Fans of the late 90s/early 2000s tech trends of bright, vibrant colours will be pleased to hear that Apple’s next cheap MacBook might arrive in a smorgasbord of eye-catching colours – boring grey be damned – though whether or not it’ll make our list of the best budget laptops remains to be seen. Its existence is yet to be confirmed, after all.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter (via Engadget), Apple has been testing a range of new colours for an upcoming low-cost MacBook, including light yellow, light green, blue, and pink. Classic silver and dark grey have also been trialled, though who knows which shades will make the final cut.
If even a couple of those brighter options ship, it would certainly be a noticeable shift for Apple’s entry-level laptops, which have mostly played it safe on colour. While Apple has been bolder elsewhere – the iMac refresh arrived in multiple finishes – MacBooks have stayed comparatively muted.
This new laptop, reportedly code-named J700, is expected to come in at a rather palatable price (reportedly well under $1000!), and is said to be aimed at students and enterprise users.
To reach that lower price point, Gurman reports Apple will use an iPhone-class chip rather than an M-series processor. The laptop is also expected to feature a slightly smaller display – just under 13 inches – along with a smattering of other compromises compared with the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
Build quality, however, apparently won’t be one of them. Despite the reduced price, the MacBook is tipped to retain an aluminium chassis rather than switching to plastic. Gurman states that Apple has developed a new manufacturing process that allows the aluminium shells to be produced more quickly and cost-effectively, helping keep the build premium without blowing the budget.
If testing is already underway, we may not have to wait long to see which colours make the cut. Gurman expects that the device could launch as early as March, with Apple reportedly preparing for an event that month.
As ever with Apple rumours, nothing’s final until it’s official. But if cheaper pink and yellow MacBooks really are on the table, the hardest decision might not be whether to buy one – it’ll be which colour to pick.
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