Apple’s low-cost MacBook has been a long time coming, but it now seems clear that we can expect it to be launched in the first week of March.
Apple has a special event taking place on March 4, but a subsequent report says that this will not include a keynote presentation. Instead, it says we can expect a series of press releases along the lines of the ones we saw back in 2024 …
The upcoming low-cost MacBook
The cheapest brand new MacBook you can currently buy direct from Apple is the 13-inch MacBook Air, starting at $999. We’re expecting to see a dramatic reduction in the starting price for a MacBook with the launch of a new budget model powered by the A18 Pro chip.
The specs we are expecting to see are:
- 12.9 inch display, compared to 13.6 inches for the MacBook Air
- A18 Pro processor, instead of an M series chip
- ‘Fun’ new colors, potentially including blue, pink, and yellow
- Pricing of around $699
It’s not yet clear whether Apple will use the bright colors to visually distinguish it from the more expensive MacBook Air as the company did many years ago with the iBook, or whether silver will be an option also.
Launch timing
Apple has scheduled a special event for March 4th, but there is no sign of this having a keynote presentation simultaneously broadcast online.
A report yesterday suggested that Apple’s plans are to launch a number of new products via press releases across the first three days of the week, culminating in a hands-on experience for selected tech writers on the Wednesday.
Apple does of course sometimes announce new products using nothing more than a press release, but this is typically for relatively routine updates to existing models. This seems perfectly reasonable for the other products we’re expecting to be announced:
The low-cost MacBook demands more
However, the low-cost MacBook seems too big a deal to be handled in this way, even if there is a hands-on session afterwards. My expectation then is that while the announcement may include a press release, we can also expect a reasonably extensive video presentation.
This is the approach we saw in October 2024, when Apple launched a number of new products via press releases but also provided a 10-minute video. That video, which you can rewatch below, covered Apple intelligence also
This is the approach I think we can expect to see for the low-cost MacBook – a prerecorded mini keynote presentation covering a number of the announcements, but with the focus on the company’s most affordable ever laptop.
Do you agree? Please share your own thoughts in the comments.
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