Rumor: Apple working on 12-inch, 13-inch MacBooks to be priced at $700

As noted by MacRumors, Apple is working on 12-inch and 13-inch MacBook models for sale at a planned price point of around US$700 or less, claims a rumor out of Korea.

This is per the operator of news aggregator account “yeux1122” on the Naver blog. It says that while Apple has yet to fully commit to mass producing the low-cost Macs, they are now “more likely than ever” to make it to market because of a rapid fall in iPad and MacBook sales.

In September DigiTimes claimed 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 Sellers Research Group (that’s me) thinks this makes sense. Although Apple needs to figure out exactly what the iPad wants to be when it grows up, the tech giant sometimes positions the tablet as a laptop replacement/alternative, but doesn’t take the necessary steps to make this happen for most folks. 

But back to a low cost Mac laptop for the education market: DigiTimes says Apple would market this new laptop in such a way that it is differentiated from the rest of the range. It would make sense for Apple to do something about the growth of Chromebooks in schools. A low-cost Mac laptop could fill that role. 

Perhaps a 12-inch Mac laptop could fill the bill. There have been rumors that Apple is considering such a device. I’ve been dubious, but if the company is truly considering an inexpensive education laptop, bringing back the diminutive laptop could make sense.