Could Apple's Rumored Budget MacBook Still Debut Before Year's End?

Apple this month updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but there's one rumored new Apple product in particular that many will still be hoping to see before the holidays.

Back in June, industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is developing a "more affordable" 13-inch laptop to compete with Chromebooks and drive MacBook purchases. Kuo did not mention pricing, but he said that the new MacBook would use an A18 Pro chip, which debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year.

Using an iPhone chip would be a major divergence from Apple's usual strategy of using M-series chips in its Macs, but it makes sense from both a cost and performance perspective. The A18 Pro chip is around 40% slower than Apple's M4 chip, but its multi-core CPU performance is virtually identical to the M1 chip in the 2020 MacBook Air, and it even outperforms the M1 chip for graphics.

In August, DigiTimes reported that the low-cost MacBook will start between $599 and $699. The current 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $999 in the U.S., but Apple still sells the M1-powered 2020 MacBook Air for $649 through Walmart, so Apple could be eyeing the new machine as a like-for-like, budget-range replacement.

One thing to bear in mind is that the A18 Pro chip lacks Thunderbolt support, so the new MacBook would likely be equipped with regular USB-C ports. But that's unlikely to be a deal-breaker for customers seeking the most affordable Mac they can get their hands on. It's also unclear how much RAM would be included in the rumored MacBook, since the A18 Pro chip only has 8GB of RAM, whereas all current MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models have a minimum of 16GB of RAM.

Apart from the internal specs, Kuo said the device is expected to have an ultra-thin and lightweight design, and that it could come in silver, blue, pink, and yellow finishes.

The analyst said the new MacBook would enter mass production toward the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 or early in the first quarter of 2026. DigiTimes reported that final assembly would take place in the fourth quarter, with the laptop becoming commercially available in late 2025 or early 2026, similar to Kuo's launch estimation.

The timelines suggest the device could still be announced before the year's end. That said, it's not clear whether Apple has any more announcements planned for 2025, though it isn't unusual for the company to announce new products in late October and even into November.