Apple to Sell Low-Cost 12-Inch and 13-inch MacBooks for $700 or Less

[jlc1978]

They're currently still selling the 3-year-old M1 MacBook Air as their "economy" laptop - wouldn't be entirely surprised if that was gone by this time next week - they're going to want to stop producing M1s before long. That could bear being replaced by a proper, up-to-date "economy" line (plain old "MacBook"?) - I've never liked the "iPhone" technique of using last year's model as the entry-level model.

It makes good business sense to use last year's model as a lower cost offering; given R&D is likely fully amortized and component prices likely gone down as well. That keeps margins high so there is no good reason to spend money on a lower margin product.

Spectacular base prices. Absolutely bonkers option pricing. $400 to go from the 8/256 to 16/512 configuration?! Unjustifiable!

People pay it so they obviously find value in it. You charge what the market will bear.

The only way that Apple can have any significant worldwide market share is by offering a low-cost Mac. The high price is the main reason why Macs do not sell as much as Windows PCs.

Apple isn't going to cut margins to chase market share. There is no reason to get into price wars. People buy Windows for a lot more reasons than costs, companies need the device management, network management, etc. options for example.

Unfortunately, Apple is not run by visionary leaders, or even someone like Steve Jobs. Apple is run by MBA, and someone who is obsessed with maximising shareholder value to the detriment of literally everything else.

That's his job. Many may not like his choices they have clearly been good ones given Apple's valuation.

Smaller bezels. They could fit at least a 12.5” screen in the 12” MacBook chassis.

A 12.5 inch screen is so close to 13 that there would be little difference between the 12 and 13 inch devices; if you make the chassis as small as possible you're leaving about 10" for a keyboard which I suspect many good typists would find too cramped.

 

[tipoo]

Keep M1, keep the retina display, drop to a polycarbonate shell again, that would be a compelling buy for 700

 

[bumblebritches5]

They found some 'new old stock' from flip phones and needed to do <something> with them!

Burn em, kids should not have cameras on school provided equipment.

Scandals of administrators spying on young kids through their webcams on school provided devices too, **** all that.

They can still do voice only chats if there’s a snowday or whatever.

Kids do not need and should not have webcams on school provided devices, I’ll die on this hill.

 

[baryon]

I always welcome it when a high end company has affordable entry level products. It's a great way to get people into your brand and it's also just more inclusive. Apple has usually been a "rich people only" company, and I think that's a real shame. But there have been exceptions, like the iPod Shuffle or the iPhone SE, which were quite affordable and still an "Apple product". With an average salary, you can only afford a PC. It's a huge market that Apple has yet to conquer.

 

[Sowelu]

I'd prefer a higher-end 12" MacBook if it means a shrunken down Air with an even more efficient chip and an amazing display. What are they going to cut from the MacBook Air to get to this price point?

 

[bumblebritches5]

Won't be the 12" I will want. How can anyone on this site be enthusiastic for this considering everyone clamoring that the M2 is trash, 256GB Storage is a joke and transfer speeds are pathetic compared to 512GB? These units will be bad for everyone except elementary/middle schoolers.

Which is exactly who they’re made for, elementary and middle school kids.

So why exactly are you angry?

 

[bumblebritches5]

The only way that Apple can have any significant worldwide market share is by offering a low-cost Mac. The high price is the main reason why Macs do not sell as much as Windows PCs.

Exactly, and with Apple’s vertical integration there is no better time to compete on price which they’ve avoided for decades.

Apple’s logistics can make low price products affordable that nobody else can.

Flex it Apple.

 

[gpat]

Steve Jobs has been dead for over a decade. It's time to move on.

So, now it's OK to ship junk?

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Honestly, kids shouldb’t have webcams, did you not hear those sextortion scandals involving suicide when middle schoolers were blackmailed over pics they took on school provided laptops?

No webcam is good here.

Apple product managers must be salivating over this thread.

Butterfly Keyboard, no webcam, 4gm ram, throw an old fusion drive in there and we are golden.

12 inch Crapbook $799/ $699* for schools.


*less that $700

 

[Natrium]

I think Apple should focus on the education market. It would benefit all of Apple’s product ranges and services eventually. Despite it not being the most profitable (public institutions are on tight budgets), there is still lots of money to be made (huge size) and it enables companies to pull potential future customers (children, teenagers) into their ecosystem (which is exactly what Microsoft and Google have been doing for years, with great success). A $700 MacBook would still be too expensive though, compared with $300 Chromebooks.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The only way that Apple can have any significant worldwide market share is by offering a low-cost Mac. The high price is the main reason why Macs do not sell as much as Windows PCs.

If iPads were counted as PC’s, Apple would sell more mobiles per year (for several years now) than any of their competitors. The iPad already has bought them significant marketshare, it’s just that the folks reporting marketshare don’t know how to report that

 

[spcopsmac21]

Honestly, kids shouldb’t have webcams, did you not hear those sextortion scandals involving suicide when middle schoolers were blackmailed over pics they took on school provided laptops?

No webcam is good here.

Most school systems use monitoring software utilizing the webcam to make sure the kids are looking at their screens.
But I totally agree. A little shutter over the webcam would go a long way.
I’m uncomfortable with my iPhone taking thousands of pictures of me a day for Face ID.
I make sure a few of those pictures are of my sphincter. So the FBI agent monitoring my device gets an eye full of my B hole.

 

[blazerunner]

Crazy idea I know but could maybe drop the Air to a sane price? Nah, didn't think so.

Who buys a Chromebook outside school needs? If that's the market they are targeting then why not offer students/schools a better discount on the Air? Oh yeah... profits.

I don't see the point in a <$700 MacBook.

Also I don't want to use a tiny 12" screen lmao. 13" is bad enough.

A lot of people would buy it. Just like a lot of people would buy a phone with a MicroSD card slot. You're not the voice for all consumers, and neither is Apple. Every product out there will find its perfect consumer, and an ultra portable 12 macbook will fit that bill for someone thats on the go a lot.

 

[TigerNike23]

I'm kind of nervous that Apple will make the Macbook lineup too big and confusing like the iPad lineup is now.

But someone on here was mad at my similar comment yesterday when I said Apple already has too many laptop SKUs.

We need one “SE”, one regular, and one pro. That’s it. Want a big screen? Go pro. Want a small screen? Go “SE”. Don’t like it? Sorry. Apple can’t make six million different configurations like Samsung.

 

[joeblow7777]

Remember when Apple laughed at the idea of budget laptops and launched the Macbook Air instead?

Nonetheless, as a teacher, when I hear about budget tech, I always think about how good it could be for the education sector.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Instead of buying a 12" iPP, i'd rather get a 12" MacBook for $700.

 

[ikramerica]

chromebooks will continue their takeover of K-12 education because they provide a 100% controlled environment with no need to deploy any local software.

My son’s school won’t allow ANY non-chromebooks on campus. If you want to bring your own chromebook it must be taken over by the district with no additional users. Otherwise you must use the school provided Chromebook at school. At home you can login to Google classroom via your own Chromebook but that user will be controlled by the district.

Apple simply cannot provide that level of control at the district level.

 

[transpo1]

The EDU market is not primarily looking for the most "Princess and pea", lightweight possible laptop. Durability is going to matter at least as much as weight.

I agree. How durable are most Chromebooks?

 

[transpo1]

chromebooks will continue their takeover of K-12 education because they provide a 100% controlled environment with no need to deploy any local software.

My son’s school won’t allow ANY non-chromebooks on campus. If you want to bring your own chromebook it must be taken over by the district with no additional users. Otherwise you must use the school provided Chromebook at school. At home you can login to Google classroom via your own Chromebook but that user will be controlled by the district.

Apple simply cannot provide that level of control at the district level.

That’s a tough market to break into. Scary how much control they have as well.

 

[t122648]

No way my kids would want to use a laptop without a touchscreen. I can't see Apple finally caving and adding a touchscreen. Thats what Ipads are for -with a gimped OS.

 

[SmugMaverick]

Would love to see the revival of a 12" MacBook. Although I still think it makes more sense for Apple to reuse the older MacBook Air design, update the internals from time to time and rebrand it the MacBook SE with a $799 price tag or so.

Tim LOVES milking designs so this is probably what will happen.

 

[jimimac71]

I am interested in a Chromebook because they are low cost and simple.
I don't want Windows 11+.
Mac OS is probably easier than Windows. My old iMac and I loved Leopard, but it was not easy for me.
I think Chrome OS is probably easier than iOS/iPadOS/Android.
As I grow older, I want simple.
I want a 2 in 1 with HDMI.
Would like a full sized SD reader. How much more space does that really require?
The Chromebook I want is about $500, $400 right now at Best Buy.
Apple rarely puts stuff on sale. Only refurbished.
What I really need right now is a product like the old WebTV/MSN TV for an elderly parent.
Apple could do that with ATV. Put Safari and Mail on Apple TV and you have a customer, one who might want to stay with iPad.

 

[boak]

Apple won't go after the low-end education market. They will be targeting college students, professionals and older people that don't do intensive work on their laptops.

 

[jkool]

Big, if true. In the past, Apple has used the talking point of avoiding this approach because it creates a race to the bottom.

 

[ignatius345]

It baffles me they stopped making these.

They were low cost, really good, looked nice, and were highly popular. Most people I knew used them because of how good and affordable it was, which is why many have been begging for a Macbook SE so they can get that back.

That plastic did not age well, though -- particularly around the front edge of the palm rest area. That would inevitably get discolored and chipped on so many of those I saw. I had the black one, which at least stayed cleaner looking.

Also, you could practically fry an egg on it, it ran so hot. I took to using a bamboo cutting board in my lap as a shield.

The one thing I did love about that design was the fact that you could pop out the battery and in like 30 seconds slide out the hard drive.