Apple's Budget MacBook with A-Series Chip to Launch in Late 2025 or Early 2026

Apple is reportedly developing a lower-cost MacBook with a 12.9-inch display and A18 Pro chip, aiming for a $599-$699 price point. The device could launch in late 2025 or early 2026, with initial production set to start in September and mass production possibly underway by the end of the year. The new MacBook will likely use an iPhone-class A-series Apple Silicon instead of the M-series chips found in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

Apple is reportedly developing a new MacBook with a 12.9-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, aiming for a price point of $599 to $699. The device could launch in late 2025 or early 2026, with initial production set to start in September and mass production possibly underway by the end of the year [2].

The new MacBook is expected to use an iPhone-class A-series Apple Silicon instead of the M-series chips found in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. The A18 Pro chip, which is used in the iPhone 16 Pro, offers 2x Everest cores at 4.05 GHz and 4x Sawtooth efficiency cores at 2.42 GHz, along with an integrated hexa-core GPU with 768 shaders and running up to nearly 1.5 GHz. The chip is fabricated on the TSMC N3E process [2].

The display on the new MacBook will be 12.9 inches, smaller than the 13.6-inch display on the MacBook Air. Other display specifications are expected to be lower to achieve the targeted price point. Apple is likely to be stingy with RAM and storage to encourage upgrades to more expensive models [2].

If successful, this new MacBook could significantly boost Apple's MacBook sales. Digitimes analysts estimate that Apple could increase its current annual MacBook shipments by 30% to 40%, potentially reaching 17 to 18 million units per annum [2]. This move could cannibalize some sales of the MacBook Air, but Apple is likely to balance the range to optimize overall profitability.

The new MacBook is not expected to target the Chromebook-dominated education market, with Apple continuing to focus on iPads for that segment [2].

References:
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/1mn7v3q/new_129inch_macbook_debuting_as_soon_this_year/
[2] https://www.tomshardware.com/laptops/macbooks/rumored-usd599-usd699-macbook-could-be-in-the-works-12-9-inch-model-with-iphone-16-pro-soc-tipped-for-q3-2025-production