Apple Prepares To Enter Low-Cost Laptop Market for First Time (bloomberg.com)
- Reference: 0179964510
- News link: https://apple.slashdot.org/story/25/11/04/1812238/apple-prepares-to-enter-low-cost-laptop-market-for-first-time
- Source link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-04/apple-readies-a-low-cost-laptop-to-rival-chromebooks-and-windows-pcs
> The new device -- designed for students, businesses and casual users -- will target people who primarily browse the web, work on documents or conduct light media editing, according to people familiar with the matter.
>
> [...] Apple plans to sell the new machine for well under $1,000 by using less-advanced components. The laptop will [1]rely on an iPhone processor and a lower-end LCD display. The screen will also be the smallest of any current Mac, coming in at slightly below the 13.6-inch one used in the MacBook Air. This would mark the first time that Apple has used an iPhone processor in a Mac, rather than a chip designed specifically for a computer. But internal tests have shown that the smartphone chip can perform better than the Mac-optimized M1 used in laptops as recently as a few years ago.
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-04/apple-readies-a-low-cost-laptop-to-rival-chromebooks-and-windows-pcs
Need more data, eh? (Score:4, Funny)
It seems that Apple has figured out that poor people have valuable data, too!
Re: (Score:1)
Apple doesn't really make money on the data they hold. Unlike Microsoft and Google, Apple makes a lot of money on hardware sales, so they don't need to monetize the data as much. It's one of their selling features, if you ask me.
Re:Need more data, eh? (Score:4, Informative)
Apple does advertising. They track your spending your location the articles you read and more. If they only monetize it a little, they are still storing and collecting your data.
Schools only (Score:2)
> The new device -- designed for students, businesses and casual users -- will target people who primarily browse the web, work on documents or conduct light media editing, according to people familiar with the matter.
This could sell well to K-12 schools but I can't see any businesses being interested and casual users are probably better off with an iPad.
Re: (Score:2)
Hell, they could just sell their regular iPad for a 10% markup instead of 100+% if they want to appeal to budget buyers. They wouldn't even have to change the assembly line except maybe to substitute an ugly lime-green case or something to let their regular victims, I mean 'customers', know that this person didn't cough up the full Apple Tax.
Re: (Score:2)
I work in an office where there are approximately ten Windows based computers and approximately 700 Mac Minis (plus a few dozen MacBook Pros). I can picture the office picking up laptops instead going forward, especially if we ever entertain WFH again.
obl. snarky (Score:5, Funny)
I'd argue that Apple has been making low-cost laptops for some time. They've just been charging a lot for them.
Re: (Score:2)
More than that, apparently they forgot about the eMate and the iBook lines of low-cost notebooks Apple has made over the decades.
OS (Score:2)
no details on the os, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes with some modified ipadOS, to get the 30% cut of software sales.
$1,000 might be "low cost" for Apple, but (Score:5, Insightful)
Less than $1,000 might be "low cost" for Apple, but it's not a "low cost" laptop. Amazon lists dozens of options for Windows 11 Home laptops, some from brand names like HP and Dell, for less than $200.
[1]https://www.amazon.com/s?k=lap... [amazon.com]
[1] https://www.amazon.com/s?k=laptop&rh=p_36%3A-20000%2Cp_n_g-1004198069091%3A23724790011%2Cp_n_condition-type%3A2224371011&dc&crid=EWQVZCXLQ4CA&qid=1762281734&rnid=2224369011&sprefix=laptop%2Caps%2C155&ref=sr_nr_p_n_condition-type_1&ds=v1%3A9M6LgEU8uxp1FhpZ2in2n6bgS131rfMCF2nUKKFcm%2B8
I don't think Apple wants you (Score:2)
> Less than $1,000 might be "low cost" for Apple, but it's not a "low cost" laptop. Amazon lists dozens of options for Windows 11 Home laptops, some from brand names like HP and Dell, for less than $200. [1]https://www.amazon.com/s?k=lap... [amazon.com]
If you care about such things, you're not a great customer for Apple, I'd wager. They want people who are willing to irrationally spend, not carefully control each penny. And...to be fair...there's something to be said for overspending for a brand you trust, vs rolling the dice with the various shitty windows makers. I'd rather spend 1k for an Apple that lasts 3 years than $500 for a Dell that breaks in 18 months.
Finally consider families...there's a value in simply using Apple across the board for sim
[1] https://www.amazon.com/s?k=laptop&rh=p_36%3A-20000%2Cp_n_g-1004198069091%3A23724790011%2Cp_n_condition-type%3A2224371011&dc&crid=EWQVZCXLQ4CA&qid=1762281734&rnid=2224369011&sprefix=laptop%2Caps%2C155&ref=sr_nr_p_n_condition-type_1&ds=v1%3A9M6LgEU8uxp1FhpZ2in2n6bgS131rfMCF2nUKKFcm%2B8
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, people have reasons for choosing Apple. I don't begrudge them that decision. What I quibble with, is the characterization of this new laptop as a "Low Cost Laptop". It's not.
And Dell laptops last way more than 18 months. I've had half a dozen of them for home and work. They last, on average, 5-7 years.
Dell Home Grade doesn't last (Score:2)
You can make a Dell last 5-7 years, but that's you, not my kids. And I know it's much better for Pro grade, but it's a lot of commitment for me to ignore my local Best Buy, which doesn't sell any...to go on the website to find the pro-grade laptops, which cost more and seem more business oriented.
1k is a low-cost laptop...IF...it's actually good. Lots of shit brands offer stuff that's too good to be true, but Apple usually does a decent job on hardware. You can generally buy anything Apple and be fin
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, and none of those or even the sub-$400 new laptops are worth buying when $150 5yo business laptops are available.
It's doubtful that Apple will create anything worth buying in the ~$500 market given the ~250GB storage on their $900 macbook air
Low Cost and Apple! mm this will be different (Score:4, Insightful)
"for well under $1,000" Only $ 999.99
Re: (Score:3)
They said "well under." I would expect $998.99
But will it run Linux? (Score:2)
I suspect they'll do things to at least discourage, if not prevent, the use of Linux. I'm sure they're more interested in luring users into their ecosystem than they are in selling hardware. But if it was feasible, it might be cool to have a small, cheap Apple running some Linux variant for casual computing - if the price is right and the installation effort isn't too huge.
Even if this new beast won't run Linux, I wish Apple well here. Not because I'm a fan - I'm definitely not - but because they might be a
will it be app store only is the real question? (Score:2)
will it be app store only is the real question?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
> I suspect they'll do things to at least discourage, if not prevent, the use of Linux.
They already make it extremely hard to run Linux on their recent devices. While there is a group trying to reverse engineer the entire Apple hardware ecosystem and enable it for Linux, it is a tough slough (much of the the hardware has no public documentation, and even when Apple uses standard components, they modify the interfaces to make the usage different on their hardware).
Re: (Score:2)
Na, they haven't made it hard.
They just haven't made it easy.
In fact- there's general surprise that they didn't make it hard.
The difficulty is in reverse engineering undocumented shit. In the past- there have been actual barriers in place.
It would be stupid to stop Linux (Score:2)
> I suspect they'll do things to at least discourage, if not prevent, the use of Linux. I'm sure they're more interested in luring users into their ecosystem than they are in selling hardware. But if it was feasible, it might be cool to have a small, cheap Apple running some Linux variant for casual computing - if the price is right and the installation effort isn't too huge.
> Even if this new beast won't run Linux, I wish Apple well here. Not because I'm a fan - I'm definitely not - but because they might be able to jam a hob-nailed boot up Microsoft's ass at a time when the fuckers from Redmond have never been more deserving of it.
It would be stupid to actively stop Linux, IMHO. If you're a desktop Linux user, you wouldn't have bought a MBP, I wager. They can be good citizens and not stand in the way and build a following among linux users who like apple hardware....or just send them to someone else.
Re: (Score:2)
Last I heard, Apple as actually given a fair bit of cooperation and support to [1]Asahi Linux [asahilinux.org]. The guy who until recently headed that project complained far more about the Linux kernel team than he did about Apple.
Note that I'm not saying he was right or wrong, just that he wasn't bitching all the time about recalcitrance at Apple's end.
[1] https://asahilinux.org/
Change in Apple strategy (Score:2)
If this is true, it will be a significant change in strategy. The company has always played upmarket. Average iPhone prices have risen since the first iPhone 18 years ago, as opposed to falling. Around that time, I heard Apple's CFO say at a Citigroup-hosted investor conference that his company could release a $799 computer "but we don't want to".
Re: (Score:2)
Keep in mind that $799 would have been close to a 100% markup, too. They spend less than $500 to build most of the MacBook Pro models, and under $1000 for pretty much any configuration they sell.
low-end M5 sounds great (Score:1)
If this new laptop has the same ancient M1 SSD/CPU performance and a gimped version of the GPU and Neural engine of the M5 it will be pretty darn amazing.
The M5 SSDs are MUCH faster(2X+) than the M4, which makes them faster than anything else out there now and approaching DDR3 speeds. This would let Apple differentiate the "entry" MacBook with a regular fast SSD and reserve the new ludicrous speed SSDs for their other lines. [1]https://www.reddit.com/r/apple... [reddit.com]
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/1ohnyqg/m5_macbook_pros_ssd_is_25x_faster_on_average_than/
It's weird, during the Jobs reign (Score:3)
Apple pursued the educational market hard (remember the 'eMac'?), as he believed in getting them young made them customers for life. I guess the post-Jobs regime figured either iphones already ensnared the kids, or they were just going to corner the "want to seem rich but can't afford a Porsche" market and be done with it. But it's a little odd to suddenly decide you're leaving money on the table now
I mean, maybe they'll be able to lure a few ritzy private schools with whatever their wares will be. But it's going to be real hard to lure the vast majority away from $300 Chromebooks when Apple isn't going to get anywhere near that price point.
Makes a lot of sense for families if not crippled. (Score:2)
Many are missing the opportunity of this as a 2nd laptop for families...Mommy and Dad will have a regular mac, but their kids can have this instead of using mommy/daddy's old laptop. Their goal should be to lock as many people into the ecosystem as possible. Being able to buy a reasonably priced laptop will keep many families off Windows and Chromebooks. This encourages Apple Subscriptions and App Store purchases...recurring hardware purchases down the road...makes it all the harder for Daddy to switch t
For The First Time? (Score:2)
When the iBook was released in 1999, it was $1,599, which was about $900 LESS than the PowerBook. It was considered a very good value at the time and was certainly in the lower cost range of laptops at the time, when the cheapest you'd generally find was over $1,000.
Missed supply chain efficiency class. (Score:2)
Making the new machine's screen a slightly different size than their existing MacBook Air 13. Gotta start production on a one-off chassis now when they have stacks of the MBA ones already done.
Apple used to make lower cost MacBooks (Score:3)
White Macbook
[1]https://www.google.com/search?... [google.com]
clamshell iBook
[2]https://www.google.com/url?sa=... [google.com]
scrimping on quality is not the decision I'd make if I were heading a multi-trillion dollar company. The other option would be to charge a smaller profit margin
[1] https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=ad06492741db6b4e&sxsrf=AE3TifPhgIbWrhUpO2stY93ELZZWCFpYcg:1762286691941&udm=2&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIeioyp3OhN11EY0n5qfq-zEMZldv_eRjZ2XLYc5GnVnMEIxC4WQfoNDH7FwchyAayyomVtyMIlwCjX48LT0TrXSNU5mLhW4DIlZIt3-gwG8mMeXC-Y0JFzx5GBuU59za0o5XLXRovSVas40d3y4gTUxobLZ8-C-h3aNfCXmcENPvCZqzMdA&q=white+macbook&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwic2Y_CpdmQAxVpGtAFHeKOJBQQtKgLegQIFBAB&biw=1920&bih=1031&dpr=1#vhid=_IhEK4lLosuSIM&vssid=mosaic
[2] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.krcs.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fmfmclamshell%2F&psig=AOvVaw2DpfRjaZgRxDQRU8JVFxe_&ust=1762373146745000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBYQjRxqFwoTCJD39Nyl2ZADFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE
So IOW (Score:2)
...an iPad with a keyboard cover?
... for the first time ... since Steve Jobs died! (Score:2)
There, FTFY.
Say what you will about Steve Jobs, but ever since the switch to MacOS X he always had one budget item in each category with sometimes great or even exceptional value for the money and Apple quality along with it. The legendary white 12" iBook G4 was by far the cheapest subnotebook at it's time and the first Mac minis could be bought for 250-300 euros, offered great value for the money, were excellent machines and very small. Any PC equivalent that even could come close would cost hundreds more
First time my bottom (Score:1)
Perhaps the OP wasn't around when the PowerBook 150 dropped? I was, and it was extremely cheap compared to the other options at the time!
as long as (Score:2)
as long as this proposed model isn't hamstrung with too little memory or too little storage, and will run the same OS/software as its big brothers, it sounds like a good option for Apple to offer to the market.
Re: (Score:3)
Of course it will be stunted by RAM limitations and storage limitations and screen resolution. It will be a miracle if it handles multiple tabs of browsing in a non gimped browser (non stripped down safari). Which is the single task that a Chromebook does well.
MacBook SE, like iPhone SE and Apple Watch SE (Score:5, Interesting)
> Of course it will be stunted by RAM limitations and storage limitations and screen resolution. It will be a miracle if it handles multiple tabs of browsing in a non gimped browser (non stripped down safari). Which is the single task that a Chromebook does well.
I picked up a 2020 MacBook Air M1, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB storage for testing purposes. It is about as low-end as you can get for Apple Silicon-based Macs. I am completely surprised as to how functional and usable it is despite the RAM and storage. This "new" Mac will be a previous-generation MacBook Air, likely called a MacBook SE. In other words, the same pattern we saw with the iPhone SE and Apple Watch SE.
It'll work well for the intended audience. Its not for power users or developers.
Re: MacBook SE, like iPhone SE and Apple Watch SE (Score:2)
What sort of developers? All the recent C++17 code I've written compiles and runs in reasonable time on a 2009 laptop with the latest version of slackware installed. But I guess if you're using some dog slow scripting language with bloated frameworks it might be a different story.
Re: (Score:2)
> This "new" Mac will be a previous-generation MacBook Air
Since it's explicitly using a different size of LCD and an "iPhone processor" - no it won't be just a repackaged old-gen Macbook Air, it is its own thing. Expect it to be iCloud-centric. But if it runs regular MacOS I think an 8GB/128GB config is more than enough for many many many many many people - myself included. That's certainly all I need on the road.
Re: (Score:3)
It'll only be stunted for someone who really should have bought a more expensive and powerful laptop. If it's aimed at students who will be using office apps, browsing the web, and using an email client then it will be more than good enough. I bought my mother a MacBook Air (I think it was a second generation model) that she used for almost a decade to do about as much. That only had a dual core Intel CPU that I think was sub-2 GHz and a lot less than 8 GB of RAM.
Of course we pages have grown increasingl
Re: (Score:2)
> as long as this proposed model isn't hamstrung with too little memory or too little storage..
Wow. You might have just blown the lid off that whole Low-Cost marketing strategy.
The problems you describe were damn near expected inside the price-starting-at model, within the company pushing significant upcharges for soldered-in memory and storage upgrades. Let's hope they've changed tactics.
Re: (Score:2)
> as long as this proposed model isn't hamstrung with too little memory or too little storage, and will run the same OS/software as its big brothers, it sounds like a good option for Apple to offer to the market.
Their flagship models are hamstrung with too little memory and too little storage. If they're looking to do a budget model, look for it to be far worse. Granted, if all you can do is run an iOS light version of Safari and email, maybe some phone level games, it'll probably be just fine. But I wouldn't plan on buying one of these to use as a creative box for recording or video processing beyond the usual spit-shine phone or iPad level things.
Re: (Score:2)
> Their flagship models are hamstrung with too little memory and too little storage.
/me looks at his 128GB MacBook Pro with 8TB of storage.
Oh, ya?
get ready to pay $200 to upgrade from 512GB to 1TB (Score:2)
get ready to pay $200 to upgrade from 512GB to 1TB
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry buddy, it will be 256GB with increments of $200 per additional 256GB, if you want/need 1TB that will be a cool $600 thank you.
It'll be a previous generation MacBook Air (Score:2)
> as long as this proposed model isn't hamstrung with too little memory or too little storage, and will run the same OS/software as its big brothers, it sounds like a good option for Apple to offer to the market.
It'll be a previous-generation MacBook Air, they'll probably call it MacBook SE. Just like they do with phones and watches.
It will have modest memory and storage, but it will be absolutely usable for the intended audience.
I picked up a 2020 MacBook Air M1, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB storage for testing purposes. It is about as low-end as you can get for Apple Silicon-based Macs. I am completely surprised as to how functional and usable it is despite RAM and storage. Sure, I cannot run Xcode for development. But
Re:It'll be a previous generation MacBook Air (Score:5, Interesting)
I have the exact same spec M1 Air, also bought for testing when it first came out. I used to use it for onsite meetings back when those were still a thing for me as well since it was lighter than my windows laptop at the time and the battery life was just so much better. I keep it around the house these days for web browsing and such. I never had an issue with it when it came to performance. I've come to the conclusion that MacOS is just miles ahead of Windows when it comes to memory management.
Re: (Score:2)
Last time these rumours went around in June, it was said that the SoC would have been an A18 Pro. It supports 8 GB RAM and 512 GB storage.
But we'll see.
Re: (Score:2)
It depends how hamstrung it is. I'd say that the days of 8 GB RAM is behind us, 16 is the minimum, and 32 gig is what I'd be doing for any new desktops. For SSD, 1 TB minimum, 2 TB ideal, and CPU, all depends, but I'd say at least 4 cores minimum,
Around ten years ago, Apple had the m3 (not M3... Intel m3) MacBook. It only had one USB-C slot and wasn't exactly a barnburner, but for a relatively small laptop, it did the job well enough. It could bring up the usual Word documents and such. With Apple Sili