- Apple could ship its affordable MacBook in quantities of up to 8 million
- New rumor notes this would represent 25% of Mac sales in 2025
- In short, the company could have big plans for its wallet-friendly device, and the wherewithal to price it temptingly in this unfavorable climate
Apple's rumored affordable MacBook could be a huge piece of the firm's laptop sales strategy based on the latest chatter from the grapevine.
Mac Observer spotted a post from yeux1122 dropping new info about the MacBook. This is a Korean tech blogger with links to the supply chain who has got things right in the past, but should obviously still be taken with a good deal of seasoning.
The leaker claims Apple has big plans for this cheaper MacBook, and that (as translated by Google): "Annual shipments of this model are expected to reach around 5.5 million units [to] 7.9 million units, accounting for about 25% of last year's total Mac series sales."
In short, this will not be a relatively niche release, an equivalent to an iPhone SE – rather, it's framed as a major push to drive Mac sales forward.
As we've heard before, this MacBook is expected to cut down its price by using an iPhone processor (likely the A18 Pro chip), and also dropping to 8GB of system RAM, which would be an obvious cost saving in the current memory crisis.
We're told that Apple's 'strong' supply chain management – contracts for parts and existing component inventory – means it'll still be able to mass-produce this cheaper MacBook, even with current RAM (and other) pricing and supply headwinds.
This sentiment was echoed by another recent report from Taiwan's Mirror Daily, highlighted by leaker Jukan on X, which claims that rising RAM prices won't stop Apple's new entry-level MacBook from launching this year. Again, we're told it'll use the A18 CPU and 8GB of RAM, and be priced around $699 to $799 in the US (and in line with that in other currencies).
This other report also mirrors the buoyant sales forecasts as floated by yeux1122, and it all lends further weight to the idea that this MacBook could be ready to pitch up soon. Previous rumors have indicated a spring 2026 launch, so that could be as soon as next month, in theory, and likely before May.
Analysis: a big opportunity for Apple – but is 8GB still tenable?
It seems Apple has plenty of reserve inventory for MacBook production, so it can theoretically carry on with the launch of this new entry-level model without batting an eyelid at the now-raging RAM crisis. That's not hugely surprising, given the MacBook maker's clout, but even so, the purported quantity for this launch, as aired here, is a shock, if true.
Another surprise here is yeux1122 noting that the price of this MacBook "may be lower than expected", although it's difficult to imagine Apple shooting for, say, a $599 model with the state of the PC industry right now (with the prices of everything going up). It seems likely Apple could settle on an MSRP of more than that and still look like a great value for money.
Of course, everything depends on the quality of this affordable MacBook. As well as the iPhone chip and 8GB of RAM loadout, we can also expect corners to be cut with the screen, and the chassis and overall build won't likely be as premium as other MacBooks. There must be comprises, of course, but it's a question of what effect these might have – and we don't have a clue in that regard at this stage of mere rumors.
One thing is clear enough, though: if Apple is reverting to 8GB with a MacBook, it's reversing course on its recent policy of not having any Mac with less than 16GB. As you probably haven't failed to notice, 8GB is viewed rather dimly in the world of contemporary laptops. Indeed, I wrote a long article about this quantity of RAM and how suitable it is, or isn't, for a notebook in 2026 if you want to explore that in more depth.
In a nutshell, at least for everyday computing, you can still get by with 8GB in 2026, but it's far from ideal – particularly when it comes to considerations around any kind of future-proofing. And interestingly, yeux1122 observes that thanks to the way Apple has macOS and its hardware tightly integrated, you can expect a "smooth user experience even with 8GB of RAM" (again, translation nuances may have to be taken into account, but you get the gist).
Especially when it comes to AI features going forward, which, after all, are supposedly the next big thing, I find it difficult to believe that 8GB of RAM will be enough – but seemingly the affordable MacBook will happily support Apple Intelligence, yeux1122 tells us. (Although in truth, it'll have to, really).
There are some conflicting ideas with the (rumored) design and reality of this laptop, then, and I don't think the path is at all clear for a MacBook with 8GB going forward into 2030 – you'll want the laptop to last a few years, of course. But that said, there's no doubting that a very temptingly priced MacBook could really spark Mac sales, and if Apple puts the device out in the quantity theorized here, it's not unfeasible that the notebook could account for a big chunk of the company's PC sales, given the current climate of rising prices elsewhere with laptop manufacturers.
With a release seemingly on the horizon now, it shouldn't be long before we start to get more rumors pouring in – and we find out more of the likely truth about this purported entry-level MacBook. If Apple really is planning to go all-in with this device as suggested, it'll mean interesting times are ahead, for sure – and some much-needed relief on the value front in the laptop space this year.
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