Apple dials a ride to lower-cost Macs with A-series chips

Ten years ago, Apple introduced the MacBook, a lower-end, more affordable 12-in. Mac the company called “the notebook redefined.”

At only 0.5 inches thick at its thickest point, the compact computer was the thinnest Mac ever at the time, and while the chip was relatively low-powered, it was a popular device until it was discontinued in 2018. Apple may be preparing to introduce something similar.

Ming-Chi Kuo, the widely-cited Apple analyst who seemingly secretively occupies an adjacent pocket to Mark Gurman somewhere in Apple’s boardroom, tells us Apple wants to introduce a new and lower-priced entry-level laptop, probably next year. In order to reach this low price, Apple will allegedly put its A18 Pro iPhone processor inside the Mac.

Doing so is not quite the trade off in performance you might imagine, as 9to5Mac points out the A18 Pro chip’s performance puts it at least on par with an M1 Mac mini, millions of which continue to be used quite happily today. (I use one.)

Compromise or opportunity?

What this means is that in exchange for using a processor that is produced in huge quantities (and therefore likely a little cheaper), Apple gets to offer up an entry-level Mac with enough performance for basic tasks at a low price and likely in a very, very thin chassis due to the low energy of the processor.

This all sounds grand so far, especially budget-holders and particularly those in the education sector who will be seeking an economical route to deploy thousands of Macs. If the speculation is correct, it also underlines two critical realities: Apple Silicon is enabling hardware designs Apple could not have introduced before, and it is becoming increasingly possible to run macOS on an A-series chip — assuming the speculated system is a Mac at all.

Could Kuo have caught half a rumor that leads toward a new hybrid device?

Only time, and probably Mark Gurman, can tell.

A little history

Apple replaced the popular iBook range with the first MacBook in 2006 during the Mac transition to Intel processors and continued to sell these systems into 2011 to make way for MacBook Air. Four years later, in 2015, the company returned with a new MacBook model — the “thinnest and lightest Mac ever.” It was once again updated in 2017 before being discontinued in 2019.

What these Macs did well is likely what Apple envisions for the speculated upon new model. Think web browsing, casual Mac use, access to web services, writing, reading, Apple Music and iCloud. It also likely means Apple Intelligence, access to cloud-based AI and almost certainly movies, light image editing, and so forth.

It won’t be the Mac you use for anything more sophisticated, but for a lot of people it is likely to be all the Mac they need. Thin, light and underpowered in contrast to MacBook Pro, it’s a model that could prove popular, particularly as the A-series chip means battery life should at least compete with other Macs. 

Building the business

Will Apple be cannibalizing its existing notebook markets with a system of this kind?

Perhaps, but perhaps not: You see, while it might lose some entry-level MacBook Air customers to the new product, most professional and aspirational customers will continue to get the best Mac they can afford.

These systems might also compensate for any diverted sales by boosting orders in large-scale markets, such as education, even as the prospect of a lower-cost Apple notebook could help the company secure gains in the all-important emerging markets; that’s where future economic prosperity might emerge as established economies collapse from their own internal moral/economic/political contradictions.

Any gains generated by these new Macs matter quite a lot, especially when seen through the lens of recent Canalys data showing Apple is now the second-biggest notebook maker in the US. (Apple has 18% of that market to HP’s 24%, with Lenovo and Dell sharing third position with 17% and others far behind. Apple is also the fourth largest desktop PC maker in the US, though by wider margins.)

That almost one in five notebooks sold in America comes from Apple shows the tremendous momentum the company once left for dead has built since the beginning of this century. Macs right now are powering a PC market recovery. A move to make some of its products more affordable (while also remaining satisfyingly profitable) can only consolidate these gains and set the scene for a much deeper push at the mid-range PC market. It’s amusing to think this push will in part be driven by an iPhone chip, a processor which with its own existence shows Apple’s growing industry leadership in processor design.

Finally, while it is unsatisfactory to end an article with a question, it is hard to avoid wondering whether Apple will finally put its own 5G modems inside these Macs? Use of an iPhone chip in a low power system does, after all, suggest it could.

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, and Mastodon.