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 looks quite familiar to fans of Apple laptops but 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 greenish-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 the new laptop would simply be called a “MacBook.” But instead, Apple added a new suffix to its naming conventions: Neo.
Yesterday’s leak also correctly predicted the laptop’s dual USB-C ports and headphone jack. However, the rumor that the MacBook Neo would include a MagSafe charging port 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.
The rear port is USB 3 and supports charging, DisplayPort and 10 Gb/s data transfers; the port closer to the front is USB 2 and only supports charging and 480 Mb/s data transfers.
Image: Apple
To reach the $599 price point, Apple cut some corners. The laptop packs a basic 1080p webcam. The microphones and speakers aren’t quite as nice as the other Apple laptops, either. The Neo comes with 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 at the top of its screen. It’s a 13-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2,408 × 1,506 with a standard 500 nits of brightness. It’s far brighter and sharper than most PCs in its class. The antireflective coating helps keep the display legible in bright and sunny conditions.
On the upgraded $699 model, the keyboard comes with a Touch ID sensor at the top right, providing quick and easy access to authentication features.
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, MacBook Pros with M5 Pro and M5 Max processors, and Studio Display and Studio Display XDR monitors. 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 256GB of storage or $699 for 512GB of storage and integrated Touch ID. On Apple’s 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.
3 responses 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)
When was the Air ever cheaper than now? Or are you outside the US?
“Specs suggest that the Neo is a gateway device to new users”
Specs suggest this is perfect for students. It’s not that complicated.