Affordable New 13″ MacBook to Enter Production This December

New 2018 Macbook Air Concept Credit: Dave Lee
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Quanta Computer, one of Apple’s long-time product assembly partners, will reportedly begin mass production of the company’s “new inexpensive notebooks” in December of this year, with shipments during the busy fourth-quarter expected to top as many as 10 million units.

“Quanta’s shipments are expected to also rise above 10 million units in the fourth quarter thanks to orders for Apple’s new inexpensive notebooks,” DigiTimes analyst Rodney Chan said in a report published on Monday, citing the Taipei-based firm’s independent research into the booming Taiwanese electronics industry.

Historically speaking, DigiTimes has a mixed track record when it comes to reporting the status of upcoming Apple products — but has proven much more accurate when reporting within the scope of Apple’s Taiwanese supply chain, specifically. The iPhone-maker works closely with a number of assembly partners stationed in Taiwan, including Foxconn and Compal.

This morning’s report didn’t add any additional details about Apple’s “inexpensive” 13-inch MacBook offering, but we know of its existence from previous reports, and that it’s expected to arrive sometime by the end of this year. 

The former KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, was first to prophesy of an upcoming “low-cost” MacBook model boasting a 13-inch display and (potentially) costing as little as $799 — even less than the MacBook Air.

Apple launched refreshed 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros for 2018 in an unceremonious press-release last month, however it’s worth noting that neither its 12-inch MacBook or 13-inch MacBook Air models haven’t been upgraded in a while. The MacBook Air, in particular, doesn’t even feature a Retina display yet. 

According to Kuo, Apple was supposed to announce its new low-cost MacBook offering at WWDC 2018 back in June, which obviously didn’t come to pass as anticipated. However considering this new DigiTimes report, if indeed it is accurate, we could possibly see the first round of Apple’s budget MacBook arrive in time for last-minute holiday shoppers this December.

Either way, the company is expected to announce a trove of new hardware products — including three new iPhones, two new iPad Pros, and possibly an Apple Watch Series 4 and more — at a special media event exactly one month from now. It’s unclear if Apple will be ready to announce any new Mac or MacBook offerings at its September 12th event, but in the worst case, we can expect another unceremonious MacBook announcement sometime thereafter. 

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]

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