Apple has introduced the MacBook Neo, a new entry-level laptop that sits below the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro in its lineup. Marketed as Apple’s first true budget MacBook in years, the Neo starts at $599/€699/£599/₹69,900 and targets students and everyday users who want a Mac without paying premium prices.
Apple MacBook Neo:
It features a 13-inch Liquid Retina IPS LCD with a 2,408 x 1,506 resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, 3:2 aspect ratio, and 500 nits of peak brightness, along with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera.
The design focuses on portability and sustainability, with a chassis made from 90% recycled aluminium and weighing 1.23 kg. Apple’s Magic Keyboard is included but lacks backlighting, and Touch ID is only available on the 512GB storage model.
The multi-touch trackpad is standard across all versions, though it omits Force Touch haptics. Side-firing speakers with support for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos, plus a dual-microphone array with directional beamforming, aim to deliver solid multimedia and call quality.
Powering the MacBook Neo is Apple’s A18 Pro chipset, first seen in the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, paired with 8GB of unified memory and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. Apple claims the Neo is 50% faster at web browsing and up to three times faster in on-device AI workloads compared to Windows laptops running Intel’s Core Ultra 5.
Connectivity includes two USB-C ports—one with USB 3 speeds and DisplayPort support, the other limited to USB 2—alongside a 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 6. The laptop runs macOS 26 Tahoe with Apple Intelligence features enabled.
Pricing:
A 36.5Wh lithium-ion battery powers the system, with Apple rating it for up to 16 hours of video streaming or 11 hours of web browsing. The MacBook Neo comes in four colors: Silver, Blush (pink), Citrus (yellow), and Indigo (blue). The base 8GB/256GB configuration starts at $599/€699/£599/₹69,900, while the 512GB model costs $699/€799/£699/₹79,900. Education pricing brings the entry model down to $499/€599/£499/₹59,900. Pre-orders are already live, and general availability begins on March 11.
