- A cheaper MacBook is expected to arrive soon
- Analysts have now predicted when it may appear
- It could come in at around the $600 price point
Rumors around a cheaper MacBook from Apple – possibly landing at around the $599 price in the US – have been swirling for months now, and a fresh report sheds some more light on what might be coming in the next few months.
The analysts at TrendForce (via MacRumors) are confident that there will be a more affordable Apple laptop arriving in “spring 2026” in the northern hemisphere. That’s March, April, or May, though the report doesn’t get any more specific than that.
What’s more, the laptop is said to have a 12.9-inch screen and will target the “entry-to-mid-range segment”. Even with pressures on the supply chain and pricing, the laptop should find plenty of interested buyers, the TrendForce team says.
These predictions aren’t completely new, but line up with what we’ve already heard about this laptop – and given that they’re coming from a well-connected analyst company, it makes us more ready to believe that they’re accurate.
Here’s what’s coming
As per previous leaks, the cheaper MacBook is going to come running an iPhone chipset – quite possibly the A18 Pro – and come in a variety of colors. Silver, blue, pink, and yellow have been mentioned as possible shades we’ll see.
A lower-end LCD display will also be used to keep costs down, according to reports, and there has been talk that the laptop will use a design that’s different to both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops that Apple already sells.
The pricing is the most intriguing aspect here. If Apple does manage to launch this device at less than $600, it would be significantly cheaper than the current range of MacBooks – which today start at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699 for the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air.
It would mean Apple going head to head against the best Chromebooks and the Windows laptops down towards the cheapest end of the market – perhaps enough to get even more people to invest in a Mac computer, but time will tell.
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