According to prominent analyst Ming-Chi Kuo， Apple is slated to launch its first affordable MacBook powered by an iPhone chip， the A18， in late 2025 or early 2026. This new MacBook will feature a 13-inch display and be available in four color options: silver， blue， pink， and yellow. This marks a significant departure from Apple’s previous MacBook lineup， which exclusively utilized M-series chips.
The upcoming MacBook will be the first Mac product in Apple’s history to incorporate an iPhone chip， breaking the tradition of MacBooks solely being equipped with M-series processors.
The Apple A18 chip is built on TSMC’s N3E process technology， featuring a 6-core CPU with 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores， along with a 5-core GPU and a 16-core Neural Engine. While the A18 chip’s performance may not match that of the M-series chips， Kuo suggests it will be sufficient for everyday office tasks， learning， and light creative work. Crucially， the A18 chip’s lower cost is expected to enable Apple to price this new MacBook in the range of 5，000 to 7，000 yuan (approximately $700-$1000 USD)， positioning it as a direct competitor to Windows thin-and-light laptops.
Apple’s strategic goal with this product is to capture 20% to 28% of the total MacBook sales in 2026. This move aims to expand Apple’s market reach into price-sensitive customer segments， such as students and young professionals entering the workforce. Industry insiders view this development as a further segmentation of Apple’s chip strategy， where M-series chips will continue to dominate the high-performance professional market， while A-series chips will target the broader consumer market.
