Colors for the budget MacBook include the following: light yellow, light green, blue, pink, classic silver, and dark gray.
Apple's long-rumored cheap MacBook with an A18 Pro chip may be just around the corner, as a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman indicates the budget laptop is looking to launch in March — and in a bunch of bright colors.
The low-cost MacBook will come in an aluminum shell, with Apple using a new manufacturing process for faster, more cost-effective development. According to Gurman, the Cupertino tech giant is testing a selection of playful colors, not unlike the iMac range.
Colors for the budget MacBook include the following: light yellow, light green, blue, pink, classic silver, and dark gray. We've seen blue, silver and dark gray on the latest MacBook Air M4 models, but bringing yellow, green and pink will finally give MacBooks a colorful makeover.
With an aluminum chassis, it may offer the same design traits as the MacBook Air, sporting a thin, lightweight design. Otherwise, as Gurman notes, the entry-level MacBook is also expected to come with a slightly smaller display than the usual 13 inches found on the Air models. This backs up a report from reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
So, a slightly smaller design than the Air but with the colorful flavors of an iMac. This certainly makes MacBooks fun again, and it appears we'll finally see what it looks like very soon.
A low-cost MacBook coming soon
We've heard that the low-cost MacBook will be announced in the first quarter of 2026, and Gurman now claims it will finally be announced at an Apple event in March. If this is the case, we'll have many laptops to look forward to, as the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max is also set to launch, alongside M5 MacBook Air models.
Following previous reports, it seems likely that the new cheap MacBook will come with an A18 Pro chip, the same one found in the iPhone 16 Pro. It's uncertain how much RAM it will boast, with Taiwanese outlet Mirror Daily (via Jukan on X) suggesting a disappointing 8GB of RAM.
However, Apple has confirmed that every Mac system comes with a minimum of 16 GB to run Apple Intelligence, so this may be a good sign that we'll see more memory (despite the ongoing RAM crisis making this harder for companies to attain). That said, this cheap MacBook may not offer Apple's AI features, similar to the base iPad 11.
In any case, many reports indicate pricing could be between $699 and $799, although this seems too close to the MacBook Air M4, which often dips below its usual $999 price, dropping to as low as $749. With this in mind, it may launch for around $599 instead (fingers crossed).
What's more, with the power of an A18 Pro chip, it won't be nearly as strong as the offerings we've seen in Apple's latest M-series chips, notably the M4 and M5 in the latest MacBook Pro. Here's how it measures up to Apple's usual laptop chips:
Device |
Geekbench 6 single-core |
Geekbench 6 multicore |
|---|---|---|
iPhone 16 Pro Max (A18 Pro in rumored low-price MacBook) |
3,836 |
8,306 |
MacBook Air M4 |
3,751 |
14,947 |
MacBook Pro M5 |
4,288 |
17,986 |
Apple's low-cost MacBook aims to take on the best Chromebooks and budget Windows laptops, and is already looking to be one of the most anticipated products from the tech giant's lineup of upcoming devices this year. Here's hoping it nails the landing when it comes to price, but for now, the wait continues.
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