The MacBook Neo targets first time MacOS owners
As we speculated last week, Apple just announced the MacBook Neo, the most affordable laptop running MacOS, together with other devices. The device is a chimera of sorts, catering to, for the first time, a budget-conscious Mac owner. And I say this as someone who has owned more than four iterations of Mac laptops, since the days of the iBook G3.
It is an Apple chimera because it uses a chipset from the iPhone 16 series, looks more like the iconic MacBook Air from 2012-2013, yet comes with modern day amenities such as USB-C charging and Apple Intgelligence. It’s also priced like an e-series iPhone, namely the iPhone 17e at only USD $599. In the Philippines, the listed price online starts at P39,990. With the Apple Education discount, it goes down to P33,990.
Historically, Apple has priced the MacBook to at least USD $1,000 thereabouts. This is the first time we are seeing a MacBook close to half that price at launch. It is the cheapest MacBook ever made and is sure to incite a cultural wave to introduce more people to Apple silicon.
ARM vs x86
Even the announcement ad was deliberate: the narrator seemingly speaks to a first-time MacOS owner who may have owned an iPhone but could never get on board with an Apple-branded laptop: the synergy between iOS and MacOS, the ability to run an LLM (a direct jab to the Copilot+PC products also running on ARM architecture), the 16 hours of battery life.
It’s funny how if you look at it from the point of view of the ARM vs x86 race, Windows adopted Snapdragon smartphone chipsets to power Windows Copilot+PC devices to compete with Apple’s battery life. Now, Apple went the other way, bringing in their phone-level A-series chips to make these laptops cheaper.
Apples vs oranges
There has been some criticism from the Apple fanbase of how underpowered this device looks, based on specs alone. The narrative is that it may be better to get an M1 or M2 series MacBook Air which is roughly the same price. The other narrative is that the 8GB of RAM is a deal-breaker for many. Although these insights may be valid, you have to remember that it isn’t easy to find an M1 or M2 series in 2026 and you’re essentially comparing a second-hand device to something brand new.
The second narrative of the 8GB RAM question — clearly when you compare the Pro series to the Neo, there is a huge difference, but the comparison is mainly a Windows vs MacOS environment, which, pun intended is like comparing apples to oranges. An 8GB MacBook device is quite similar in task to a 16GB Windows machine.
Lastly though, these comparisons are moot and void when you once again consider the target audience — first time Mac owners or volume purchases for the workforce.
The MacBook Neo is an iPhone 16 with a big screen and keyboard running MacOS. Great for students. Great for first time Mac owners. Perfect for a new influx of Apple Creator Studio subscriptions.
