Quick overview

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Apple launched the $599 MacBook Neo, its largest entry into the low-end laptop market to date. The device is significantly less expensive than the current $1,099 MacBook Air, costing $400 less than any other new-generation laptop Apple has ever sold.

The MacBook Neo may appeal to both mainstream consumers and students, with color options including citrus, silver, indigo, and blush. The MacBook is among the company’s smallest laptops to date, with a 13-inch screen. In comparison, the MacBook Air has a 13-by-6-inch screen.

Another twist: Apple is utilizing a smartphone processor in a Mac for the first time with the Neo, which runs on an iPhone A18 Pro chip. For decades, Apple has been hesitant to introduce a low-end Mac laptop, so this release marks a significant change. However, the company was able to significantly reduce prices without sacrificing performance thanks to the speed of its iPhone processors. John Ternus made a statement.

The $699 upgraded model doubles the storage capacity and adds Touch ID for payment approval and login. The base model has 256 gigabytes of storage. Additionally, education buyers receive a $100 discount on each model, lowering the starting price to $499.

The device’s battery lasts 16 hours, while the most recent MacBook Air model, which has an M5 chip, lasts 18 hours.

The display weighs 2.7 pounds and has a brightness of up to 500 nits, matching the 13-inch Air. There are no available upgrades for the machine’s 8 gigabytes of RAM, 6-core CPU (main processor), and 5-core GPU (graphics component). The specifications are comparable to those of the 2024 release of the iPhone 16 Pro.