The much-rumored budget MacBook is expected to arrive sometime in the first half of 2026 as Apple prepares to compete directly with Chromebooks.
Rumors have repeatedly insisted that Apple will launch a MacBook with an iPhone chip running the show instead of an M-series chip. As more predictions come in, the rumor seems more pressing than ever that it will launch this year.
The latest in volleyball, coming from Mark Gurman’s “Power On” newsletter for Bloomberg on Sunday, the MacBook will be the centerpiece of Mac launches in early 2026. Gurman doesn’t offer much new about the model, recapitulating previous claims about it, but also not narrowing down the timing to more than the first six months of the year.
Gurman mentions that the MacBook Pro launch is tied to the macOS 26.3 release cycle, which runs through March. There is also a product launch scheduled for the beginning of the month, but it doesn’t say what it will be used for specifically.
Its recap describes how it should have a 13-inch display and run on an “iPhone-class chip.” It will serve two purposes, outright dominating the cheap Windows laptop and Chromebook market for one.
The latter makes it a potential entry point into the Mac ecosystem for consumers who want to switch but are put off by Apple’s premium pricing.
Cheap chip claims
While his claims are usually pretty reliable, Gurman’s report on Sunday doesn’t add much to the existing release stories.
That includes one on February 5, which calls for a spring release and a price around $699 to $750 per variant, while also using the A18 Pro chip. This would theoretically create a laptop that is more powerful than the M1.
However, we’re skeptical of the claims that question Chromebooks at these rumored prices. Apple’s entry-level iPad faces an uphill battle in education, priced at just $250 for mass education hardware alone.
Delivery forecasts for this model put Apple’s 2026 supply chain order at between five and eight million units.
To get to the projected budget, Apple could take other cost-cutting steps to lower the quality of the device. This could mean reducing the number of USB-C ports, reducing the memory to just 8GB and reducing the display version.
Whether Apple will go through with all these measures remains to be seen.