Cheap MacBook leaks reveal what Apple is willing to sacrifice for a lower price

It’s looking likely that we’ll see a cheap MacBook sporting the A18 Pro chip at Apple’s event next week. But what will the Cupertino crew compromise to keep that price down? That’s a question one leaker reportedly has an answer to.

Because, of course, to enter the budget game, you have to make cuts. You see as much in any cheaper system, and it always becomes a game of striking the right balance. So can Apple navigate this tightrope? Let’s get into it.

What could be cut?

Shared in a post on Weibo, the leaker has shared eight potential limitations based on a leaked Debug Kit for macOS Tahoe.

No backlit keyboard
The display may have a lower max brightness
No True Tone color adjustment for the display
Slower SSD speeds
No 1TB or 2TB storage capacity options
No fast charging support
No N1 chip (the chip used to improve performance and reliability of connectivity features like AirDrop)
No high-impedance headphones support

We won’t know for sure whether this is true or not until the device is announced — possibly next week.

Trade-offs in the right places?

Apple event 2026 on an iphone with a multi-colored background — (Image credit: Apple / Tom's Guide)

So, let’s entertain the idea that these are factual. The leaker doesn’t have an established track record, and while the leaked records exist, some of this detail is more the leaker’s interpretation, so take it with a pinch of salt.

But if true, are these dealbreakers? Honestly, in the world of cheaper laptops, no. The problematic ones here will come down to the usability of this system — no backlit keyboard would be a frustration, and a lower max brightness would make this tricky for outdoor use.

As for everything else on this list, that’s par for the course for cheaper systems. You normally see things like display quality, SSD read/write speeds, fast charging and premium headphone support get cut first. That way, the core experience is still there.

These don’t make me worried for the A18 Pro MacBook’s potential to be the go-to entry-level system for most folks.

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Jason brings a decade of tech and gaming journalism experience to his role as a Managing Editor of Computing at Tom's Guide. He has previously written for Laptop Mag, Tom's Hardware, Kotaku, Stuff and BBC Science Focus. In his spare time, you'll find Jason looking for good dogs to pet or thinking about eating pizza if he isn't already.

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