When will a cheaper MacBook come out, launch, A18 Pro

A new report claims that the expected lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone’s 18 Pro processor will go into mass production in the third quarter of 2025, with a possible launch before the end of the year.

First analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that Apple was planning to produce a MacBook that would use an iPhone’s A18 Pro processor to reduce costs. Then it was learned that references to such a device had already existed in the code for macOS Sequoia, released in 2024.

Now according to Digitimes, at least some components for such a MacBook are expected to enter mass production by the end of 2025’s third quarter. Citing unspecified sources within the supply chain, the report further claims that the new MacBook will be priced between $599 and $699.

That would put the new MacBook at around the same price as the desktop Mac mini. It would also put it at between $300 and $400 less than the current base 13-inch MacBook Air, which starts at $999.

Reportedly, the new MacBook would have a slightly smaller display at 12.9 inches. As first spotted by MacRumors, the production schedule means a late 2025 or early 2026 release. That also fits with Kuo’s previous report.

Kuo did not give a more precise release schedule, nor did he specify a price. But he did say the device would have an approximately 13-inch screen, and also that it would come in silver, blue, pink, and yellow.

Apple’s aim, said Kuo, was to sell between five and seven million of the new MacBook in 2026.

Note that Digitimes has a strong record for its supply chain sources, but a much poorer one for its predictions extrapolated from that information. Similarly, Kuo has sources in the supply chain, although his accuracy has declined in recent years.

Separately, leaked product identifiers have recently shown that Apple is, unsurprisingly, working on an update with the MacBook Air, and others.