The Most-Hated MacGuide Might Return With out the Similar Compromises

There’s an excellent purpose we haven’t seen something resembling the defunct 12-inch MacGuide in additional than a decade. But many issues have modified since 2015, and the place that ultra-thin and lightweight laptop computer had shortcomings far and wide, Apple could also be getting ready a brand new small-sized MacGuide with efficiency that would beat a MacGuide Air with M1 chip.

Multiple reviews this yr have hinted at Apple crafting a brand new, “cheap” MacGuide that would value lower than the most recent $1,000 MacGuide Air with M4. Recent reviews stated the smaller Mac would use an A18 Pro chip present in final yr’s iPhone 16 Pro. Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reviews that the smartphone chip powering the laptop computer at present in testing was in a position to beat the efficiency of Apple’s personal 5-year-old M1 chip. For what it’s value, any Apple silicon from the previous 5 years goes to run circles across the super-slow Intel Core M-series chips, and even the later dual-core Core i5 and i7 chipsets.

Gurman additionally claims the brand new MacGuide could have an LCD show that’s barely smaller than the latest 13.6-inch MacGuide Air fashions. This could end in a 12.9-inch gadget or much more compact. This means Apple might want to craft a wholly new shell for this new laptop computer, prefer it had for the 12-inch MacGuide.

What we don’t know is whether or not the brand new MacGuide could have MagSafe charging and two USB-C—just like the MacGuide Air—as an alternative of a single port for every thing. It’ll be fascinating to see whether or not the MacGuide will even have a minimal of 12GB of RAM just like the iPhone 17 Pro. Apple beforehand claimed 8GB of RAM was the minimal wanted to run Apple Intelligence, however with every passing yr, it’s turning into extra evident that extra RAM is important, particularly for working AI fashions on-device.

Though Apple nonetheless likes to push gadget compactness with skinny and lightweight designs (hey, iPhone Air), it’s unlikely this low-cost MacGuide can be so skinny that it’d want a redesigned keyboard that sacrifices typing consolation for slimness. We’re fairly positive Apple realized its lesson from the terrible “butterfly” keyboards first launched on the 12-inch MacGuide.

Either method, if this new MacGuide prices wherever south of $800, it could possibly be the preferred MacGuide of Apple’s complete slate coming subsequent yr. Apple reportedly has plans to disclose new MacGuide Pro fashions with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. It might additionally provide prospects the OLED MacGuide Pro we’ve been demanding for thus, so lengthy.

Apple might crush Chromebooks with out even attempting

A smartphone chip beating a full laptop-ready processor is already worthy of notice. We usually don’t run any apples-to-oranges comparisons between laptops and smartphones. At the identical time, the most recent A19 Pro and competing Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gen 5 chips are rising so highly effective that some phonemakers are creating novel methods to maintain them from overheating.

The sorts of Intel chips you will get for low-end Windows gadgets or Chromebooks are sufficient for on a regular basis looking duties, however they’ll battle with something extra technical. The greatest instance of Chromebook processors I’ve personally used was a MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910. That chip is utilized in high-end Chromebooks just like the $700 Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 and the $700 Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514. Last month, MediaTek revealed a scaled-down model of that chip, the Kompanio 540, constructed for barely cheaper Chromebooks.

Any MacGuide with the complete macOS 26 suite would crush Google’s ChromeOS. Google’s restricted working system depends on the Chrome browser and streaming for many functions. Company execs have stated they had been engaged on combining ChromeOS with Android to permit customers to entry all these cellular apps natively. How nicely they’ll work on a laptop-sized display is one other situation completely. A cheapo MacGuide could have an enormous lead in software program alone. So lengthy because it doesn’t have something resembling a butterfly keyboard—controls so unhealthy they might break if you happen to checked out them incorrect—then there’s an excellent purpose to be excited.