Low-cost MacBook gets slick video, not just press release – 9to5Mac

Apple’s low-cost MacBook has been long awaited, but now it seems clear that we can expect its launch in the first week of March.

Apple has a special event happening on March 4, but a follow-up report says it won’t include a keynote presentation. Instead, he says we can expect a series of press releases along the lines of those we saw in 2024…

The upcoming cheap MacBook

The cheapest brand new MacBook you can currently buy directly from Apple is the 13-inch MacBook Air, which starts at $999. We expect to see a dramatic drop in the starting price of the MacBook with the launch of a new budget model powered by the A18 Pro chip.

The specs we expect are:

• 12.9-inch display compared to 13.6-inch on the MacBook Air
• A18 Pro processor instead of the M series chip
• “Fun” new colors, potentially including blue, pink and yellow
• Price around $699

It is not yet clear whether Apple will use bright colors to visually distinguish it from the more expensive MacBook Air, as the company did with the iBook many years ago, or whether silver will also be an alternative.

Launch timing

Apple has planned a special event for March 4, but there is no indication that the keynote will be streamed online at the same time.

A report yesterday indicated that Apple plans to launch a number of new products via press releases over the first three days of the week, culminating in a hands-on experience for select tech writers on Wednesday.

Of course, Apple sometimes announces new products with just a press release, but that’s usually a pro relatively routine updates of existing models. This seems perfectly reasonable for other products we expect to announce:

A low-cost MacBook requires more

However, a low-cost MacBook seems like too much of a hassle to handle this way, even if it’s followed by a hands-on session. So I expect that while the announcement may include a press release, we can also expect a reasonably extensive video presentation.

We saw this approach in October 2024, when Apple launched a number of new products through press releases, but also provided a 10-minute video. This video, which you can watch below, also covered Apple’s intelligence – but more than half of that was dedicated to the new 24-inch iMac M4.

I think this is the approach we can expect from a budget MacBook – a pre-recorded mini keynote presentation covering a number of announcements, but focusing on the company’s most affordable laptop ever.

do you agree Please share your own thoughts in the comments.