A 12-inch MacBook is the only affordable Mac I want from Apple
The rumors that Apple could make a multiple and affordable macbook based on the A18 Pro chip has triggered considerable excitement and ignited hope in me and others to mark the return of the 12 -inch MacBook.
Unveiled a decade ago, the MacBook with keyboard sport in full size finished at the size of 2 LB was, for the time, an engineering marvel. Apple has undoubtedly rewritten its laptop game book to create the system.
Shortly after the launch, I spoke to the Marketing Chef Phil Schiller and at the head of the Mac and the Apple iPad (and now the main vice-president of Apple’s material engineering) John Ternus about all that Apple has done to do the portable wonder.
The pair spread before me things like a battery on several levels and something called “Speaktenna”, which was essentially a combination of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas and a system of speakers.
“We ended up with a group of antennas engineers who know more about speakers than all other antenna engineers and a group of speakers who knew more about antenna design than on anyone else in the world,” said Ternus.
There was a passion around the product that competed with that of the Apple Watch, which launched next.
The 12 -inch MacBook was also a bit of a strange duck. It was lighter than a MacBook Air, but it was not an air. He did not have the same number of ports. In fact, there was only one USB-C port operating at USB 3.1 speeds (Pokey compared to the Thunderbolt 4 that you find on MacBook Airs today). Oh, and did I mention that the port has also managed the load tasks?
Incrected of components on both sides, the 12 -inch MacBook motherboard was small enough to hold in the palm of my hand. Everything about the components of the MacBook was built in favor of its enviable proportions.
At its thicker part, it was, at 0.35 cm, thinner than the current MacBook Air. I love the current 13 -inch MacBook Air (M4), but I would lie if I said that I would not like to transport an even lighter, thinner and smaller cousin.
It is just, however, to ask why the market needs such a system now.
First of all, let’s imagine it could be the 12 -inch MacBook 2026. He would have:
- An A18 Pro processor
- 13-inch LED-backlit retina display
- 16 GB of memory to support Apple Intelligence
- 128 GB of on -board storage
- 30 GB free iCloud storage
- A design without fan
- A Magsafe load port
- A USB-C Thunderbolt 3 style port
- Recycled aluminum speaker
- A full -size magic keyboard including Touch ID
- A 4 -inch borehole trackpad
Regarding the design, the 12 -inch MacBook A18 Pro would line up closely with the Air MacBook line. More corner, instead, two flat panels gathered in a thickness of 0.35 cm.
Admittedly, everything that is above is a conjecture, but I believe that the configuration would integrate perfectly into a package of $ 599 (maybe even a $ 499).
Nothing here is new, and the A18 Pro is very powerful and effective in managing such a system.
The advantage, of course, is an affordable laptop, but almost full greatness, which is a complete system. I know that you can buy an M4 Mac Mini for $ 599, but you must always buy a mouse, a keyboard and a screen. This, however, would be the complete Apple MacBook package at an affordable price.
You may also have noticed the rather derisory basic storage. It is to help reduce costs. It is suffocated, however, by something that Apple desperately needs to do: offer more versatile and forgiving iCloud storage options.
The usual 5 GB free storage are not enough, and I think that the additional 30 GB will compensate for the limited local storage, shifting those which are on the fence of the 12 -inch MacBook in the unmissable territory.
Give them what they want
If Apple is reluctant to reintroduce the difier “MacBook” name, especially when it is smaller and lighter than the MacBook Air, they could call it the MacBook Air LT (for Light) or MacBook Air A (for its standard A chip).
Just look at Walmart for evidence that consumers want such a system. He sells the MacBook Air M1 of the old -fashioned design for $ 699 and now $ 649 for the years. People are desperate for a truly affordable Mac, but they are probably tired of growing performance compromises linked to the aging M1 chip.
The A18 PRO will sing in a tiny 12 -inch laptop, and the incredibly small proportions of the system will make it successful with those who thought they could opt for a light iPad with a magic keyboard folio, mainly because they thought they would not increase their backpack.
Apple learned, thanks to Apple Silicon, therefore to the construction of light and efficient systems that it is logical to extend the MacBook idea in new and perhaps unexpected directions.
A rekindled 12 -inch MacBook would sell like hotcakes and pave the way for cooler ideas, such as a 12 -inch MacBook Air performing a M3 chip. This could sell $ 699.
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