Apple rumoured to launch affordable MacBook under R13k, shaking up ultrabook market
Apple is rumoured to be launching an affordable MacBook under R13,000 in 2026, featuring A18/A19 Pro chips and potentially revolutionising the ultrabook market. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL
MacBooks have never been known to be easy on the wallet, as they cater mostly to the high end of the market, but that could change with the launch of their new ultra-book for under R13,000.
Though it hasn’t been confirmed by Apple yet, the rumours are that the new addition to the laptop lineup could be coming in 2026.
The current cheapest laptop in the Apple lineup is last year’s M3 MacBook Air, which retails for around R19,999, and the current M4 Air starts at R22,499.
That means the cheapest new laptop from Apple starts at nearly R22,499.
Revamped MacBook with A18/A19 Pro Chips: A New Era of Performance
The new MacBook would be a reintroduction of the model launched in 2015. Back then, the laptop featured a 12” screen, the awful butterfly keyboard, and a severely underpowered Intel processor.
The design was way ahead of its time, and the hardware could not keep up as it was prone to overheating and would freeze if you tried to do basically anything on the device. Now, it’s a different story as the processor that would be used for a new MacBook would either be an A18 Pro or A19 Pro chip, which are the same ones used in the iPhone 16 Pro and new iPhone 17 Pro models.
The processing power of these chips is roughly the equivalent of the 2020 M1 MacBook Air. The M1 Air was the first MacBook to use the new Apple silicon chip after the company moved away from the underpowered and battery-sapping Intel processors.
The rumours are that the new MacBook could retail between 500 and 600 dollars in the US, which works out to R10,368. Adding in import costs to South Africa and the Maximus price should therefore not be more than R13,000.