{"id":506884,"date":"2026-03-01T07:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T07:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/506884\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T07:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T07:13:09","slug":"will-apples-upcoming-low-cost-macbook-actually-be-worthwhile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/506884\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Apple’s upcoming low-cost MacBook actually be worthwhile?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\"What<\/p>\n

As soon as next week, Apple is set to unveil its cheapest MacBook to date. It\u2019ll be powered by an A18 Pro chip, offer a 12.9-inch display, and come in a plethora of colors. It\u2019ll also have a couple key compromises to bring it down to a lower starting price. That raises the question: will it be worth it compared to the MacBook Air<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Key compromises<\/p>\n

For the most part, you\u2019ll be getting all of the key elements of a great MacBook experience: an aluminum chassis, a crisp Retina LCD display, an excellent trackpad, long battery life, and so on.<\/p>\n

That said, there are a few rumored areas where the budget MacBook will cut corners <\/a>compared to the MacBook Air<\/a>, those including:<\/p>\n

400 nit display, no True Tone support, and no P3 color gamut<\/p>\n

Slower charging speeds<\/p>\n

Limited storage options + slower SSD speeds<\/p>\n

No keyboard backlight<\/p>\n

No N1 chip, relying on a cheaper Mediatek networking chip<\/p>\n

For the most part (at least in my opinion) \u2013 these aren\u2019t major nor surprising cuts. It\u2019s all extremely precedented based on previous lower-cost Apple products. For example, the iPad Air Magic Keyboard<\/a> doesn\u2019t include a backlight. <\/p>\n

Of course, you\u2019ll have to deal with the fact that you\u2019re using an iPhone chip instead of an M series chip. Don\u2019t let that concern you, though. Despite sounding weak, the A18 Pro actually matches<\/a> the M1 roughly in synthetic benchmarks. That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019ll be good as an M1 all the time, but the fact that it\u2019s in the same league at all speaks volumes for the competence of Apple\u2019s lowest end silicon.<\/p>\n

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Will it be a good value?<\/p>\n

Ultimately, whether or not its worth it compared to the MacBook Air<\/a> depends on the price it comes in at. For $699, I think it\u2019ll be a little tough of a sell, at least at launch. M4 MacBook Air<\/a> has gone on sale as low as $749 (though it\u2019s currently only on sale for $949) \u2013 so it could be a close call.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just launch pricing though, obviously the cheaper MacBook too will go on sale over time. So, I\u2019d say in all likelihood, the cheaper MacBook will be a good value, even compared to the MacBook Air<\/a>. There\u2019ll still be a $300 MSRP difference between the two laptops.<\/p>\n

If the MacBook comes in at an even lower cost, say $649 or $599 \u2013 it\u2019d truly be killer. It\u2019s also rumored to come in a couple fun colors<\/a> like green, yellow, and pink. If the price is right, it might even have a decent leg up on the MacBook Air.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll know for sure when the computer hopefully launches next week. Apple will be kicking off a week of announcements starting on Monday, March 2nd<\/a> \u2013 with an in-person media experience on Wednesday, March 4th.<\/p>\n

My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:<\/p>\n

Follow Michael:\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

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