Apple’s cheap MacBook only has one job

Next week is going to be a big one for Apple. Along with a new iPhone and iPads, Apple is rumored to launch its most anticipated Mac release since Apple silicon’s debut. According to reports, Apple is going to release a new entry in the MacBook lineup, a budget laptop that can compete with Chromebooks and cheap Windows laptops. A laptop that Apple hopes will grow the Mac installed base. A laptop for customers priced out of the Mac market.

That’s great, especially since it’s something customers have been wanting for a long time. But there’s another reason why I’m excited about this new laptop: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that this laptop will be available in “playful colors,” with yellow, green, blue, and pink among the possibilities.

Yes, that’s what I’m most excited about. A palette of color options means more than a wider array of choices. It signals that Apple is bringing a little fun back to its laptop lineup, an aspect that’s been missing for way too long.

Orange enabler

Until recently, I played it as safe as Apple with my own color choices–black, silver, gray, anything neutral. Then, two years ago, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and buy an orange car. Not only do I not regret it, but I also love it. I can remember being at a stoplight once, surrounded by four black and gray Teslas (which are everywhere in San Francisco). Suddenly, Elle Woods and I had something in common.

Then last fall, I got a Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max–without that car, and how it changed my perspective, I don’t think I would’ve picked it. For a while, I appreciated the back of the phone almost as much as its screen. The color just made me smile.

That’s the aspect of Apple’s laptops that has been missing for a while. They’re marvels of design, and they’re quite dignified, but “fun” doesn’t come to mind. Not like when you look at an iBook. Those were fun.

The six colors spirit

I haven’t forgotten about the iMac and its playful color palette, but it’s a desktop computer. I’m not toting an iMac around with me (that’s not my thing), I’m carrying a Space Black MacBook Pro. And as I sit in my local coffee shop writing this article, I count 13 laptops in use, all of them gray, silver, or black. As iconic as the MacBook Pro is, most laptops have copied its style. There seems to be an opportunity here to stand out, to think different.

The deepest Apple has dipped into the fun side of the pool is with the MacBook Air’s Starlight and Sky Blue options. I tested the Sky Blue MacBook Air, and it looks nice, but it and Starlight are subtle takes at fun, more variations of gold and silver than actual colors. They’re not bold like Cosmic Orange or the iBook’s lime green and tangerine. Many theorize that the logo Apple used to promote its March 4 media event is a hint at the colors of the new laptop. I certainly hope that’s the case.

Apple

Speaking of that logo, it reminds me of the original Apple logo, often referred to as the “six colors” logo. Longtime Apple customers think that logo is indicative of a different era for Apple, a time when the company had a more down-to-earth, unique, and playful aura. Now Apple is one of the most powerful and richest companies in the world–it’s a monolith, and so the logo it uses on its products is reflective of that.

A lot of users long for those good ol’ days, but the truth of the matter is that that kind of thinking is as dated as the six colors logo. Apple can still do fun, it just needs a modern interpretation. We don’t need a carry handle (which was kinda dumb on the iBook, anyway), nor do we need a clamshell design. Playful colors are the way to go.

Superficial choice

You might be thinking, “Colors? Really, Roman? You forced me to read your superficial reasoning to buy this underpowered laptop?” Well, here’s another, more practical reason why I want this laptop. There are times when I need to bring my laptop with me, but I would rather it not be an expensive MacBook Pro. For instance, when I travel, I bring a 15-year-old MacBook Pro (with a built-in disc burner), and I use it during down times to manage all the trip photos and videos I take. If it breaks, gets stolen, or gets lost, it’s not as devastating a loss as if it were the MacBook Pro.

I’ll be happy to replace that old MacBook with Apple’s new budget laptop. It’ll be more powerful than that laptop’s Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge CPU. And saying the budget laptop will be underpowered is a bit much. If Apple uses an A18 Pro or an A19, we’re talking about M1-like performance, which is good for general productivity and internet access, as well as the basic media management I like to do on vacation.

This budget laptop is going to be able to do a lot. Practical and fun? Count me in.