There was some fuzz on the possibility of a new MacBook, powered by an A18 Pro – the chip inside the current iPhone 16 Pro. And I’m hyped!
When I first saw that rumor, I posted it to one of the group chats I’m in with the caption „Yes please, in yellow.“

Since then my initial enthusiasm has faded, but just a bit. Do I like the likelihood of a Mac without Thunderbolt? No. Do I like the likelihood of a Mac that I cannot connect to my Studio Display? No. But on the other hand, would I love to pair this MacBook with a Mac mini and call it a day? Absolutely.

Since I first read that rumor, I had one thought on the back of my mind: What, if that mysterious computer doesn’t run macOS, but iPadOS instead? I probably wouldn’t bet on it. But I wouldn’t rule it out either. The chip would be plenty powerful. The price point could be interesting for Apple. And: iPadOS 26 with all its changes to window management and cursors would be a perfect fit for a laptop. I know, MacRumors and others claim to have found evidence for identifiers revolving around some Mac-hardware. But…just because the testing devices run macOS, doesn’t mean the shipping product has to, too.

Like I said, I probably wouldn’t bet on it. But, if they ship a laptop running iPadOS I’m claiming „you heard it here first“. Except: You didn’t. Timo already told you so in Bits und so #958. But I swear, I had the same idea 😉