Apple unveils MacBook Neo, its cheapest laptop at $599
Apple launched the MacBook Neo, priced at $599, marking its most affordable Mac ever and first direct challenge to budget Chromebooks and Windows laptops.
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Apple announced the MacBook Neo on Wednesday, a lightweight laptop priced at $599—nearly half the previous entry price of $999 for the Mac lineup. The device represents Apple's first dedicated budget Mac in more than a decade and its clearest attempt to compete with Google Chromebooks and entry-level Windows machines that dominate classrooms and first-time buyer markets.
The MacBook Neo features a 13-inch LED display and weighs 2.7 pounds, housed in a lightweight metal body with a colorful finish designed to appeal to consumers seeking a more approachable aesthetic than traditional MacBook models. For the education sector, the laptop carries a reduced price of $499.
The device is powered by the A18 Pro processor, the same chip found in the iPhone 16 Pro. This marks the first time Apple has equipped a MacBook with an iPhone-grade processor. The laptop includes a six-core CPU, five-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. Standard configurations offer 8 GB of memory with storage options of 256 GB or 512 GB.
Battery life reaches up to 16 hours on a single charge. The MacBook Neo includes two USB-C ports and does not ship with a power adapter included in the box.
Reservations for the MacBook Neo began today, with availability set for Wednesday, March 11. The laptop will be offered in multiple colorful finishes, distinguishing it visually from the Air and Pro models in Apple's MacBook family.
John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, stated in a release that "there is simply no other laptop like it."
The MacBook Neo launch concludes a three-day hardware announcement cycle that included refreshes to the iPhone 17e, iPad Air, and the entire MacBook Pro line.