The words ‘low cost’ and ‘Apple’ are rarely used in the same sentence, yet reports are emerging of a low cost MacBook to rival the Chromebook coming in 2024.

Sources cited by Digitimes reveal that Apple is now changing its tune, working on a more budget-friendly laptop alternative. Although detailed information remains sparse, the insights available point to a laptop that will use more cost-effective materials and be priced lower than the MacBook Air, the current entry-level option in Apple’s laptop lineup.

The report by Digitimes speculates that Apple intends to carve out a distinct identity for this newcomer in its product range, ensuring a separate identity from existing MacBook variants including the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines. The objective seems to be to offer a product that directly contends with Chromebooks in terms of price point while holding a distinct Apple identity.

A Brief History Of The MacBook

During the shift from PowerPC to Intel processors, Apple introduced a 13-inch "MacBook" to replace the older iBook series. This budget-friendly MacBook, available from May 2006 to July 2011, was targeted at the consumer and education markets, being more affordable compared to other models like the MacBook Pro and later, the MacBook Air. Despite being replaced by the more cost-effective MacBook Air in 2011, it remained available to educational institutions until February 2012.

The MacBook enjoyed significant success, even becoming the top-selling laptop in US retail stores for five months in 2008. It had three design phases: the initial version featured a polycarbonate and fiberglass case, the 2008 redesign introduced a unibody aluminum casing (but without a FireWire port), and a late 2009 version reverted to a white polycarbonate but maintained the unibody construction. It is remembered as a best-selling Mac and a top-selling premium laptop line globally.

What Could The Low Cost MacBook Spec Be?

Given that Apple already has the MacBook Air and also a comprehensive iPad range, it’s hard to see where a low cost MacBook could fit and what the specifications would be.

As the report suggests lower cost materials. An article on Medium.com breaks down the cost of a MacBook Pro to show what each part of the computer costs. It’s hard to see from that analysis how much could be saved by using, for example, a plastic case instead of aluminum. However Chromebooks are significantly less costly than a Mac, many of them are sub $500 and in some cases, sub $200.

In terms of specifications, it would likely be a smaller screen, perhaps 12”, a low cost SoC with 4GB of on-chip memory, and a smaller drive, perhaps 256GB. Connectivity would likely be a single USB-C connector, like the iPads.

A machine like this may be useful for minor tasks, but unlikely to be able to cope with more intensive audio-related tasks. However, iPads are surprisingly useful for some audio applications, and when it comes to chip improvements, Apple has surprised us before.

All we can say is watch this space!