Right—forgot about that rumor. Still feels weird to me, given that the iPhones that use the A19 Pro start at $999, and the bill of materials for the MacBook Air is higher than that of an iPhone 16 Pro. I found estimates suggesting that the A18 Pro would cost $50–$60, whereas an M3 might be $80–$120. So that’s a significant savings, but not something that brings the MacBook cost down hundreds of dollars.
But hey, who knows—maybe Apple wants to do a cheap MacBook that’s the equivalent of the cheap iPad (which is pretty much the only place the company does that).