I review laptops for a living — 3 things I want from the new cheap MacBook at the Apple event

MacBook Air 13-inch M4 shown on tabletop — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

There’s an Apple Event happening in NYC on March 4, and I’m already excited about what Cupertino could have in store for us. While we don’t know what will get shown, rumors and reports suggest we might see M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros, new iPad Air and base iPad models, the iPhone 17e, and a cheap MacBook. The latter is the one I’m most interested in.

The best MacBooks have a reputation for being expensive, so a low-cost option would make it more affordable for more folks to buy one of the company’s laptops —especially first-time users and students. Besides being cheaper, reports from the likes of Apple tipster and Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman suggest a smaller design, and even several color options.

Apple hasn’t officially announced a cheap MacBook, so nothing we’ve heard about it should be taken as gospel. That said, with the ongoing RAM crisis driving up the cost of the best laptops, a more affordable MacBook could be a game changer. Here are three reasons why.

A shockingly cheap price

MacBook Air M3 — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Let’s start with the big one: price. Right now, the cheapest MacBook is the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air M4. You can sometimes find it for around $749, but it retails for $999. That's not bank-breaking, but it's not cheap either.

Reports indicate that this cheaper MacBook could cost between $699 and $799. Those prices aren’t bad, but they aren’t far off from a MacBook Air M4’s potential low cost. So, how low could Apple potentially go with this more affordable option?

A launch price of $599 would be perfect. That’s probably an unrealistic price to wish for, but it would certainly help units fly off shelves. It's the same price the old MacBook Air M1 has been selling for at Walmart, although that unit appears out of stock now. However, I think $699 is the best bet, as it’s cheap enough for most folks while still being profitable for Apple.

The most portable (and colorful) MacBook?

Person holding the MacBook Air 13-inch M4 outside above grass in a shaded garden — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

According to Gurman, the cheap MacBook will have an aluminum chassis like the current crop of MacBooks. Apple will also reportedly utilize a new manufacturing process for faster, more cost-effective development. However, I don’t expect a radically different design from what we have now.

One thing that’s reportedly changing is that this model will have a slightly smaller display than a 13-inch MacBook Air. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also corroborates this (via MacRumors).

We haven’t heard rumors of Apple ditching the notch for this model. If that’s the case, it makes me wonder if a smaller display would make the notch in the center of the display appear more prominent.

This entry-level MacBook will supposedly come in several colors, potentially light yellow, light green, blue, pink, classic silver, and dark gray. The current MacBook Air M4 comes in blue, silver, and dark gray, so those brighter colors would certainly help this MacBook stand out. I’m sure the students who would purchase a cheaper MacBook would appreciate the variety.

If this laptop is supposedly smaller than a MacBook Air, it could potentially become Apple’s most portable notebook. This is doubly true if it retains the slim design of current MacBooks.

'Good enough' A18 Pro power

MacBook Air M2 2022 — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

According to previous reports, this cheap MacBook will pack an A18 Pro chip. For those keeping count, that’s the same processor found in the iPhone 16 Pro. If that’s true, don’t expect performance on par with recent M-series MacBooks from this device. That’s an expected compromise, so I'm fine with it.

One thing I’m concerned about is the amount of RAM this cheap MacBook could pack. While Apple has confirmed that every Mac will have a minimum of 16GB of RAM (to run Apple Intelligence), Taiwanese outlet Mirror Daily (via Jukan on X) suggests this laptop could start with 8GB of RAM.

If that last point is true, then perhaps this MacBook won’t have Apple Intelligence features, similar to the base iPad 11. To be frank, Apple's AI is still undercooked, so I don’t see this as a huge loss. However, now that Apple and Google have reached a deal to power Siri with Gemini, those features might be missed.

Lastly, I’m wondering what kind of battery life we could see from an A18 Pro-powered MacBook. Though the A18 Pro chip is generally more energy efficient than an Apple M4 chip, the former is designed to maximize battery life for the best iPhones, whereas the latter is designed for high-performance computing.

It’s possible Apple could raise the power draw of the A18 Pro to give this MacBook a boost, but that would affect battery life. Right now, it’s hard to say, but it’s something I’m especially keen to learn more about.

Cheap MacBook Outlook

We’ll see whether Apple unveils this long-rumored cheaper MacBook on March 4. While I’m certainly curious about the rumored M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros and iPads, I’m most intrigued by this MacBook since it could be the Apple laptop I end up recommending to most people, especially as electronics get more expensive.

If this cheap MacBook manifests, it could provide a fantastic alternative to the best Chromebooks and budget Windows laptops. For now, we’ll just have to await the March 4 event to see what Apple has to show. Stay tuned for our live coverage.

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Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.

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