The $599 MacBook Neo Is Selling Like Hotcakes
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It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Apple’s new $599 MacBook Neo has been flying off the shelves since it went on sale last week — and it shows no sign of slowing down.
While many analysts have long believed there was pent-up demand for a lower-cost MacBook, the actual sales numbers have not only validated that belief, but also proven that Apple has managed to create a near-perfect mix of power and affordability.
Earlier today, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple just had “best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers,” hinting that the new laptop has done a better job at enticing new buyers and “switchers” into the fold than any other Apple product in history.
While Cook doesn’t mention the MacBook Neo by name, the shipping times in Apple’s online store make it clear it’s the model that’s driving most of the sales. Apple also launched a new M5 MacBook Air that might appeal to first-time Mac buyers, but the new M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models are less likely to fit into that category. They’re also all simply refreshes over their prior models.
However, while you can get an M5 MacBook Air delivered within the next week, it’s virtually impossible to get your hands on a MacBook Neo before April 6 in most countries — although you might do better by walking into an Apple Store or searching them out at other retailers.
That includes Walmart, which has embraced the MacBook Neo after a multi-year experiment where Apple allowed it to sell the original M1 MacBook Air for $699 as a way of testing the waters. Now, it gets to sell an even more powerful — and current — MacBook for only $599, and its presence on store shelves is undoubtedly helping to drive even more sales, positioning the MacBook Neo as a Mac for the masses.
The MacBook Neo has stood out by being purpose-built to reach its $599 price point, with Apple making strategic cuts to deliver the performance and power most typical users need on a budget. The A18 Pro “iPhone” chip inside may not sound like much, but it’s important to remember this is the second-generation of the silicon that introduced AAA console gaming to the iPhone with PS5-level performance so there’s power here to spare, and multiple reviews have already proven that the $599 laptop can handle 4K video editing and four or five dozen browser tabs without breaking a sweat.
The real “compromises” (if you can call them that in a laptop at this price) are in areas that shouldn’t matter to folks who are only doing casual editing, writing, and browsing — which, let’s face it, is probably 80 percent of laptop-buying consumers. Features like True Tone, a P3 wide color gamut, and Thunderbolt ports, which have long been standard on other MacBooks, are really only needed by those doing pro-level photo or video editing, where color accuracy and external transfer speeds really matter. That makes the still-vibrant sRGB display and pair of USB-C ports a totally reasonable way to keep costs down.
The only other catch is that you’ll be spending $100 more if you want a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, although you also get 512 GB of SSD storage for that $699 price tag. Meanwhile, educational savings drop $100 off each model, making the 256 GB entry-level MacBook Neo only $499 — a great bargain for students compared to anything else on the market.
