Apple is working on several product updates for next year, but based on the new report from Bloomberg, they’ll look to add a new product category into the mix. Apple plans to release a ‘budget-friendly’ Mac laptop sometime during the top half of 2026.
The laptop is expected to offer an entirely new design, a screen size smaller than the 13.6-inch panel on the current MacBook Air, a lower-end LCD panel, powered by Apple’s A-series chip found within its Pro iPhone models, and a price point well under $1,000, which Bloomberg suggests is around $600. The lower price point is due to Apple’s target customers: casual users, students, and businesses, who would only use it for tasks like web browsing, light media editing, and working on documents. This is essentially the budget Windows laptop and Chromebook audience.
Now, before you get concerned about a phone chip powering a laptop, Apple claims its more recent iPhone chips can outperform its M1 chips used in older laptops. This level of performance could make all the difference, as Chromebooks and lower-end Windows laptops are known to provide just enough speed to get by.
Apple hasn’t released a budget laptop in years, as its other laptops have been more premium. Microsoft tried its best but couldn’t release Google’s grip on the budget laptop crowd. So if any company has a shot to do it, Apple would be the one.
