Apple to Launch Affordable MacBook to Challenge Chromebook Range: Report

Apple's affordable MacBook lineup is expected to come with the usual metal casing.

Written by Nithya P Nair, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 6 September 2023 19:09 IST

Apple to Launch Affordable MacBook to Challenge Chromebook Range: Report

M1-powered MacBook Air 13-inch is the cheapest laptop from Apple now

Highlights

New MacBooks could be made of different materials than MacBook Pro lines
New MacBooks could use a metal casing
Apple is yet to reveal plans to unveil affordable MacBook models

Apple's MacBook Air 15 with a starting price of Rs. 1,34,900 was launched during the company's WWDC 2023 event in June this year. As the competition in the affordable PC market grows hot with Google's Chromebooks and multiple entry-level Windows laptops, Apple is believed to be gearing up to rival this segment. As per a new report, the Cupertino giant is developing low-cost MacBook models to compete with the likes of Chromebook models in the education sector. The rumoured MacBook series is expected to go official as early as the second half of next year.

A report by DigiTimes citing industry sources claims that Apple is developing a low-cost MacBook series to compete with Chromebook models in the education sector that could be released as early as the second half of 2024. The alleged MacBook lineup is expected to come with the usual metal casing. However, the upcoming models could be different from the ongoing MacBook Air and MacBook Pro by incorporating less expensive materials and components to lower the price.

Currently, Windows laptops and Chromebooks are quite popular among students and in the education sector. As per the report, more than 13.9 million Chromebooks were shipped in 2019 and over 30.4 million units were shipped in 2020. In 2021, more than 33.5 million Chromebooks were shipped. Apple might be targeting the Chromebook market and is expected to keep the price of upcoming MacBook laptops under $1,000 (roughly Rs. 80,000).

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However, Apple is yet to reveal plans to unveil affordable MacBook models. Therefore, this information should be considered with a grain of salt.

Right now, the M1-powered MacBook Air 13-inch is the cheapest laptop from Apple. It is currently available at a starting price of Rs. 99,900 in India.

The MacBook Air M1 has a 13.3-inch IPS Retina display with a 1,600x2,560 pixels resolution. Powered by the Apple M1 chip, the laptop packs up to 16GB of RAM and up to 2TB of onboard storage. It is equipped with an HD FaceTime camera and a Touch ID sensor. It includes stereo speakers enhanced by Dolby Atmos as well.

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Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020) Laptop

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Value for Money

Good
Familiar design
P3 colour gamut display
Excellent performance
Runs cool and quiet
Very good battery life

Bad
Low-resolution webcam

Read detailed Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020) review

Display size 13.30-inch

Display resolution 2560x1600 pixels

Touchscreen No

Processor Apple M1

RAM 8GB

OS macOS

Hard disk No

SSD 512GB

Weight 1.29 kg

More Apple Laptops

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Further reading: Apple, MacBook Air 15, MacBook Air 13, Apple MacBook Air, Apple MacBook

Nithya P Nair

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Nithya P Nair is a journalist with more than five years of experience in digital journalism. She specialises in business and technology beats. A foodie at heart, Nithya loves exploring new places (read cuisines) and sneaking in Malayalam movie dialogues to spice up conversations. More