The standout feature of the new MacBook Neo is its $599 price, but it seems a great many buyers are willing to pay more than that. Apple is already running out of pre-launch stock of the variant that comes with additional storage capacity, even though it adds 17% to the price.
Plus, there’s a standout color option. Only one of the four is popular enough that both the 256GB and 512GB version is already sold out.
Many MacBook Neo buyers choose the pricier model
The MacBook Neo is Apple’s most affordable laptop to date, designed to appeal to students and everyday users. The price is drawing much of the attention: only $599 (or $499 for college students).
That base model comes with 256GB of built-in storage. For $100 more, buyers can upgrade to 512GB of storage and a keyboard with a Touch ID sensor. And it seems this is a very popular option.
When pre-ordered on the U.S. Apple Store, most of the color options of the 512GB configuration come with an extra wait as of Friday morning.
The 512GB/silver colorway can still be pre-ordered for delivery on the March 11 launch day, but the 512GB/indigo one won’t arrive before March 16, while the wait for the 512GB/blush and 512GB/citrus colorways stretches out to March 23.
Admittedly, judging demand from which variants of a new product sell out first is a dicey business. There’s no way to tell how much of each Apple had ready to meet pre-launch demand. Still, it’s the best indicator we have.
MacBook Neo launches with a runaway favorite color
Beyond the price, the look of the MacBook Neo is catching people’s eyes. That’s partially because it debuted this week in four bright color options. But there’s a standout — only one color of the entry-level macOS notebook is already completely sold out.
The Neo comes in blush, indigo, silver and citrus. It’s clear Apple’s preferred color is citrus (AKA yellow) because that’s the one that appears in most of the promo images.
But it’s not the color more buyers go for. So many people chose the blush option for the base model MacBook Neo that as of Friday morning it can no longer be ordered from the U.S. Apple Store for delivery on the computer’s launch day, March 11. Apple now tells customers that the 256GB/blush configuration will be delivered between March 16 and March 23.
This isn’t true for the indigo, silver and citrus colorways. Order a 256GB variant of in any of these and it’ll arrive on March 11.
The MacBook Neo is Apple’s entry-level laptop. It has Apple’s signature all-day battery life and ease of use. It can swim through web browsing, document editing and other basic work tasks.
But if you want higher specs than its 8 GB memory or the maximum 512 GB storage, the MacBook Air may be a better choice.
- 16-hour battery life
- Bright, fun colors
- Thin and light design
- No MagSafe
- USB 3 and USB 2 ports
- No support for high-resolution displays
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
