Apple is cooking something. We don’t know what it is, but rumour mills are buzzing with speculation that not one, but multiple products maybe in the offing, a few weeks from now. There are some usual suspects, like the much-anticipated iPhone 17e, but chatter is also growing around what could be Apple’s most affordable MacBook yet.
While Apple is known to launch new iPhones – next-generation models in tech parlance – in September, Cupertino spends the rest of the year “soft-launching” new products ranging from iPads to Mac. By soft launch we mean that, these announcements are made either through a press release or relatively small-scale pre-recorded events. On March 5, 2026, Apple is doing something different. It is inviting select members of the press from across the US (New York), UK (London), and China (Shanghai) to “experience” something.
Two reliable sources of Apple news in the industry, John Gruber and Mark Gurman, believe the hands-on session on March 4 will follow three days of newsroom announcements, pertaining to three different types of devices. March 4 is a Wednesday. So, Apple is tipped to make one announcement on Monday, one on Tuesday, and another on Wednesday, followed by a demo for journalists and other media. Gruber puts it in this way: iPhone 17e on Monday, new iPads on Tuesday, and new MacBooks on Wednesday. Gurman expects the same thing.
MacBook goes mainstream
The iPhone 17e is the most obvious contender (given that the iPhone 16e launched at around the same time last year) though it is the new upcoming entry-level MacBook that seems like the most interesting – and exciting – Apple product to watch out for. This is because while Apple has been able to make the iPhone more affordable in the last few years, a low-cost MacBook eludes us to this day. When Apple launched the Mac Mini for about Rs 50,000, it flew off the shelves. (With new-age AI tools like OpenClaw picking up steam, demand is skyrocketing.) A MacBook at Rs 50,000 has “bestseller” written all over it.
Currently, the cheapest MacBook that you can buy in India is the MacBook Air. It is a fantastic laptop. But it still starts at almost 1 lakh and that is a lot of money for a lot of people. For a lot of people, it remains hard to reach. Soon, this is likely to change. A new model of the MacBook – we don’t know what it is called yet – is reportedly in the works that should help Apple break into the mainstream mass market. This laptop will, to no one’s surprise, have watered-down specs like an iPhone chip and possibly fewer ports.
Leaks suggest this MacBook will be powered by the A18 Pro chip or something on similar lines. This is the processor that was inside the iPhone 16 Pro. Now, if you’re wondering how an iPhone chip would get inside a MacBook, you’re not alone, but at the same time it is no rocket science. iPhone chips – like the A18 Pro – are ARM based, just like Apple’s M-series silicon powering the Mac. Essentially, they are both mobile chips. The only difference is that the M-series chips – being meant for laptops – are more powerful. The A-series chips are no slouch. In fact, benchmark scores pit the A18 Pro close to the M1 which technically makes a lot of sense for an affordable MacBook that – presumably – will take on Chromebooks and budget Windows laptops.
Reports also suggest that Apple may use a new type of construction process that is more efficient to make and keep metal as the choice of build material for this low-cost MacBook. The screen is also expected to be an LCD to keep costs low. All this when paired with Apple’s recent foray into subscription bundles for creative tools that make Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro more affordable for end-users, calls for a machine that could put Chromebooks and budget Windows laptops on notice if at all, Apple sticks to the rumoured $599 starting price. We will know soon enough. Watch this space for all the details on Apple’s upcoming launches.
