We learned back in June that Apple is working on a new entry-level MacBook, to be powered by the A18 Pro chip rather than an M-series processor. This would be the first time the company has ever offered a MacBook below $999.

A new supply-chain report says that the first stage of production is scheduled to begin sometime next month, with full-scale manufacturing potentially in progress by the end of the year …

Low-cost MacBook

The MacBook Air has always been the cheapest model offered by Apple, with pricing starting at $999. However, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported back in June that this was set to change.

He writes on X that Apple will go into production in late 2025 or early 2026 on a new MacBook model that will be powered by the A18 Pro chip, rather than an M-series processor. This is the same chip used in the iPhone 16 Pro line. The machine may feature colorful casing options, including silver, pink and yellow.

He didn’t give any indication on pricing, but it has been speculated that it could start at $699, which would be $599 at education pricing.

We noted at the time that the A18 Pro chip would be perfectly adequate for the kind of everyday tasks many MacBook Air users carry out, so the report did seem feasible.

Even the M1 MacBook Air is an incredibly capable machine which makes a credible substitute for a MacBook Pro for a very wide range of tasks. As we noted earlier, an MacBook powered by the A18 Pro would, on paper at least, match or beat this. The multi–core performance is essentially identical, and the single–core benchmark score actually sits between the M3 and M4.