If you’ve ever wanted to own a MacBook but aren’t keen on paying Apple’s usual prices, you could be in luck. A new report from Bloomberg (via Reuters) claims that the premium tech maker is considering a budget MacBook for launch sometime in the first half of 2026.
Concrete details are sparse, but the unannounced device is supposed to tempt customers away from Chromebooks and entry-level Windows machines. That’s a tall ask if you’re charging Apple’s usual prices — the cheapest MacBook currently in South Africa starts at R22,500 — but if the company could bring its prices down?
MacBook? Me, please
The still-secretive hardware, codenamed J700 according to reports, will use lower-spec components to bring down costs. It’s said to be in testing at Apple, with early production taking place at the company’s Asian suppliers.
The budget laptop will use an iPhone processor — which one isn’t specified — and a 13.6in LCD screen. That’s one way to tear down the cost barrier. No other details are known, but the budget ‘Book will apparently target a price point “well under $1,000.” Halving the cost of an Apple laptop could go a long way to snatching customers that might otherwise be drawn to other brands’ operating systems.
‘Budget’ for Apple often doesn’t mean the same thing as it does for other companies. The iPhone SE range proved that, and the latest incarnation of that line, the iPhone 16e, starts at R15,000. It can’t be considered cheap unless you append the words ‘for Apple’ to the end of the sentence. The same is likely here. A MacBook for R12,000 or so would find plenty of takers who have eyed the Air and Pro ranges for ages without ever taking the plunge.
