The often-rumored budget MacBook is still expected to arrive at some point in the first half of 2026, as Apple prepares to compete directly with Chromebooks.

Rumors have repeatedly insisted that Apple will bring out a MacBook with an iPhone chip running the show instead of an M-series chip. As more forecasts come in, it seems the rumor mill is more insistent than ever that it will launch this year.

The latest volley, coming from Mark Gurman's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg on Sunday, the MacBook will be the centerpiece Mac launch for early 2026. Gurman doesn't offer much new about the model, recapping previous claims about it, but he also doesn't narrow down the timing to beyond the first six months of the year.

Gurman does mention that MacBook Pro launches are tied to the release cycle of macOS 26.3 that lasts through March. There's also a product launch slated for the start of the month, but he doesn't say what it specifically would be for.

His recap covers how it should have a 13-inch display and run on an "iPhone-class chip." It will serve two purposes, with it directly taking on the budget Windows notebook and Chromebook market for one.

The other will be making it a potential entrypoint to the Mac ecosystem for consumers who want to make the switch, but are put off by Apple's premium pricing.

Cheap chip claims

While usually quite reliable with his claims, Gurman's Sunday report doesn't add that much new to existing stories about the release.

This includes one from February 5 claiming a spring release and a price tag of around $699 to $750 for the variant, with it also using an A18 Pro chip. This would, in theory, create a notebook that's better performing than the M1.

We're skeptical about Chromebook-challenging claims at those rumored prices, though. Apple's entry-level iPad faces an uphill battle in education, priced at as low as $250 for just the hardware to education in mass quantities.

Shipment predictions for the model put Apple's order to the supply chain at between five million and eight million units for 2026.

To get down to the forecast budget, Apple could make other cost-cutting moves to reduce the quality of the device. This could mean reducing the amount of USB-C ports, cutting the memory to just 8GB, and downgrading the display.

Whether Apple goes through with all of those measures remains to be seen.