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Cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone chip coming in 2026, per new report

9to5mac.com

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Re: Cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone chip coming in 2026, per new report

#11

Post by quitit »

_fzslm wrote: post #6
hyperhello wrote: post #4

I don’t really get it, from a consumer perspective, unless the idea is mass education sales. They already sell enough Macs for economy of scale to kick in. Calling it an iPhone processor doesn’t explain anything by itself, and wouldn’t save much money. Is the screen cheaper? The keyboard? The SSD? I suppose the point would be to farm and beta test a base of new, cheaper, slower, less reliable components, and then fin…

There is a gap in Apple's offerings. Casual computer users like students probably can't justify dropping nearly a K on a MacBook, so they go for these 400-600$ dell/hp laptops, or a Chromebook. This fits that hole. iPhone processor is surely cheaper from an economies of scale perspective, they are likely way easier to produce en masse and they already produce bajillions of them for the iPhone. Over time the price of…

I imagine this will be the new "MacBook" which has been absent from the lineup since 2019.

Re: Cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone chip coming in 2026, per new report

#12

Post by brendoelfrendo »

gchamonlive wrote: post #3

Interesting. If they'll come with a cutdown version of the os like the iPads, it'll limit the target audience and the success of the device. On the other hand if it'll be powered by a fully fledged MacOS it'll make it more arbitrary the decision not to have the same features on iPads.

I already have an M3-powered iPad Air; Apple currently produces iPad hardware that could, theoretically, run full MacOS. The decision is already about as arbitrary as it gets.

Re: Cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone chip coming in 2026, per new report

#13

Post by pqtyw »

gchamonlive wrote: post #3

Interesting. If they'll come with a cutdown version of the os like the iPads, it'll limit the target audience and the success of the device. On the other hand if it'll be powered by a fully fledged MacOS it'll make it more arbitrary the decision not to have the same features on iPads.

Why? There are already iPads and iPhones more expensive that Macs and Apple is not trying to justify anything. The capabilities of the OS have nothing to do with the chip of course.

Re: Cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone chip coming in 2026, per new report

#14

Post by CamJN »

gchamonlive wrote: post #3

Interesting. If they'll come with a cutdown version of the os like the iPads, it'll limit the target audience and the success of the device. On the other hand if it'll be powered by a fully fledged MacOS it'll make it more arbitrary the decision not to have the same features on iPads.

I think that ship has sailed. They already make iPads (the pro line) with M-class processors just like the laptops that run full-featured macOS. This change is to add laptops that run A-class processors like run the iPhone. If all Apple cared about with regards to what capabilities they expose in an OS was what processor was in a device then the iPad Pros would be able to run macOS, but they don’t view their products that way.

Re: Cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone chip coming in 2026, per new report

#16

Post by somethoughts »

I think the reverse offering on the Apple device roadmap would be interesting.

A MacPad and a MacPhone. Given its eventually going to be completely the same silicon this would enable them to offer a non App Store experience for people who want to experiment with alternative app stores like Epic.

In that way they could keep the average Apple target iPhone/iPad customer within the walled garden of iOS while being able to point specifically to EU regulators that they are allowing alternative app stores on the MacPhone/MacPad platform.

Re: Cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone chip coming in 2026, per new report

#18

Post by bitwize »

hyperhello wrote: post #4

I don’t really get it, from a consumer perspective, unless the idea is mass education sales. They already sell enough Macs for economy of scale to kick in. Calling it an iPhone processor doesn’t explain anything by itself, and wouldn’t save much money. Is the screen cheaper? The keyboard? The SSD? I suppose the point would be to farm and beta test a base of new, cheaper, slower, less reliable components, and then fin…

Apple used to rule mass education sales by offering steep discounts on the Apple II line, a pricey option for home users, to schools. Their latest effort along that line was the eMac, an early 2000s all-in-one similar to the original iMac but done in inoffensive opaque white, whose spirit still remains with us as many Hackernews inadvertently let their iPhones autocorrect "Emacs" to "eMacs". The eMac was originally for the educational market but after a few months Apple would make it available to everyone. It'd be nice to see Apple target education again, though admittedly mainly for nostalgia's sake and as a hedge against data thieves like Google.

Re: Cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone chip coming in 2026, per new report

#19

Post by _fzslm »

hyperhello wrote: post #8
_fzslm wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a gap in Apple's offerings. Casual computer users like students probably can't justify dropping nearly a K on a MacBook, so they go for these 400-600$ dell/hp laptops, or a Chromebook. This fits that hole. iPhone processor is surely cheaper from an economies of scale perspective, they are likely way easier to produce en masse and they already produce bajillions of them for the iPhone. Over time the price of…

Would it be consistent with this plan to continue to make the same M1 Air at the current price, stuffing it with whatever phone processor they happen to have a few extra million of?

Yeah that's one potential route they could take - repurposing the existing M1 air shell and components.

But I actually believe they'll do a completely new shell for this device, and one reason being they could probably save even more money and cut even more costs than the current prod cost of M1 airs.

Re: Cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone chip coming in 2026, per new report

#20

Post by bluescrn »

quitit wrote: post #11
_fzslm wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a gap in Apple's offerings. Casual computer users like students probably can't justify dropping nearly a K on a MacBook, so they go for these 400-600$ dell/hp laptops, or a Chromebook. This fits that hole. iPhone processor is surely cheaper from an economies of scale perspective, they are likely way easier to produce en masse and they already produce bajillions of them for the iPhone. Over time the price of…

I imagine this will be the new "MacBook" which has been absent from the lineup since 2019.

And probably still starting with the same 8GB RAM and 256GB storage...
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