• Apple could launch a cheaper MacBook next year if sales of its notebooks do not improve.
• If Apple is not able to sway new buyers with its upcoming M3 chips, the company may sell MacBooks made with cheaper materials and target the education sector.
• Apple is expected to launch new MacBooks featuring the M3 chips at its Scary Fast event at the end of October.

On the cusp of introducing what many speculate to be brand-new MacBooks with the latest in-house processors, the M3 chips, Apple could soon consider launching a more affordable version of its flagship notebooks.

This is according to Apple insider Ming-Chi Kuo whose reports on the inner workers of Apple have struck true in the past, including that the iPhone 15 would not feature a physical home button which turned out to be right on the money.

According to Kuo, Apple is growing concerned about the decline in shipments of MacBook PCs it experienced in 2023, which it apparently attributes to the fact that the M2 chip doesn’t provide enough of a power upgrade to offset the price of the machines.

“I believe this is why Apple may prefer to launch the M3 series MacBook Pro even when its production volume is still low rather than continue to ship the M2 series MacBook Pro. Theoretically, the M3 should offer a more significant boost in computing power,” said Kuo in a post on X.

Amid poor economic conditions like high inflation experienced worldwide, consumers have grown more hesitant to spend on premium tech items, like smartphones, PCs and tablets. In August, Apple’s quarterly financials mirrored this hesitance with declining sales experienced on iPhone devices, MacBooks and iPads, while its subscription services saw uptake.

According to Kuo, if the M3 MacBooks are not able to boost sales, Apple could consider introducing a more affordable MacBook model to boost shipments, with a target of eight to 10 million units per year.

An Android Authority report gives more insight into what Apple could launch when it comes to “more affordable MacBooks.” This cheaper MacBook will be in a different lineup than the usual MacBook Air or MacBook Pro series. It would be a notebook that targets the education sector like Chromebooks and to achieve a lower price per unit, Apple could use different materials to its previous notebook lines.

If sales continue to be low, Apple could launch the cheaper MacBook in the second half of 2024.

New MacBooks and iMacs are expected to be launched at Apple’s Scary Fast live stream event at the end of October, as well as the introduction of the anticipated M3 chip. The name of the event could be an allusion to how Apple will market the new chips, as a significant boost to performance power.

Apple can manage this power with its in-house silicon, if the new iPhone 15 Pro is anything to go by, but it doesn’t come cheap and this could be the issue that the Cupertino firm is facing.

Cheaper MacBooks would be welcome in the South African market, which has long embraced affordable devices usually from Chinese firms like vivo, Xiaomi, Oppo and more, but the Indian market would also leap to embrace cheaper Apple notebooks. How much less these supposed MacBooks will cost, is a question of time.

[Image – Photo by Dmitry Chernyshov on Unsplash]