Upcoming MacBook Air variant tipped to arrive with an unusual Apple chip

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has some interesting new information about a new MacBook model. As predicted over two years ago, Apple is reportedly working on a more affordable MacBook variant, along with a range of new smart glasses. The company's strategy to bring down its costs is fascinating. The cheaper MacBook Air is slated to enter mass production sometime in late 2025 or early 2026.

For the screen, it will supposedly use an 'approximately' 13-inch panel.' Kuo's deliberate use of 'approximately' implies it might not be the same 13.6-inch panel found on the 13-inch MacBook Air. This tacitly implies the return of a 12-inch MacBook Air, a model that has been long discontinued.

Instead of using an Apple M series chip, the affordable MacBook Pro is tipped to arrive with an A18 Pro, effectively making it Apple's first laptop with mobile silicon. While this should help reduce costs, it will also tank performance. That said, Apple might tweak a stock A18 Pro with a higher power budget to eke out more performance. However, memory and storage could be a pain point, although Apple can technically modify the A18 Pro to allow for higher RAM variants.

Exactly why Apple didn't use last-generation M series chips for the purported 12-inch MacBook Pro is easy to speculate. If that were the case, it could undercut older 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air variants. Although Apple doesn't officially sell them, they're still available on other e-commerce platforms, often at discounted prices.

If priced right, the 12-inch MacBook Air can shake up the mid-range laptop market and take on Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus laptops, especially when an overclocked A18 Pro is thrown in the mix. And it marks the return of compact, 12-inch laptops that have all but disappeared from the market.