Apple MacBook Neo – $899 – Changes the laptop game

Apple has saved its best until last this week, after announcing a new iPhone 17e, updated iPad Air, and new MacBooks yesterday, today – One More Thing.  The all-new MacBook Neo.

This may be an overstatement, but the MacBook Neo is a legitimate game changer.  Many might say it’s a compromise in a colourful shell, but in fact, it’s the hard-core everyday basics from Apple.

Cheaper than any other MacBook ever, cheaper than every iPad except the base model, and cheaper than any new iPhone?  This is a 13-inch laptop powered by the world of mobile, designed not to be hidden.

Available in “Blush” (Pink), “Citrus” (Yellow), “Indigo” (Dark Blue?), and Silver, this MacBook stands out from all the others.

“We’re incredibly excited to introduce MacBook Neo, which delivers the magic of the Mac at a breakthrough price,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. 

“Built from the ground up to be more affordable for even more people, MacBook Neo is a laptop only Apple could create. It features a durable aluminium design in four beautiful colours; a brilliant Liquid Retina display; Apple silicon-powered performance; all-day battery life; a high-quality camera, mics, and speakers; a Magic Keyboard and Multi-Touch trackpad; and the intuitive and powerful features of macOS. There is simply no other laptop like it.”

The MacBook Neo is powered by the Apple A18 Pro Chip, which was introduced in late 2024. It’s the same chip that powers the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, and thus, it is Apple Intelligence capable.

A 13-inch screen presents itself to you, without a notch. Instead, the camera again sits in the bezel (like the old days), but I doubt many buyers will notice or care.

There are two storage options: 256GB or 512GB. Strangely, only the 512GB offers TouchID. Go figure! That upgrade in storage and access will set you back an extra 0.

That is the only choice option on the device other than colour.  Otherwise, every MacBook Neo has a 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, and 8GB of unified memory.

Side by side with the MacBook Air, other than colours, you’d barely notice. The dimensions are remarkably similar, with the weight coming in at the same 1.23kg.

The

1080P webcam instead of the newer “centre stage” model won’t put anyone off, nor will the dual speaker system as opposed to the Air’s four speakers.

The nitty-gritty shows WiFi 6E, not WiFi 7, and the two USB-C ports are not Thunderbolt; in fact, one is USB-2 and one is USB-3.

Battery life might be the biggest consideration – with Apple stating 11 hours of wireless web surfing, down from 15 on the MacBook Air – we’ll see how that fares in the real world.

Honestly, it will be interesting to see what the MacBook Neo’s limits are, because aside from overall grunt, which might put off those Adobe Suite users – this looks like not just the perfect school laptop, but an outstanding laptop offering from a company once seen as elite and overpriced in the laptop space.  Oh, how times have changed.

The

MacBook Neo can be pre-ordered now and goes on sale on March 11 for 9, or 99 with 512GB storage and TouchID.