“Though rumors of a new entry-level MacBook laptop have circulated for quite some time, few concrete details have actually been confirmed,” Jeremy Horwitz reports for VentureBeat. “Today, a supply chain report from Taiwan’s hit-and-miss DigiTimes purports to shed light on the computer’s internals, claiming that Intel’s delay of a small new CPU led Apple to redesign the machine around a larger, more available part.”
“According to the report, the new MacBook will contain a 13-inch screen and was originally planned to launch late last year, but was delayed due to problems with Intel’s 10-nanometer chip manufacturing problems,” Horwitz reports. ” When Intel rescheduled 10nm CPU production for the second half of 2019, Apple changed the MacBook’s design to use a larger 14nm Kaby Lake processor, so it could be released this year.”
“Interestingly, DigiTimes says that the new machine will carry a $1,200 price tag, despite rumors that have placed the ‘entry-priced’ machine as low as $999,” Horwitz reports. “Even at that higher price, Apple reportedly expects the machine to sell eight million units in 2018 and to undermine demand for similar laptops from top rivals.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’re dreaming of a MacBook lineup consisting of an 11-inch (with thin bezels, it’d be even tinier and lighter than our beloved 11-inch MacBook Air units!) and a 13-inch model starting at $999 and $1299, respectively.
SEE ALSO:
Apple could be poised to reveal a fantastic (and sensible) MacBook lineup – August 17, 2018
Apple to roll out entry-level MacBook in September – August 17, 2018
Sometime in the next few years, Apple is bound to switch its MacBooks to its own A-Series processors, and when that happens, they’ll finally be able to innovate the MacBook lineup at the pace they want to. People complain a lot about how pretty much the entire Mac product line is getting stagnant, I think the reason it’s stagnant right now is in preparation for this CPU transition.
Sounds like it would have been a perfect time to switch to their A-Series Mac chips. I guess the stars haven’t fully aligned yet. It would be a great introduction in their lower-horsepower machines. Can’t wait to see what happens when they are ready to do this.
That is no answer for:
– A terrible Mac Pro (currently for sale)
– A Mac Mini that is four years old (currently for sale)
– MacBook Airs with industry bottom screens (currently for sale).
– Failing to update chips promptly in favour of selling yesterday’s (or rather yesteryear’s) technology.
The only reason to go with A processors is to cut costs compared to an Intel chip, and pass on savings to consumer.
If the entry level price remains $1299, the same as current Intel Macbooks, that argument gets shattered like a brick through a window. It becomes a beancounter’s pathetic excuse for fattening unit margins for Apple, not making something that’s more affordable to potential customers and switchers.
The current Apple has zero interest in offering its customers a good bargain. Apple gouges its customers whenever possible, offering old depreciated hardware at inflated prices. Want RAM with that, you have to unload all the benjamins from your wallet. Black finish on the iPhone? Yeah that’s special, so it will cost more too. Cheap non-ergonomic white plastic adapters — those cost anywhere from $20 to $50+ for a short chunk of poorly designed thin white wire with connections that every competent designer integrates into the device for FREE.
Apple is a fashion company that treats people like the Harry&Paul “I Saw You Coming” shoppe.
LOL no excuse little timmie cookie, no excuses!
But it’s good to see that our comments are having an effect with silly fake news like this to attempt to decrease the sting of the peanut gallery.
Get Macs out and get’em out now or fly away like a free bird and return to Sweet Home Alabama.
Bye!
Only a moron uses “fake news” as a synonym for “news I don’t like.” What is your evidence that this is silly or fake? Do you think Intel is actually making the chips that Apple was counting on in numbers sufficient for Apple’s needs? (Perhaps they are storing them in the basement at Comet Ping Pong.) Until the chips are ready, all that Apple could ship are devices with an empty socket, or a delayed redesign to use a CPU that is available.
The same thing happened—repeatedly—when the sainted Steve Jobs was running the company: he would announce an upcoming PowerMac that then wasn’t seen for months because Motorola or IBM’s CPU production schedules slipped. You can’t put the newest chip in a Mac until there are enough chips available for the computer to ship in large quantities.
Ha ha you proved my point!
“The same thing happened—repeatedly—when the sainted Steve Jobs was running the company”
Except Apple managed to release plenty of Macs, innovate rapidly and never whined about Intel (Jobs made sure to keep this out of the news). Now little timmie cookie is emptying the barrel looking for pathetic excuses.
Can I buy Apple Stock with ApplePay?
Wife just purchased a 13″ MacBook “Pro” for $1500. Apple keeps pulling important things OUT of the box. She can’t connect her iPhone to the damned thing without an adapter. She can’t put SD cards in it without an adapter, which she has been doing on her old identical laptop for 6 years. She can’t attach a USB stick into it without an adapter – she gets assignments on USB sticks from several of her clients. BUT – the coup de grace? The ( pitifully designed ) power supply brick NO LONGER HAS A CABLE GOING TO THE WALL SOCKET. Effectively shortening the cable by about 6-8 feet. WTF APPLE? So, just plug it into a power strip, right? Um – no – it requires TWO SOCKETS because the ( poorly designed ) brick is bulky. The MagSafe power adapter is gone in lieu of an obviously-fragile USB-C plug – and only TWO of those. Only two? She attaches a monitor to the machine – which can ONLY come out of the LEFT side, now.
She has to re-arrange her desk for “CORD MANAGEMENT” no – jeez, I thought that cord management was only for elderly Windows Laptops?
How is it “sleek” to have a dongle hanging off one side with a bunch of junk attached to that? Seriously? I have been using Apple products since I bought my first Mac 128k in August 1984. I was a consultant responsible for purchasing at least $500,000 worth of Apple products.
Once my current MacBook Pro 15″ dies – I will be running Ubuntu Linux. 90% of my current work is done on three Java programs that work fine on Ubuntu ( PHPStorm, MongoChef, and Navicat ). I browse the web – and there are plenty of alternatives there. The only thing I’ll need )%*&)*%&()*T Apple products for are to play iTunes – and my 7 year-old i7 MacMini will do that fine.
PS( Tim Cook’s virtue signaling ain’t helpin’ neither )
I think the 8 Million Units in 2018 number is so far fetched it is ridiculous. They sold 3.7 Million Macs in the last quarter thats all Macs not just 1 model that would only be available for maybe 1 quarter.