17 Pro. Gorman’s report did not say which Series A tranche was being used. Apple’s M-series chips are based on the A-series, but are larger and faster, meaning they operate at higher temperatures than A-series chips designed for mobile use. However, as Gorman points out, any chip used in the new MacBook will perform better than the M1.
Gorman also states that the new MacBook will have “less advanced” components compared to those in the current MacBook lineup, and the display will be a lower-quality LCD that is “slightly smaller” than the 13.6-inch MacBook Air. He also says the new machine will have a “completely new design.”
It has been reported that Apple aims to increase sales of its Mac devices. In its latest financial report for Q4 2025, Apple reported a big quarter for Macs with a double-digit increase in sales year over year. The introduction of the new cheap MacBook will be Apple’s first foray into the low-cost market. The customer of this laptop will be a general-purpose user whose primary tasks include productivity applications, Internet access, and basic content creation.