Apple has long been rumored to be working on a new A18 Pro-powered MacBook, at an effort to gain marketshare with a cheaper product offering. Today, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is reporting that the company will announce the device at an ‘event’ in March, and that it should come in a number of unique color choices.
While recent Mac-related rumors have mostly surrounded the upcoming M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros and the redesigned OLED MacBook Pros, Apple’s first low-cost MacBook is also a really interesting new product.
Rather than using Mac-optimized Apple Silicon, the company is reportedly going to use an A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 lineup. While that is certainly less than what you’d get in a MacBook Air, it also won’t be a slouch. After all, the A18 Pro chip was the first iPhone chipset that started to get competitive with the original M1 chip that debuted in Macs.
As for hardware, Gurman reports that it’ll have a screen slightly under 13 inches. Previous reports have named it as a 12.9-inch display. The new MacBook also won’t be plastic, even though that could’ve been a cost cutting measure.
Rather than going for plastic, Apple has apparently created a new aluminum shell manufacturing process. This new process is faster and more cost-effective than the one used for current MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models.
Lastly, Gurman reports that Apple will be trialing out some more unique color options with this new MacBook. He didn’t name the final choices, though he reports that Apple has tested light yellow, light green, blue, pink, classic silver, and dark gray.
Wrap up
All in all, if you’re someone who loves the Apple ecosystem but have previously found Macs a little too expensive for your computing needs, this upcoming MacBook might be able to persuade you. Previous reports suggest that it should come in around $699.
That’s significantly cheaper than the $999 MacBook Air, though Amazon does often offer that laptop at a discount, with it currently being available for $849.
Will you be someone who ends up buying one of these new A18 Pro-powered MacBooks? Let us know in the comments.
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