Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Macworld reports that Apple is developing a low-cost MacBook with an A18 Pro or A19 Pro chip, which is expected to launch in early 2026 with a price tag between $599 and $849.
- This affordable laptop aims to compete with Chromebooks while maintaining a premium aluminum design and offering playful colors like yellow, green and blue.
- The device may feature a 12.9-inch Retina display, 8GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence, and advanced connectivity including Wi-Fi 7 and potential cellular support.
Apple’s MacBook line could see a major shakeup. The company is reportedly planning to launch a new budget laptop that can compete with Chromebooks and Windows laptops in the budget market. Such a laptop could bring the Mac to a whole new class of users.
The new MacBook may have an aluminum design in playful colors, an A19 Pro chip, an Ultra Retina XDR OLED display, fewer ports, and Apple’s C2 modem.
This new, low-cost MacBook could be very popular, which means you’ll want to keep an eye on its development. Well look no further. This article will track rumors and news about this upcoming product, as well as offer our take on the device, so stay tuned to this page for the latest.
New MacBook A19: Release date
- March 4, 2026 – possible
Apple is set to hold three “Apple Special Experiences” on March 4 in the US, UK and China. These sessions, which are expected to give the media hands-on time with the new products, could provide the perfect setting for a low-cost MacBook to debut.
Apple’s low-cost MacBook has been rumored for some time, with Apple writer Jon Prosser describing a new colorful MacBook Air in May 2021 that never materialized, but rumors have resurfaced over the past year that suggested Apple was up to something else.
In June 2025, trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested (in Chinese) that Apple would start production of the new low-cost MacBook at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 or early in the first quarter of 2026. It’s worth emphasizing that these dates refer to the manufacturing process rather than an announcement or a shipping timeframe. If production began in October 2025, it’s likely that the budget MacBook will arrive in early 2026, potentially revealed at a spring event or in the run-up to Apple’s March 4 “Experience.”
In November 2025, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple plans to release “a low-cost notebook to rival Chromebooks and Windows PCs” in the first half of 2026. He said it is currently in testing with Apple and “in early production with overseas suppliers.”
In February 2026, Gurman announced that a low-cost MacBook would be available “in the first half of the year”. He offered no details. And then, on February 15, he wrote that Apple’s long-rumored low-cost MacBook is expected to arrive “as early as March” with a design that belies its price.
What will the new MacBook be called?
No news has been released about the official name of the laptop, but it can be assumed that it will not be part of the MacBook Air series. It’s being referred to as the A18 or A19 Pro MacBook, based on the chip it might have. Apple could simply call it “MacBook,” reviving the name of the discontinued 12-inch MacBook, which was aimed at a similar market.
Foundry
New MacBook A19: Design
- Playful colors
- Aluminum chassis (not plastic)
According to Mark Gurman (in February 2026), Apple’s low-cost MacBook will have a design that defies its price tag.
Apple’s goal with this laptop is to make it affordable compared to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, and one way to keep costs down is to make the case plastic instead of aluminum. Since Apple is working to make its products carbon neutral, it is doubtful that it would use plastic, preferring to use aluminum or other recyclable or carbon-free material. So it’s no surprise that the new MacBook will have an aluminum chassis, according to Gurman.
According to Gurman, the new manufacturing process “will be designed to be faster and more cost-effective than that used in Apple’s current notebooks.
Along with the aluminum shell, Gurman says the new MacBook will be available in “playful colors.”
The following colors are marked: yellow, light green, blue, silver, dark gray and pink. Which, in the case of yellow, green and blue, seems to match the Apple logo designed for invitations to special March 4th events.
Apple
In June 2023, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested the following colors: silver, blue, pink and yellow.
A19 Pro MacBook: Display
- 12.9-inch display – they say
Apple currently uses a Liquid Retina display (LED-backlit display with IPS technology) in the MacBook Air, an upgrade from the original Retina displays that Apple last used with the 13-inch MacBook Pro in 2022. It’s possible that Apple could go back to a square-cornered Retina display for the MacBook A19 Pro, although it’s more likely that using a smaller display will cost Apple.
On August 11, DigiTimes reported that the laptop will have a 12.9-inch display, slightly smaller than the 13-inch MacBook Air.
New MacBook A19: Processor
- iPhone Chip: A19 Pro or A18 Pro – Expected
Another way to meet the price targets for this new MacBook is to use a chip that is not as robust as the chips used in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. When Kuo first discussed the budget MacBook in his June 2025 report, he said Apple would use the A18 Pro, the same chip that was in the iPhone 16 Pro. Now that the A19 has arrived with the iPhone 17, it’s probably the most likely chip. Read more about what the iPhone 17 can tell us about the MacBook that could use the same chip: Is Apple’s budget MacBook hiding in plain sight?
A-series chips are used in iPhones, while M-series chips are in Mac computers. Both chip families are based on the same general architecture, but the M chips generally offer higher processing power.
The A19 Pro (and A18 Pro) can technically do everything the M-series chip does, but it will be slower. When comparing the Geekbench 6 benchmarks, the A18 Pro offered single-core performance that is on par with the M3. However, since the A18 Pro only has 6 CPU cores, its multi-core performance is slightly behind the M1, which has 8 CPU cores. If Apple keeps everything as it is, the A18 Pro MacBook will perform like the M1 MacBook Air, which has more than enough processing power for many people. If Apple were to use the A19 Pro, we can expect something even better.
However, it will be compared to iPad models that are powered by Mac chips.
MacRumors reported in December 2025 that references to the A18 Pro MacBook appeared in a set of leaked Apple files.
New MacBook A19: Connectivity
Apple uses its own N1 wireless network chip in the iPhone 17, which brings Bluetooth 6, Wi-Fi 7 and Thread. It is likely that the same chips will make it to the MacBook A19 Pro.
There is also a chance that this new Mac will have cellular connectivity using the Apple C1, C1X, or even introduce a C2 modem. C2 probably supports mmWave.
Additionally, the budget MacBook is rumored to have fewer USB ports than the MacBook Air (which has two USB-Cs and a magsafe charging port). This cheap MacBook may not support Thunderbolt.
New MacBook A19: Camera
It’s also possible that Apple chooses not to include a built-in camera. Over the past few years, Apple has promoted Continuity Camera for Mac, which lets you use your iPhone as a Mac webcam, as well as the upcoming macOS Tahoe Magnifier app. Apple could promote it as a webcam solution. It would be a drastic change since it’s been a long time since Apple shipped a laptop without a camera, but it could be an option to meet the company’s price target.
New MacBook A19: Performance
Results are expressed as Geekbench scores. Higher scores/longer streaks are faster.
We don’t have benchmarks for the A19 Pro yet, but the A18 Pro has 8GB of RAM, which Apple says is the bare minimum needed to run Apple Intelligence features. So this new laptop will have at least 8GB of RAM and maybe 16GB, like other MacBook models. Since the iPhone doesn’t offer RAM upgrades, we don’t know what Apple might charge for the extra memory.
In terms of graphics performance, the A18 Pro has a 6-core GPU, and its Metal score in the Geekbench 6’s Compute benchmark is similar to that of the M1 on the MacBook Air. This is not a high-end device, but it can handle everyday tasks without any problems. Since all of Apple’s other MacBooks start at 256GB of storage, it’s almost certain that this model will also have 256GB of storage.
New MacBook A19: Price
The cheapest Apple laptop on sale is the $999 MacBook Air. However, Walmart is still selling the M1 MacBook Air with 256GB SSD for $649 and as low as $599. The A19 Pro MacBook was considered a replacement for this Walmart model, although it’s hard to believe it would be this cheap. Priced between $729 and $849, it seems like it would fit in with the MacBook lineup.
There are claims that a low-cost MacBook could start at $599, which would allow Apple to compete with Chromebooks and Windows laptops.
Gurman says the new laptop will cost “well under $1,000.”
Our guess would be somewhere in the middle of those two numbers, around $749.