The first ever entry-level MacBook could hit the market soon, with a budget price that could attract a huge new audience to macOS notebooks.
Could there be a lower-cost MacBook in your future? Here’s what the rumors reveal about its specs.
Budget MacBook: Taking on Windows and Chromebook
Apple computers do as well or better than virtually all of their Windows rivals in the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index, but they aren’t cheap. And that limits their appeal.
The average selling price for a notebook is around $600, and the ones that consumers buy can be quite a bit below that. In contrast, the most affordable macOS laptop is the MacBook Air at $999.
That’s why there’s so much excitement about the reports of an entry-level MacBook. There’s no definitive word on the exact cost, just “well under $1,000.” There’s speculation that it’ll be about $599 — matching the average selling price for notebooks. (The Mac mini sells for that same amount.)
In the $600-to-$800 price range, Apple’s laptop might appeal to first-time buyers, students and users who’d otherwise consider a Chromebook or budget Windows laptop.
Lower cost not low quality
Even if the entry-level MacBook comes in at $599, it will face tough competition. There are many notebook computers on the market priced at $500 or below. However, many of these are, in technical jargon, cheap pieces of crap. The budget MacBook won’t be.
Most notably, it’ll reportedly have an aluminum chassis, not a plastic one, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman in the Sunday edition of his Power On newsletter.
And it could be quite colorful. That’s not surprising, considering Apple’s current consumer-oriented laptop, the MacBook Air, comes in a range of pastel colors.
As Gurman also said on Sunday, “Over the past year, Apple has tested options such as light yellow, light green, blue, pink, classic silver, and dark gray — though it’s unlikely all of these will ship.”
Entry-level MacBook will have entry-level specs
Concept: Google Gemini
While the rumored budget MacBook, supposedly code-named J700, won’t be cheaply built, Apple still must scale back the specs to get the product cost down.
It will reportedly come with a smaller display than current Apple laptops, measuring “just under 13 inches,” according to Gurman.
And it’ll allegedly run on an Apple A-series processor, not an M-series one. The most likely candidate is the A19 Pro, the same chip used in the iPhone 17 Pro models.
It’s no slouch, and includes a 6‑core CPU (2 performance and 4 efficiency cores) and a 6‑core GPU. In the iPhone, the chip earns a 9,831 multi-core score on Geekbench 6. For comparison, the Intel N100, a chip commonly used in entry-level Windows laptops, scored just 3,129 on the same test. But the 2025 MacBook Air gets a 14,724 score.
Still, a MacBook powered by an A-series chip will be fast enough for the budget MacBook to “browse the web, work on documents, or conduct light media editing,” reports Bloomberg, exactly what consumers need for home use.
It should even be able to handle Xcode — Apple’s tool to create apps for iPhone and Mac — but only within strict limits. The computer might be right for learning coding and building small apps. Serious development really requires a loaded-up MacBook Pro. Even a base MacBook Air isn’t enough.
Budget MacBook release date
A “special Apple Experience” is scheduled for March 4, 2026, in New York City, with simultaneous gatherings in London and Shanghai. While the company hasn’t listed specific products, the timing fuels speculation that this budget MacBook could be one of the headliners.
The Apple logo in the event invitation is yellow, green and blue, which might be a hint at casing colors for the new macOS laptop.
But even if the computer is a no-show at that time, it’s nevertheless expected at some point in the first half of 2026.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
