Apple to enter low-cost laptop market with budget Mac, Bloomberg News reports

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(Reuters) -Apple is preparing to launch a budget Mac in the first half of next year, entering the low-cost laptop market for the first time, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. 

The device, aimed to lure customers away from Google’s Chromebooks and entry-level Windows PCs, is made for students, businesses and casual users who primarily browse the web, work on documents or conduct light media editing, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Apple is also targeting would-be iPad buyers who might prefer a traditional laptop instead.

The iPhone maker aims to sell the laptop, code-named J700, well under $1,000 by using less-advanced components, the report said. It is currently in active testing at Apple and in early production with overseas suppliers.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The cheapest Mac currently available is the M4 MacBook Air, priced at $999, dropping to $899 with a student discount.

The laptop will have an iPhone processor and a lower-end LCD display, with the screen coming in slightly below 13.6 inches, the smallest of any current Mac, per the report.

It would be the first time that Apple has used an iPhone processor in a Mac, rather than a chip designed specifically for a computer, the report said. Internal tests have shown that the smartphone chip can perform better than the Mac-optimized M1 used in laptops as recently as a few years ago.

Apple reported Mac sales of $8.73 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with estimates of $8.59 billion. It forecast holiday-quarter iPhone sales and overall revenue that surpassed Wall Street expectations last month.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)