7 Things to Know Before You Buy the $599 MacBook Neo
The proliferation of leaks and rumors surrounding Apple products makes it pretty difficult for the company to surprise us within anything new these days. While it still manages to keep a few key points like names and prices under wraps until the eleventh hour, the vast global supply chain involved in ensuring Apple actually has something to sell means we usually know about 98% of what’s coming months before an official announcement.
That’s probably why Steve Jobs famously showed off the original iPhone six months before it went on sale, telling the assembled crowd at Macworld 2007 in January that “we thought it would be better if we introduced this rather than ask the FCC to introduce it for us.”
Apple has since followed that strategy with similar trendsetting new categories like the Apple Watch and the Vision Pro, but more often than not it seems content to let the rumor mill do its thing, confident in the fact that the actual product will still offer enough surprise and delight.
We saw the latest example of that strategy today with the MacBook Neo, Apple’s first-ever truly budget laptop. We all knew it was coming months ago, but it not only looks better in reality than theory, but Apple also managed to undercut the most optimistic price predictions from analysts by bringing it in at $599 — a remarkably achievement in an era when it’s struggling to hold the line on pricing. The $599 street price also means it’s only $499 for educational buyers. That’s a big win no matter how you look at it.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that Apple had to sharpen its pencil to product a MacBook this affordable, and it might be the real reason it deserves to get the first truly new moniker that Apple has given to a mainstream product since the original MacBook Air in 2008. The MacBook Neo is powered by an iPhone chip — the A18 Pro — and also cuts back on the screen, camera, speakers, mics, ports, and more.
It’s one of the most unique MacBooks that Apple has ever made, and while we usually get excited about the company’s higher-end products, this one has broken new ground on the other side — but there are also quite a few things that are easy to miss at first glance. Read on for 7 things you should now before you rush out and buy Apple’s most affordable MacBook.