Not bad, it seems fine for work providing the work is not very intensive it doesn't sound like a bad option at all. Tbh apple is kinda late to enter into the cheep laptop market but it’s not a bad idea, although I don't know if they'll beet chrome-books as far as price though; chromebooks from what I know are way cheeper than this mac, assuming it costs about $400 or there abouts. With cheep pcs? Sure but the chromebooks i'd say still beet it on price by quite a bit.
This kind of reminds me of the original MacBook. Not sure if Apple still makes that particular model or not, but I am interested in following this article. :-)
I'm quite excited for it. I think, of late, Apple has been the victim of its own success. The chips they have created are over powered for 99 % of users. I think this is especially true for us who don't tend to need large file processing. Of course there are exceptions. Think the most power intensive thing I use my Mac for is a windows VM which, as it happens, takes the lion's share of the ram leaving me with just 8 gb for mac os and, it's perfectly fine.
One of these computers paired with something punchy at home, an M4 pro mac mini, for example, and using the excellent incarnation of apple's screen sharing could be a very compelling combo.
If it's a little computer, even better. I'm on my M4 macbook Air as I write this and, feeling around the keyboard, they could certainly shave a lot of body off whilst keeping the same size of keyboard. An ultra ultra portable?
the a18pro is fast enough, not as fast as an m series because of the core count, but fast enough, so yeah will probably be compelling, for the ram I think apple will let you increase it, but like the macbook air they'll probably limit it to just 16 so the air market doesn't drop, or maybe they won't let you increase it, who knows, won't really surprise me either way, what I'm really curious is what form factor they'll use, is it the same as the air? Will they use one of the older designs? I personally think the m1 air design was the best laptop ever, I don't know why but that thing was amazing and comfortable in a way that the new airs or proes aren't.
There's only one thing I'd like: a 5G modem in this MacBook. I can't understand why Apple still hasn't implemented this in any of its laptops. If they did that, I'd have the perfect setup: a desktop Mac Mini for work, and this small MacBook for on the go.
Then even if I have an mbp m2pro base model I'd be interested to buy this for that reason alone.
Overall, I think it's a very good product, mac mini is popular for a reason but only with the generation that still knows what is, and how to set up, a magic keyboard, mouse / trackpad, and an external monitor.
A macbook which would definitely canibalize the air would be terribly popular with students.
If they dare put less than 16gb ram though I'd be furious, this is something only apple could ever do unfortunately even in 2025, it would justify the air's existance.
I hope at this point they use the A19, but who knows. Either way this would be very cool. I'd love a cheaper Mac laptop that was about the same price as the Mini. Only time will tell what happens.
I predict 8 GB ram without an option to increase,. If it comes out at £699, it will make the upgrade close to the price of the base MBA, which will make people buy the MBA. It's this laddering thing they do.
To be honest though, you're not going to get cheapness without compromise. Considering it is designed around the A18 too, I'd imagine they are, in effect, slapping an iPhone in a computer case, plugging in keyboard and screen and flashing it with Mac OS... Naturally, its more complicated than that but it might even be that the A18's configuration doesn't allow more than 8 GB ram.
As for 5G, that's rumoured for the M6 Macbook Pro refresh either the end of next year or 2027. I think they tend to have trickle down features. The cheapest of their laptop offerings getting a feature that isn't available on their two grand machines would probably be a bad idea.
With this, you're not getting a macbook air for cheap. You're getting a cut down macbook with all but the essentials removed. It will be perfect for email, web browsing, media consumption, writing (as long as you're not using Microsoft Word)... And that's about your lot.
If you do want a windows experience on it, I'm guessing a cloud based solution or, as I mentioned in my previous comment regarding a mac mini as a kind of base station, you could spin up windows there and access it with a remote app.
In my mind, the only advantage this machine might have over the macbook air, aside from price, is portability. I can't imagine they'll go plastic, but if they do shrink it, make it lighter, it could be very appealing, especially to students.
I also wonder about the trackpad and if they'll go back to a diving board style like on the iPad magic keyboard for the airs. One USB-C port isn't out of the question either. Lower quality screen. There are lots of ways they can cut it down and leave us with a very solid yet basic computer to do most tasks we use computers for.
Comments
interesting
Not bad, it seems fine for work providing the work is not very intensive it doesn't sound like a bad option at all. Tbh apple is kinda late to enter into the cheep laptop market but it’s not a bad idea, although I don't know if they'll beet chrome-books as far as price though; chromebooks from what I know are way cheeper than this mac, assuming it costs about $400 or there abouts. With cheep pcs? Sure but the chromebooks i'd say still beet it on price by quite a bit.
Following
This kind of reminds me of the original MacBook. Not sure if Apple still makes that particular model or not, but I am interested in following this article. :-)
Good call
I'm quite excited for it. I think, of late, Apple has been the victim of its own success. The chips they have created are over powered for 99 % of users. I think this is especially true for us who don't tend to need large file processing. Of course there are exceptions. Think the most power intensive thing I use my Mac for is a windows VM which, as it happens, takes the lion's share of the ram leaving me with just 8 gb for mac os and, it's perfectly fine.
One of these computers paired with something punchy at home, an M4 pro mac mini, for example, and using the excellent incarnation of apple's screen sharing could be a very compelling combo.
If it's a little computer, even better. I'm on my M4 macbook Air as I write this and, feeling around the keyboard, they could certainly shave a lot of body off whilst keeping the same size of keyboard. An ultra ultra portable?
I wonder could this run Windows in a VM?
I wonder could this run windows in a VM? I would increase the ram in it of course if that were an option. Thoughts? I'm excited for this new computer.
I think it'll be fine
the a18pro is fast enough, not as fast as an m series because of the core count, but fast enough, so yeah will probably be compelling, for the ram I think apple will let you increase it, but like the macbook air they'll probably limit it to just 16 so the air market doesn't drop, or maybe they won't let you increase it, who knows, won't really surprise me either way, what I'm really curious is what form factor they'll use, is it the same as the air? Will they use one of the older designs? I personally think the m1 air design was the best laptop ever, I don't know why but that thing was amazing and comfortable in a way that the new airs or proes aren't.
Cellular
There's only one thing I'd like: a 5G modem in this MacBook. I can't understand why Apple still hasn't implemented this in any of its laptops. If they did that, I'd have the perfect setup: a desktop Mac Mini for work, and this small MacBook for on the go.
If they implement 5g...
Then even if I have an mbp m2pro base model I'd be interested to buy this for that reason alone.
Overall, I think it's a very good product, mac mini is popular for a reason but only with the generation that still knows what is, and how to set up, a magic keyboard, mouse / trackpad, and an external monitor.
A macbook which would definitely canibalize the air would be terribly popular with students.
If they dare put less than 16gb ram though I'd be furious, this is something only apple could ever do unfortunately even in 2025, it would justify the air's existance.
A19
I hope at this point they use the A19, but who knows. Either way this would be very cool. I'd love a cheaper Mac laptop that was about the same price as the Mini. Only time will tell what happens.
very interested
Very interested in what will happen. I will certainly be suggesting in the applevis report card that Mac accessibility is improved.
Ram, VM and 5G
I predict 8 GB ram without an option to increase,. If it comes out at £699, it will make the upgrade close to the price of the base MBA, which will make people buy the MBA. It's this laddering thing they do.
To be honest though, you're not going to get cheapness without compromise. Considering it is designed around the A18 too, I'd imagine they are, in effect, slapping an iPhone in a computer case, plugging in keyboard and screen and flashing it with Mac OS... Naturally, its more complicated than that but it might even be that the A18's configuration doesn't allow more than 8 GB ram.
As for 5G, that's rumoured for the M6 Macbook Pro refresh either the end of next year or 2027. I think they tend to have trickle down features. The cheapest of their laptop offerings getting a feature that isn't available on their two grand machines would probably be a bad idea.
With this, you're not getting a macbook air for cheap. You're getting a cut down macbook with all but the essentials removed. It will be perfect for email, web browsing, media consumption, writing (as long as you're not using Microsoft Word)... And that's about your lot.
If you do want a windows experience on it, I'm guessing a cloud based solution or, as I mentioned in my previous comment regarding a mac mini as a kind of base station, you could spin up windows there and access it with a remote app.
In my mind, the only advantage this machine might have over the macbook air, aside from price, is portability. I can't imagine they'll go plastic, but if they do shrink it, make it lighter, it could be very appealing, especially to students.
I also wonder about the trackpad and if they'll go back to a diving board style like on the iPad magic keyboard for the airs. One USB-C port isn't out of the question either. Lower quality screen. There are lots of ways they can cut it down and leave us with a very solid yet basic computer to do most tasks we use computers for.