Apple products are not something that the average person regards as low-cost, least of all its MacBook laptops. But a recent report claims that the fruit company is working on such low-cost MacBooks, and for the purpose of competing with Chromebooks in the education sector at that.
DigiTimes cites industry sources as saying that “Apple will likely launch the new product line to differentiate it from the company’s existing MacBook Air and Pro lines”. That being said, it remains to be seen what exactly would make these laptops be considered low-cost. The report notes that these laptops will still be using metal casings, but it will be of “different materials” to reduce their costs.
In terms of lower hardware costs, another possibility may be to use an older chipset. Even then, it’s unlikely for the company to go further back than its own M1 chip, which is still pretty capable, but not that old, and therefore not that much lower in price.
All that aside, the Apple brand and the phrase “low-cost” have so far been mutually exclusive, so the report should be taken with a healthy dose of salt. It will also be awhile if we ever get a confirmation from the iPhone maker itself, as the report says that it is unlikely to launch within the first half of next year.
