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I don’t really get it, from a consumer perspective, unless the idea is mass education sales. They already sell enough Macs for economy of scale to kick in. Cal

I don’t really get it, from a consumer perspective, unless the idea is mass education sales. They already sell enough Macs for economy of scale to kick in. Calling it an iPhone processor doesn’t explain anything by itself, and wouldn’t save much money. Is the screen cheaper? The keyboard? The SSD? I suppose the point would be to farm and beta test a base of new, cheaper, slower, less reliable components, and then find the path to making them acceptable for retail.

_fzslm 11mo ago
There is a gap in Apple's offerings. Casual computer users like students probably can't justify dropping nearly a K on a MacBook, so they go for these 400-600$ dell/hp laptops, or a Chromebook. This fits that hole. iPhone processor is surely cheaper from an economies of scale perspective, they are likely way easier to produce en masse and they already produce bajillions of them for the iPhone. Over time the price of even a high quality LCD like on the existing MacBook Air will have decreased enormously. Apple is setting up to move to OLED on the rest of the line, so using existing LCD tech is likely to save a lot too
- hyperhello 11mo ago
  Would it be consistent with this plan to continue to make the same M1 Air at the current price, stuffing it with whatever phone processor they happen to have a few extra million of?
  - _fzslm 11mo ago
    Yeah that's one potential route they could take - repurposing the existing M1 air shell and components. But I actually believe they'll do a completely new shell for this device, and one reason being they could probably save even more money and cut even more costs than the current prod cost of M1 airs.
- kristianp 11mo ago
  > so they go for these 400-600$ dell/hp laptops I feel that these inexpensive macs will increase market share, perhaps this will pressure Microsoft to improve the Windows performance and ad bloat.
  - deleted 11mo ago
    [deleted]
- quitit 11mo ago
  I imagine this will be the new "MacBook" which has been absent from the lineup since 2019.
  - bluescrn 11mo ago
    And probably still starting with the same 8GB RAM and 256GB storage...
- Wowfunhappy 11mo ago
  > There is a gap in Apple's offerings. Casual computer users like students probably can't justify dropping nearly a K on a MacBook, so they go for these 400-600$ dell/hp laptops, or a Chromebook. This fits that hole. I could say the same about their cell phone lineup. If I have $400 to spend on a phone, what can I get from Apple? A $400 iPhone would certainly increase market share--but Apple does not seem to want that market. Too low margin, I would think, or maybe too high a risk of "cheapening" their overall brand. Or maybe both. Why is a laptop different?
  - uxp100 11mo ago
    One thing that is different is that carriers regularly subsidize phones. I paid 0 for my current phone, an iPhone 13 mini (when it was relatively new), partner paid nothing for theirs, latest pixel. Now, lower cost carriers do less of this, and you need to get the high end plan, so it’s not good advice for everyone to get the free phone deal. It is one way a laptop is different. A decent chunk of people aren’t directly paying for their phone.
    - jonwinstanley 11mo ago
      When you say you paid 0, presumably your just paid for it via a monthly contract over several years?
      - uxp100 11mo ago
        No. Most carriers have free phone promotions regularly. I paid $0. I think the phone before that was also $0. No impact on my bill (since I was already on the unlimited 5g super speed blah blah blah plan, these promotions serve as a way to get people into the all the bells and whistles $80 plans)
  - Retric 11mo ago
    Without trade in AT&T has iPhone 16 @ 11$/month * 36 months = 396$. iPhone 16e @ 6$/month * 36 months = 216$. https://www.att.com/buy/phones/browse/apple/ https://www.att.com/buy/phones/browse/apple/ Without any contracts an unlocked (renewed) iPhone 15 through Amazon 400 - 500$.
- highwaylights 11mo ago
  The budget offering is a used MacBook from the massive aftermarket stock, but I take your point - it doesn't scale and some people are averse to buying used goods.
nickthegreek 11mo ago
My mom would never drop $1k on a laptop. Gen alpha is doesn't seem to have a mass interest in computers that aren't just Screen. A $1k entry point is basically a nonstarter for many people. Apple would be wise to reuse their older tech to devour the $500 laptop market.
bitwize 11mo ago
Apple used to rule mass education sales by offering steep discounts on the Apple II line, a pricey option for home users, to schools. Their latest effort along that line was the eMac, an early 2000s all-in-one similar to the original iMac but done in inoffensive opaque white, whose spirit still remains with us as many Hackernews inadvertently let their iPhones autocorrect "Emacs" to "eMacs". The eMac was originally for the educational market but after a few months Apple would make it available to everyone. It'd be nice to see Apple target education again, though admittedly mainly for nostalgia's sake and as a hedge against data thieves like Google.
organsnyder 11mo ago
My kid's high school provides each student with a MacBook while they're enrolled. I'm sure they'd be an ideal market for this.
tim333 11mo ago
I might be a buyer for something like that. I carry a laptop all the time so small and light is good, and mostly use it for web stuff and word/excel so nothing too demanding performance wise. I've got an M1 Air now but miss the size and weight of the 11" Air.
deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]

_fzslm 11mo ago

There is a gap in Apple's offerings. Casual computer users like students probably can't justify dropping nearly a K on a MacBook, so they go for these 400-600$ dell/hp laptops, or a Chromebook. This fits that hole. iPhone processor is surely cheaper from an economies of scale perspective, they are likely way easier to produce en masse and they already produce bajillions of them for the iPhone. Over time the price of even a high quality LCD like on the existing MacBook Air will have decreased enormously. Apple is setting up to move to OLED on the rest of the line, so using existing LCD tech is likely to save a lot too

hyperhello 11mo ago
Would it be consistent with this plan to continue to make the same M1 Air at the current price, stuffing it with whatever phone processor they happen to have a few extra million of?
- _fzslm 11mo ago
  Yeah that's one potential route they could take - repurposing the existing M1 air shell and components. But I actually believe they'll do a completely new shell for this device, and one reason being they could probably save even more money and cut even more costs than the current prod cost of M1 airs.
kristianp 11mo ago
> so they go for these 400-600$ dell/hp laptops I feel that these inexpensive macs will increase market share, perhaps this will pressure Microsoft to improve the Windows performance and ad bloat.
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
quitit 11mo ago
I imagine this will be the new "MacBook" which has been absent from the lineup since 2019.
- bluescrn 11mo ago
  And probably still starting with the same 8GB RAM and 256GB storage...
Wowfunhappy 11mo ago
> There is a gap in Apple's offerings. Casual computer users like students probably can't justify dropping nearly a K on a MacBook, so they go for these 400-600$ dell/hp laptops, or a Chromebook. This fits that hole. I could say the same about their cell phone lineup. If I have $400 to spend on a phone, what can I get from Apple? A $400 iPhone would certainly increase market share--but Apple does not seem to want that market. Too low margin, I would think, or maybe too high a risk of "cheapening" their overall brand. Or maybe both. Why is a laptop different?
- uxp100 11mo ago
  One thing that is different is that carriers regularly subsidize phones. I paid 0 for my current phone, an iPhone 13 mini (when it was relatively new), partner paid nothing for theirs, latest pixel. Now, lower cost carriers do less of this, and you need to get the high end plan, so it’s not good advice for everyone to get the free phone deal. It is one way a laptop is different. A decent chunk of people aren’t directly paying for their phone.
  - jonwinstanley 11mo ago
    When you say you paid 0, presumably your just paid for it via a monthly contract over several years?
    - uxp100 11mo ago
      No. Most carriers have free phone promotions regularly. I paid $0. I think the phone before that was also $0. No impact on my bill (since I was already on the unlimited 5g super speed blah blah blah plan, these promotions serve as a way to get people into the all the bells and whistles $80 plans)
- Retric 11mo ago
  Without trade in AT&T has iPhone 16 @ 11$/month * 36 months = 396$. iPhone 16e @ 6$/month * 36 months = 216$. https://www.att.com/buy/phones/browse/apple/ https://www.att.com/buy/phones/browse/apple/ Without any contracts an unlocked (renewed) iPhone 15 through Amazon 400 - 500$.
highwaylights 11mo ago
The budget offering is a used MacBook from the massive aftermarket stock, but I take your point - it doesn't scale and some people are averse to buying used goods.

nickthegreek 11mo ago

My mom would never drop $1k on a laptop. Gen alpha is doesn't seem to have a mass interest in computers that aren't just Screen. A $1k entry point is basically a nonstarter for many people. Apple would be wise to reuse their older tech to devour the $500 laptop market.

bitwize 11mo ago

Apple used to rule mass education sales by offering steep discounts on the Apple II line, a pricey option for home users, to schools. Their latest effort along that line was the eMac, an early 2000s all-in-one similar to the original iMac but done in inoffensive opaque white, whose spirit still remains with us as many Hackernews inadvertently let their iPhones autocorrect "Emacs" to "eMacs". The eMac was originally for the educational market but after a few months Apple would make it available to everyone. It'd be nice to see Apple target education again, though admittedly mainly for nostalgia's sake and as a hedge against data thieves like Google.

organsnyder 11mo ago

My kid's high school provides each student with a MacBook while they're enrolled. I'm sure they'd be an ideal market for this.

tim333 11mo ago

I might be a buyer for something like that. I carry a laptop all the time so small and light is good, and mostly use it for web stuff and word/excel so nothing too demanding performance wise. I've got an M1 Air now but miss the size and weight of the 11" Air.

deleted 11mo ago

[deleted]