Want a MacBook Neo? Better order it soon. It’s possible Apple will sell out of the affordable notebook … and not just for a few weeks. It’s not impossible the laptop will go completely off the market until Apple can solve a shortage of a critical component … and it’s not RAM! Or Apple could be forced to raise the price.
And it’s all because the Neo is so wildly popular. Here’s what’s going on.
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MacBook Neo is suffering from its own success
Apple’s newly released MacBook Neo marks the company’s most aggressive push into the budget laptop market, offering a 13-inch Liquid Retina display, durable aluminum design and all-day battery life at a starting price of $599 — the lowest ever for a Mac.
Powered by an A18 Pro chip, the device is designed to handle everyday tasks like web browsing, video calls and document work while maintaining the core macOS experience. Given the price and features, it is aimed squarely at students and first-time Mac users.
It’s wildly successful. After being on the market for a month, Apple still can’t keep up with demand. Those ordering a MacBook Neo today face wait times of several weeks.
And the problem could get worse, not better, according to an analyst.
A permanent shortage of Apple A18 chips
While Apple execs must be thrilled at the success of the Neo, it also faces a problem: there’s a limited supply of the A18 Pro processor that powers the notebook.
Apple’s chip-maker TSMC produced the A18 to go into the iPhone 16. It was a clever example of recycling — the MacBook runs processors in which one of the six GPU cores failed and so couldn’t go into the iPhone 16 Pro. It’s a practice called “binning.”
But TSMC has since stopped making this processor, switching to the A19 for the iPhone 17. Which means that when the supply of A18 units runs out, there won’t be any more.
“MacBook Neo was designed around usable but leftover chips which would otherwise have been scrapped,” noted analyst Tim Culpan on his Culpium blog. “But with MacBook Neo being insanely popular, the stock of those binned chips will run out before demand gets satisfied.”
What can Apple do?
The analyst says Apple’s plan was to make around 5 million to 6 million Neo units. When the company runs out of processors, it’s not clear what the next step is.
Of course, Apple could pay TSMC to make more A18 Pro, but one of the secrets behind the low price of the MacBook Neo is that the processor was cheap — almost free. A special product run would cost significantly more.
“MacBook Neo’s A18 Pro was — past tense — built on TSMC’s 3nm process (N3E). That node is now hugely popular and effectively sold out. Apple could, in theory, beg TSMC CEO CC Wei for a few hot lots — paying a premium to jump the queue — but that would almost certainly kill profits on the low-cost laptop,” noted Culpan.
As the analyst points out, Apple could theoretically make a special version of the Neo with additional features and a higher price, absorbing the additional cost of the processor. But at $799 or more, the product would be less appealing to buyers.
Or the company could start putting the A19 Pro chip in the MacBook Neo. But its plan was to use that processor in a next-generation version of the notebook for release in 2027.
But Apple needs a solution. The MacBook Neo is bringing in loads of former Windows users, and growing the Mac’s install base. These are customers who are likely to someday jump up to a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. Apple simply cannot tell them, “Sorry, we’re sold out of the Neo until next year.”
The MacBook Neo is Apple’s entry-level laptop. It boasts Apple’s signature all-day battery life and ease of use. It can swim through web browsing, document editing and other basic tasks. But if you want higher specs than its 8GB memory or the maximum 512GB storage, the MacBook Air is a better choice.
- 16-hour battery life
- Bright, fun colors
- Thin and light design
- No MagSafe charging
- 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.
