While previous rumors have claimed a late 2025 release date for a budget MacBook, Apple is rumored to be now testing the model, with a ship date of some time in early 2026.
The current entry-level model in Apple's MacBook roster is the MacBook Air. However, if a report is true, there may be an even cheaper option arriving in the future.
According to Mark Gurman in a Tuesday report for Bloomberg, Apple's working on a budget MacBook model to take on the low-cost Chromebooks and Windows notebook market.
Reportedly codenamed J700, the notebook is said to be in testing and in early phases of production with suppliers. Report sources say that the new model is planned to arrive in early 2026.
Cheap, but not bargain-basement
The Bloomberg article says that this will be Apple's first attempt at hitting the low-end market. We disagree with that somewhat, as the iBook of the day aimed at that, and the Apple-sanctioned $799 M1 MacBook Air does as well. Regardless of that, the rumored model will cost consumers a lot less than a currrent-model MacBook Air to buy, the report insists.
It will be priced at "well under $1,000," thanks to the use of lower-specification components. Like the aforementioned M1 MacBook Air.
The list of proposed sacrifices includes the use of a lower-end LCD display, with a screen smaller than any currently-sold MacBook model. Apple will also leave out the M-series chip, and instead use an A-series borrowed from the iPhone range.
While Gurman is quite reliable when it comes to rumors, this isn't a new idea. In fact, it's something that has been discussed earlier in 2025, and periodically throughout the last decade.
In June, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was unusually specific in claiming that Apple was making a lower-cost MacBook that will enter mass production at the end of 2025 or early 2026. Kuo added that it will have an A18 processor, ship with a 13-inch display, and ship in silver, pink, blue, and yellow.
Using an A-series chip in a Mac isn't an entirely crazy concept either, especially since Apple used an A12Z in the Mac mini Developer Transition Kit when it first introduced Apple Silicon in 2020. Since the M-series chips are already an expanded form of the A-series, switching chips should not be an issue for the company.
Even with a switch-out of components for cheaper-to-use versions, it will still take a lot of work for Apple to sell a considerably cheaper MacBook to consumers. The cheapest portable Mac is the M4 MacBook Air, sold under an educational discount at $899.
An entry-level iPad with a Magic Keyboard Folio is also a combination that costs consumers about $600, yet still provides most of the functionality of a Mac, especially with the improvements under iPadOS 26. Add in the swathes of even cheaper Windows notebooks and Chromebooks, and it becomes a very saturated market.
For Apple to pull this off, it has to create something spectacular enough to draw extra customers, without sacrificing its brand image too far. This will be a considerable challenge for Apple to undertake.
