Apple introduces colorful MacBook Neo at $599

The rumors are true: Apple has announced a new, low-price MacBook based on an A-series processor. It’s the MacBook Neo and it starts at $599, the lowest price ever for a new Mac laptop.

This product is the result of Apple’s manufacturing ability and the rise of Apple silicon. With Intel processors, the MacBook Air has basically occupied the bottom limit of what Apple would consider acceptable performance for a Mac. But even the original M1 MacBook Air still offers solid performance, and the A series chips primarily used in iPhones have kept getting better alongside them. The MacBook Neo is the outcome: Apple can now sell a capable laptop below the MacBook Air, powered by the same A18 Pro processor found in the iPhone 16 Pro.

For $599—keep in mind, the cheapest standard price for any new Mac was $499 for a Mac mini—you get a complete 13-inch laptop that shares a family resemblance (right down to the rounded corners) with the rest of the MacBook product line. (The education price is $499!) The base model doesn’t offer Touch ID and only has 256GB of storage, but there’s also a $699 model with 512GB storage and Touch ID.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the colors: Apple has dropped its longstanding moratorium on bright colors on Mac laptops. The Neo comes in silver, yes, but also blush, indigo, and citrus. I’ve seen them all in person, so let me translate: Blush is pink enough that even I, a person who has a hard time seeing pinks, can tell that it’s pink. Indigo is sort of like the MacBook Air’s Midnight color lightened up a few notches. And citrus is a bright yellow-gold that nobody is going to mistake for some other Apple laptop.

No $599 Mac laptop is going to exist without compromises, but they’re surprisingly minimal, in my opinion. (And I’ll point out that if they’re too much for a potential buyer, the MacBook Air is right there.) There’s no MagSafe charging or Thunderbolt, but there are two USB-C ports and a headphone jack. That USB-C port is capable of driving 4K external video at 60 frames per second. Both models offer only 8GB of RAM, which is enough to run Apple Intelligence but is shy of the MacBook Air’s 16GB base.

If you’re wondering if an iPhone processor can really drive a Mac, let me reprint this chart that I posted last year:

In short, that A18 CPU core is fast. That will carry the day for the MacBook Neo, and I’d call multi-core and GPU performance “good enough,” certainly for a $599 laptop. (Of course, we’ll see how the MacBook Neo actually performs once we get our hands on one for extended testing and review.)

John Ternus introduces the MacBook Neo.

In introducing the MacBook Neo at an Apple event in New York City, Apple VP of Hardware John Ternus emphasized that nearly half of all Macs Apple sells are to people new to the Mac. If you look at the MacBook Neo product page you’ll see that Apple is well aware that a $599 laptop allows it to address a market that may have never really considered buying a Mac before. In addition to establishing that it’s a bona fide, full-features Mac, there’s a prominent “Switch from PC to Mac” element.

It’s also clear that Apple’s attempts to use the iPad as a way into that part of the market, most notably education, have been limited. The MacBook Neo gives Apple a traditional computer (complete with display, keyboard, and pointing device) to sell into that market. That $499 education price is really aggressive. Apple’s never going to win on price alone in any market—it’s not the game they play—but this puts them in the mix more than an iPad-keyboard combo or an education-priced MacBook Air.

The last few years, Apple has been selling an M1 MacBook Air at Walmart for very low prices. It was a curious choice and Apple hasn’t really talked much about it, but it sure seemed like the company was testing the viability of selling laptops into a never-before-seen price point. Was that all a test of viability for the MacBook Neo? Either way, this new laptop may very well bring the Mac to an entirely new set of users who would have never considered buying a Mac before. That’s very exciting.