Apple is preparing to launch a budget Mac in the first half of next year, entering the low-cost laptop market for the first time, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, the device is designed for students, businesses, and casual users who primarily browse the web, work on documents, or perform light media editing. Its purpose is to divert customers away from Google’s Chromebooks and entry-level Windows PCs. Apple is also aiming potential iPad purchasers who may prefer a conventional laptop.
According to the report, the manufacturer of the iPhone wants to sell the laptop, code-named J700, for well under $1,000 by using less advanced components. At the moment, it is undergoing active testing at Apple as well as early production with suppliers from overseas. The cheapest Mac currently available is the M4 MacBook Air, priced at $999, dropping to $899 with a student discount.
The laptop will have an iPhone processor and a lower-end LCD display, with the screen coming in slightly below 13.6 inches, the smallest of any current Mac, per the report.
According to the report, this would be Apple’s first use of an iPhone processor rather than a computer-specific chip in a Mac. The smartphone chip has outperformed the Mac-optimized M1 found in laptops a few years ago, according to internal tests. Apple’s fourth-quarter Mac sales were $8.73 billion, compared to $8.59 billion estimates. It predicted iPhone sales and revenue for the holiday quarter, which exceeded Wall Street expectations last month.