Is Apple’s rumored cheap MacBook hiding in plain sight?

Macworld

The iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods Pro are having their rightful moment now, and the new products are very exciting. However, we Mac fans are patiently waiting our turn–sure, we just got a round of new Macs this past March with the M4 MacBook Air and the Mac Studio–but that was six months ago! Mac aficionados are a ravenous bunch!

There’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Apple often does one last product release for the year in the October/November timeframe before the holiday shopping season (sometimes with an event, sometimes not). That often includes new Macs, and this year we’ve heard a lot of rumors about a new, low-cost MacBook that is based on iPhone components. Now that we know the details on the new iPhones, we can use that information to piece together what this new MacBook could be like. To satiate our Mac cravings a bit, here are some ideas on the new cheap MacBook.

The CPU: A18 Pro or A19 Pro?

With the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro, Apple introduced the A19 and A19 Pro chips. Apple said the A19 is “faster and more efficient,” presumably compared to the A18 it replaces–Apple actually didn’t specify that. Apple also said the A19 Pro has a large cache and more memory than the A18 Pro, and that the A19 Pro-equipped iPhone 17 Pro with its “best-ever thermal design” offers a “whopping 40 percent better sustained performance” than the iPhone 16 Pro and its A18 Pro chip and old thermal design.

The A19 or A19 Pro seems like a tantalizing chip for the heart of the cheap MacBook, right? Hold that thought. The rumors have reported that the cheap MacBook will have an A18 Pro, the older chip that was just replaced in the Apple iPhone lineup, but those are early reports, and it’s likely that Apple will go with the newer A19 or A19 Pro.




The A19 might be too new to be cost-effective for a cheap MacBook.Apple

However, there is a line of reasoning in support of the A18 Pro. The A19 is a brand-new chip that’s more expensive to produce, and Apple’s primary objective with the cheap MacBook is to make it as affordable as possible, even if that means sacrificing a bit of performance. The A18 is not as costly–it’s also likely that Apple has a supply of “binned” A18s (older chips that are missing a core or otherwise not up to the A18 specs) it could use.

The way it could work is that Apple uses an A18-type chip for the initial release of the cheap MacBook. Then, over the next year, after the A19 has been in production for some time, it becomes cheaper to make, and binned versions are collected. Apple then upgrades the cheap MacBook next year with the A19, after the A20 has been introduced in the iPhone 18 lineup. Then the cycle repeats itself for the A20, A21, and so on.

That may seem disappointing for MacBook customers, but it’s not! The A18 Pro offers multi-core performance similar to the M1, and its single-core speed is actually faster than the M3. It’s a great chip and has the performance for a lot of general usage, the kind of tasks people who buy at this price point do.

Efficency in the N1 chip

Apple introduced the new N1 chip in the iPhone 17 lineup. The N1 is a wireless networking chip for Bluetooth 6, Wi-Fi 7, and Thread, and Apple will probably use the N1 in the cheap MacBook. Since it’s a new chip, the cost to recoup development costs is likely high, but as a homegrown chip, it will be cheaper in the long run.




The N1 is used for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread connectivity.Apple

Additionally, by using its own wireless networking chip, Apple gains engineering control not only in the chip itself, but how it is integrated in a device. That helps with performance and power efficiency.

5G at last

The C1X in the iPhone Air is the successor to the C1, Apple’s first cellular modem that was introduced in the iPhone 16e. The cheap MacBook (as well as future MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros) has been rumored to offer cellular connectivity, which would be provided by the C1X. (Apple could offer cellular connectivity not as a standard feature but as a customer option that costs extra.)

Now, there’s a possibility that Apple takes the older chip approach that it might do with the CPU and apply it here: use old C1 chips instead of the new C1X. However, since the C1 is a first-generation chip, Apple may be interested in moving on from it–the C1X is faster and more power efficient. Also, the iPhone 17e could be released in the spring of 2026, and that phone would have the C1X. If a C1 is used in a cheap MacBook, the C1’s production would have to be extended until the next MacBook upgrade.

Battery life

The iPhone 17, Apple Watches, and the AirPods Pro 3 introduced at the Awe Dropping event all feature improved battery life. That’s due to a combination of software optimizations and hardware improvements. Is there anything we can derive from this that could apply to the cheap MacBook?




The battery improvements Apple made with the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 will make their way into the MacBooks.Apple

We can start by looking at the 13-inch MacBook Air, which Apple says offers up to 18 hours of video streaming. Apple will probably use that as a baseline for the cheap MacBook, which is rumored to have a 12.9-inch display, slightly smaller than the MacBook Air’s 13.3-inch screen.

Apple will want to at least match its new MacBook’s battery life to the current MacBook Air, and would love to say that it’s longer. The efficiencies introduced in the just-announced products could allow Apple to do just that.

The iPhone 17’s camera takes Center Stage

The best (or at least the one that will be used the most) new feature introduced in the iPhone 17 lineup is the 18MP Center Stage front-facing camera. It solves a lot of problems for using that particular camera, but those problems aren’t the same as the ones for MacBook users. I don’t expect Apple to use this camera in this or any other MacBook, though Apple could use the new iPhone camera as a feature of its new MacBook.

Since Apple likes to promote the Continuity Camera support in macOS, Apple could decide not to include a camera at all on the cheap MacBook in an effort to cut costs. Instead, it could advertise the iPhone’s camera as a feature of the new MacBook, maybe even supplying a built-in way to attach it to the MacBook’s screen




Don’t expect the 18MP Center Stage camera to come to any MacBook. Foundry

A new color palette

Apple offers the iPhone 17 in five different colors, but Apple is more likely to follow the iPhone 16e’s lead, which is available in just two colors, white and black. But what will Apple choose for its new MacBook? Black and sage? Deep blue and silver? Sky blue and light gold like the iPhone Air? Maybe Space Gray makes a comeback alongside Cosmic Orange? Now that would be something to see.

More to come

We’re bound to hear more about this new entry into Apple’s laptop lineup. We keep track of the latest reports and developments in our A18 Pro MacBook rumor roundup, so be sure to check it out to keep up with all the latest news.