Report Suggests Apple Developing Cheaper MacBook - Targeting Chromebook Sector

[T0@st]

DigiTimes Asia has picked up on some intriguing insider information—their source claims that Apple could be pivoting hardware development in the direction of lower-cost portable personal computer solutions. Their current "budget-friendly" champ is the M1 SoC-equipped MacBook Air (of 2020 vintage), starting at $999 for mortals—education incentives can lower that entry price down to $899. The gigantic American multinational technology company debuted a 15‑inch MacBook Air M2 model this year, but sales figures have allegedly not met projected targets. The DigiTimes report indicates that Apple engineers are preparing new hardware for a different market segment—education was mentioned earlier—Google and its partners remain dominant here with cost effective Chromebooks.

Apple's iPad family offers some "wallet friendly" alternatives for students, but industry experts note that ChromeOS-based laptops are easier to use for educational tasks and iPads: "cannot compete with Chromebooks on price." An all-new lower tier MacBook lineup—sitting below their Air range—is supposedly already in development, with a launch window projected for the second half of 2024 (lead time is said to be around nine months). A more competitive retail price is achievable due to the use of "cheaper material for the laptop's metal outer shell, and cheaper mechanical components."



View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Konyalee]

It's called lowering your prices for average joe instead of cutting features/specs

 

[phanbuey]

It's a great computer for casual (retirees) or creative only professionals, or as a secondary machine.

Everyone I know who has one of these, also has a PC for work/gaming... I'm not sure a cheaper product is going to fix that.

Education is a good target segment but those chromebooks are like $150 and they have enterprise management features from google. Not sure apple is going to be able to touch that.

 

[bonehead123]

"History teaches us that history teaches us NOTHING" - Gen. G. S. Patton

"Cheap is as Cheap does"

They already tried, and failed, at this experiment back in the day with the Mac clones Yes, that was a different time & situation, but the math still doesn't work !

As we all know, the most expensive part of mobile devices, other than the cpu's, are the screens, and should this rumor turn out to be true, the "wallet-friendly" versions will most likely be inferior, low quality downgrades of existing models...

And that, as we also know, is NOT part of the fruityboyz DNA

 

[phanbuey]

"History teaches us that history teaches us NOTHING" - Gen. G. S. Patton

"Cheap is as Cheap does"

They already tried, and failed, at this experiment back in the day with the Mac clones Yes, that was a different time & situation, but the math still doesn't work !

As we all know, the most expensive part of mobile devices, other than the cpu's, are the screens, and should this rumor turn out to be true, the "wallet-friendly" versions will most likely be inferior, low quality downgrades of existing models...

And that, as we also know, is NOT part of the fruityboyz DNA

They would need to launch a separate company that's geared to compete at that segment without tarnishing the fruit.

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(1) The New Mactini - BBC - YouTube

 

[cvaldes]

This is a laughable rumor from one of the most atrociously inaccurate purveyors of Apple news: Digitimes. Digitimes has a very long track record -- closing in on two decades -- of pathetically absurd Apple predictions based on hilariously inane industry "sources".

After years of being ridiculed for mindlessly regurgitating Digitimes crap just for pageviews, rumor site AppleInsider now sheepishly tacks on a disclaimer that Digitimes has horrific track record in rumor accuracy. In fact, Digitimes probably drove AppleInsider to come up with a rumor credibility meter because AppleInsider was constantly being laughed at for publishing Digitimes garbage.

The only way for Apple to compete with Chromebooks would be for them to slash gross margins. What are the chances of that?

Apple has never competed on the bottom end of any product category. They are strategic in competing the upper end of any product category that decide to participate in and rake up the lion's share of the industry profits. There are no $99 smartphones from Apple.

You guys remember Apple's offering during the netbook craze? That's right, they didn't have one. Apple did not battle it out in this low-margin train wreck of a category. This is like saying that Apple will enter the autonomous electric car category with a $19,999 subcompact.

This is basically what the Chromebook category is. Razor thin margins on basically disposable hardware that leaves no memorable impression to the user.

This is not Apple's business model. Apple got huge by deliberately ignoring the low-margin battlefields of personal technology.

TPU is free to publish what they want. There's a sizable contingent of TPU readers who joyfully sh!t on Apple (e.g. "CrApple" or "Apple sheeple") but the fact of the matter is that Apple has done an excellent job of increasing shareholder value, a publicly trade company's #1 responsibility.

I'll just say that AppleInsider was ridiculed for years -- by its own readership -- for slavishly regurgitating any mindless drivel that Digitimes published, even the most preposterously ludicrous trash. It got so bad with some of AppleInsider's rumor sources that people said that if Digitimes (or some other rumor sources) predicted something, it was far more likely that the opposite would happen, sort of like tech's version of the Cramer Effect.

Digitimes is still in business because there's a certain number of Internet users (growing every week) who are gullible, clueless and forgetful of previous inaccuracies. Some readers think everything on the Internet is true; Digitimes panders to these idiots.

It's a crap rumor from a crap publication for crap readers. All in the worship at the Altar of the Almighty Pageview. Well done, TPU!

 

[LabRat 891]

Considering the flaws often present in their top kit...
This doesn't seem like a good idea.

Not to mention, part of Apple's absurdly successful marketing, has been that 'aura' of superiority, supported by the high price tag.

They'd be risking losing their 'premium' association. (something Steve Jobs was adamant about, IIRC)


Funny thing:
This could be the start of Apple's fall from top-profits and 'cultural significance'
Yet, I'd rather not see them fall flat.
Weird...

 

[cvaldes]

Not to mention, part of Apple's absurdly successful marketing, has been that 'aura' of superiority, supported by the high price tag.

They'd be risking losing their 'premium' association. (something Steve Jobs was adamant about, IIRC)

Correct.

Selling a ton of cheap crap devalues your brand.

Look at how Apple handles merch, particularly logo apparel. They make some special limited edition gifts for events like store openings. They sell a handful of merch at their physical Visitor Center store but not online.

This is also why Apple's Black Friday discounts are very modest, generally around 9-12%. Sometimes they offer an Apple Store gift card in lieu of cash back. Deep discounting also devalues the brand because then the customers reframe the brand's actual value at the discounted level.

Funny thing:
This could be the start of Apple's fall from top-profits and 'cultural significance'
Yet, I'd rather not see them fall flat.
Weird...

You likely don't want to see them fall flat. If you are a typical American, you likely have some retirement or pension investments that are heavy in the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, large cap, etc. Apple's ongoing success is now a substantial part of many (most) Americans' retirement plans.

 

[Wirko]

They would need to launch a separate company that's geared to compete at that segment without tarnishing the fruit.

A fruit cheaper than apples? Not much to choose from but ...

Watermelon!

 

[mechtech]

"2020 vintage), starting at $999"

lol stopped reading after that.

just got this with an additional coupon for an extra $75 off then paid an extra $36 for 3 yr parts/labour/shipping warranty. (prices in CAD$)

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[randomUser]

First, increase price so high, that people can't pay.
Then make crapier product with higher profit margin.

The result will be plastic "macBook Earth" with 2GB RAM, 32GB SSD, no Wifi, and a single USB-C port. No charger in the box of course. For only 899 USD.
And the screen will be called "Spreat out super liquid retina", which means that they will increase distance between pixels so its no longer 326ppi.

USB-C dongle with Ethernet port will be sold separately for cheap, only 99 USD.

 

[bubbleawsome]

Didn’t their lineup use to go MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro? This could simply be a revival of the non-pro non-air MacBook to capitalize on the ‘regular’ laptop crowd that isn’t focusing on weight or all out performance.
A simple but quality 13” panel, large enough battery to give it ~12 hours of use time, nothing else extra. iPad with a keyboard. Maybe it takes over at $899-$999 and they finally retire the M1 Air with the release of M3.

 

[claes]

Air was the low end

This is not happening. They already have the iPad Air at $600, using the m1, the pro with m2 at $800, and $250 for the Magic Keyboard trackpad thing. The end goal is to unify iOS and MacOS. As @cvaldes pointed out, they’d either be ruining their brand reputation or undermining their own product line.

 

[trsttte]

This is not happening. They already have the iPad Air at $600, using the m1, the pro with m2 at $800, and $250 for the Magic Keyboard trackpad thing. The end goal is to unify iOS and MacOS. As @cvaldes pointed out, they’d either be ruining their brand reputation or undermining their own product line.

They insist on making sure an iPad will never be a replacement for a Mac. They may want to unify as much of iOS, iPadOS and MacOS on the development side - because it makes obvious sense - but not on the user side, for users the 3 operating systems must remain seperate and as distinct as possible.

This won't happen because it makes no sense, they simply can't make something resembling a chromebook in any way shape or form. Not on price, not on management flexibility, not on os security, not on durability, nothing. And when something is this painfully obvious why dillute the brand on it?

 

[claes]

They insist on making sure an iPad will never be a replacement for a Mac. They may want to unify as much of iOS, iPadOS and MacOS on the development side - because it makes obvious sense - but not on the user side, for users the 3 operating systems must remain seperate and as distinct as possible.

That’s what they were saying a few years ago, then this year they released Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro for iPadOS. One has a pencil and trackpad, the other has… higher thermal headroom? Who knows.

This won't happen because it makes no sense, they simply can't make something resembling a chromebook in any way shape or form. Not on price, not on management flexibility, not on os security, not on durability, nothing. And when something is this painfully obvious why dillute the brand on it?

IDK, Apple’s management and security tools are pretty great, and their previous plastic models were (mostly) built like tanks. Heck, almost all the system management people I know use Macs to maintain their windows users.

 

[trsttte]

That’s what they were saying a few years ago, then this year they released Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro for iPadOS. One has a pencil and trackpad, the other has… higher thermal headroom? Who knows.

They finally released Logic and Finalcut but everything else is still gimped, not even multi monitor works properly and the stage manager is kind of a joke. How else were they going to make you buy both an iPad and a laptop?

 

[claes]

I mean they want you to buy both, and a phone, too, and a desktop, ideally. Just saying that they were arguing that they’d keep the os’s separate by platform but design language and universal apps since then suggest otherwise. Seems to me they get you to buy more products depending on your workflow — want AR and a touchscreen, get an iPad. Want to build models for your ar world? Try a laptop or desktop.

 

[unwind-protect]

I want them to re-issue the old 12" Macbook, at such a price. Except for the single USB-C port that was a really cool computer.