Apple introduced the MacBook Neo on Wednesday, unveiling the company’s most affordable laptop ever. It comes in four gorgeous, vibrant colors — silver, blush, indigo and citrus — and costs just $599 (or $499 with Apple’s education discount).
“We’re incredibly excited to introduce MacBook Neo, which delivers the magic of the Mac at a breakthrough price,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, in a press release. “MacBook Neo is a laptop only Apple could create. It features a durable aluminum design in four beautiful colors; Apple silicon-powered performance; all-day battery life. There is simply no other laptop like it.”
The MacBook Neo is available for preorder now and will be available on March 11.
A18 Pro-powered MacBook Neo brings power at lowest price ever
Photo: Apple
The Mac transition from Intel processors to Apple’s own M-series chips has been nothing but good news for the lineup. Even the MacBook Air has enough power to punch through pro tasks like video editing, coding, audio mastering and 3D gaming. And with a seemingly never-ending battery life.
The M5 chip is arguably too much power for those who just need the basics: email, web apps and light work in Microsoft Office. There’s room for a lower-end laptop in Apple’s lineup, and the new MacBook Neo fills that gap.
The entry-level model costs the same as a Mac mini or iPhone 17e. It comes with 256GB of storage. The one and only upgrade option bumps the storage to 512GB and adds a Touch ID sensor to the keyboard for an extra $100. That makes sure there’s no overlap between the Neo and the Air — you can’t spec a Neo higher.
A18 Pro inside
Photo: Apple
The MacBook Neo is Apple’s new entry-level laptop, slotted below the M5 MacBook Air in the lineup at a new $599 price point. It’s the cheapest new laptop Apple has ever sold.
But make no mistake, the A18 Pro is no sloucher. According to Apple’s press release, it’s “up to 50 percent faster for everyday tasks than the bestselling PC with the latest shipping Intel Core Ultra 5.” The 16-core Neural Engine charges through on-device AI tasks, from Apple’s own Writing Tools and Image Cleanup to small local models.
And this comes with Apple’s signature all-day battery life, too. The MacBook Neo lasts up to 16 hours on a single charge, Apple says. It’s more than enough to last a full workday.
If there’s any limit to the MacBook Neo, it’s the small amount of RAM. It comes with only 8GB of unified memory, whereas all other Macs now come with 16GB standard. This option cannot be upgraded, either.
A bright palette of fun colors
Photo: Apple
The MacBook Neo has one differentiating design element: its bright, fun colors. The colors on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have, for the last many years, been limited to shades of gray and barely noticeable hues of cool and warm silver.
The MacBook Neo comes in silver, blush, indigo and citrus — in other words, light gray, pink, dark blue and yellow. The keyboards even come in matching colors. It’s the most colorful laptop Apple has made since the iBook G3 in 1999.
The Neo weighs just 2.7 pounds, the exact same weight as the 13-inch MacBook Air. It should be plenty portable. It carries the same flat design as well. The Neo is ever-so-slightly thicker, at 0.50 inches thick compared to the Air’s 0.44-inch thick body.
A new name, old specs
Photo: Apple
Yesterday, Apple itself accidentally leaked the name of the new model: MacBook Neo. Leaks from the marketing department are rare and often last-minute. Apple even has a history of planting false flags in the rumor mill to avoid leaking names, filing misleading trademarks like “Reality One” ahead of the Vision Pro announcement.
Speculation was that it would simply be called “MacBook,” but instead, Apple created a new suffix: Neo.
Yesterday’s leaks also indicated its dual USB-C ports, MagSafe connector and headphone jack. The MagSafe rumor turned out to be incorrect; it only charges via its two USB-C ports. The rumor was also wrong about the laptop supporting Wi-Fi 7 — it only supports Wi-Fi 6E.
Image: Apple
The keyboard has a Touch ID sensor at the top right, providing quick and easy access to authentication features — although this is only on the higher-end configuration with 512 GB of storage for an additional $100. It has a basic 1080p webcam. The microphones and speakers aren’t quite as nice as the other Apple laptops; it has two microphones and two speakers pointing out the side, near the front of the laptop.
The display is slightly rounded on the top left and right corners. But unlike the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, this model does not have a notch in the middle. It’s a 13-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2408 × 1506 with a standard 500 nits of brightness. It’s far brighter and sharper than most PCs in its class. The anti-reflective coating helps keep the display legible in bright and sunny conditions.
Available for preorder now
Image: Apple
You can preorder the MacBook Neo now, alongside the other products Apple introduced this week: the iPhone 17e, M4 iPad Air, M5 MacBook Air, M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro, Studio Display and Studio Display XDR. All of these products will be available for purchase in Apple Stores and will begin deliveries on March 11.
The MacBook Neo costs $599 with 256 GB of storage or $699 for 512 GB of storage and integrated Touch ID. On the Education Store, the same options cost $100 less.
D. Griffin Jones is a writer, podcaster and video producer for Cult of Mac. Griffin has been a passionate computer enthusiast since 2002, when he got his first PC — but since getting a Mac in 2008, he hasn’t turned back. His skills in graphic and web design, along with video and podcast editing, are self-taught over 20+ years. Griffin has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and has written several (unpublished) apps for Mac and iOS. His collection of old computers is made up of 40+ desktops, laptops, PDAs and devices, dating back to the early ’80s. He brings all of these creative and technical skills, along with a deep knowledge of Apple history, into his work for Cult of Mac.
One response to “A18 Pro-powered MacBook Neo brings power at lowest price ever”
Specs suggest that the Neo is a gateway device to new users, but Apple may have made it that way intentionally – frustration with it’s limitations may push those who bought one to trade up to pricier Airs.
It’s not a replacement for, say, the older fully functional M1 Air, but risks being the Apple Chromebook.
(Full disclosure: I remember when the Air was the budget-friendly but capable choice of students, road warriors and cafe habitues. Priced itself out of that market)