- Apple is working on an affordable MacBook Air variant priced at $599.
- The laptop could make a few cutbacks to keep the pricing at the lowest, powered by A18 Pro SoC, and a 12.9" LCD panel.
- Apple might kick Touch ID, the famous Retina panel, there's no M-series chipset on-board, just to name a few. However, it's coming soon so check out the story.
Imagine an affordable MacBook powered by A18 Pro SoC and priced at $599? Well, luckily, you might not have to just imagine but rather get your hands on the model as Apple is likely working on this affordable MacBook that takes cues from previous models while keeping the price low for casual users and students to own a MacBook after all.
Apple’s working on an affordable MacBook
According to the folks at DigiTimes, the Cupertino-based giant is allegedly working on an affordable MacBook that fits in your pocket like never before. Priced between $599 and $699, this is any day cheaper than the current-gen 13-inch” MacBook Air M4 priced at $999.
We learned about a budget MacBook earlier in June 2025, after tipster Ming-Chi Kuo mentioned it. Cut to now, a trusted source further implies that the model is indeed in the works and could go for mass production in the third quarter of this year. It means the entry-level MacBook might arrive sometime in late 2025 or early 2026, if all goes as planned.
Get ready, Mac Enthusiasts, for an affordable Mac in the bag
Well, given the intensity at which the upcoming alleged affordable MacBook is being shown across the internet, we had to cover it.
As per the rumors, the alleged Mac could be called ‘MacBook Air’ or simply ‘MacBook SE’. It will have a slightly smaller 12.9” display, possibly an LCD panel, as one of the major ways to cut back on the costs and keep the pricing at the lowest. We are talking about a $599 price tag compared to the current M4 MacBook Air, priced at $899 for students and $999 for regular users.
Circling to the tipped MacBook Air, it will bring an A18 Pro SoC under the hood, the same as the iPhone 16 Pro series. It is perhaps necessary to control the pricing, given that the M-series chipsets are slightly more expensive and defeat the purpose of having an affordable Mac. A18 Pro SoC delivered performance akin to M3 when it comes to single-core, while the multi-core performance is slightly on the slower end of M1.
However, the chipset is powerful enough to carry out media streaming, everyday tasks, web browsing, document editing, and graphics rendering, pegged with 8GB RAM (a 16GB RAM variant likely exists) plus 256GB of storage at least.
Related
We might see more colors on the entry-level MacBook Air
Since the alleged Mac is for casual and student users, Apple might as well paint the device in a few more colors than the usual Air. We could see Silver, Blue, Pink, and Yellow colorways in line with the entry-level iPad. Apple is likely to avoid a plastic body as per its carbon-neutral goals; however, we could expect certain trade-offs here and there should Apple want to make the device.
Watch out for this space as we talk more about the entry-level MacBook Air to be launched late 2025 or early 2026, at least at the time of writing this.
