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Prior to the MacBook Neo launch, there were reports that it might cost as low $599, but I didn’t believe it. After all, Apple has not released a laptop that affordable in, well, ever.
But the Neo was actually designed from the ground up to hit this aggressive price point. That’s why it packs a phone chip in the A18 Pro, and it’s also why Apple left some features on the cutting room floor, such as a backlit keyboard and MagSafe charing.
When you think about what you’re getting for the money — including a bright 13-inch display, an aluminum design and 16 hours of rated battery life — It’s not a stretch to say that the Neo is about to put the hurt on its rivals.
Article continues belowAnd this comes at a time that Windows laptop makers are hiking their prices due to the RAM crisis. The Neo could wind up being one of the best laptops of the year because of its sheer value proposition.
“A device like this will certainly have the Windows PC makers concerned,” says Jitesh Ubrani, research manager at IDC. “Apple’s tight integration and scale put it in a much better than other PC OEMs. Most PC brands are working on raising prices due to memory constraints while Apple has been defiant by launching a mainstream-priced notebook.”
What you get for $599 (and what you don't)
To be clear, the MacBook Neo is absolutely not for power users. You’re limited to just 8GB of RAM, and while the A18 Pro chip inside this machine is capable, this is not a laptop that you’re going to want to do a lot of video editing on.
A device like this will certainly have the Windows PC makers concerned. Apple’s tight integration and scale put it in a much better than other PC OEMs.
Jitesh Ubrani, IDC
The Neo is really designed for surfing the web, watching videos, (light) photo editing and playing less demanding games. And that should be enough for millions of shoppers.
“A MacBook that runs macOS and macOS apps at $599 is disruptive, finally hitting the price points that drive the volume segment of Windows PCs," said Avi Greengart, founder and lead analyst at Techsponential.
I’d go a step further. When interviewed on Cheddar about the MacBook Neo after I went hands-on with the device, I said it could be “the laptop of the decade.” And that’s because of how much better this laptop is than anything else in its price range.
Will the MacBook Neo steal share from Lenovo, HP and Dell?
The short answer is “yes,” but it remains to be seen by how much.
But first it’s important to recognize where Apple has an advantage over its rivals.
If you take some of the best Windows laptops out there in the $500 to $600 range, you’ll find chintzy-feeling plastic chassis, dim displays with about 250 nits of brightness, tinny down-firing speakers and crappy webcams.
The MacBook New has a sturdy aluminum body, a vibrant 500-nit display, surprisingly powerful side-mounted speakers and a fairly sharp 1080p webcam.
All of that spells trouble for Apple’s competition. But IDC doesn’t believe the Neo will cause a big swing in market share because Dell, HP and Lenovo have a broader presence with business customers.
“Yes, broadly speaking Apple will gain share due to [the Neo] but that share gain will be marginal,” IDC’s Urbani said. On a global basis, Apple gains ~1% share in 2026 when looking at all notebooks. However, as we slice that further by price bands, by consumer segment, etc. Apple’s gains are expected to be larger.”
How can Apple pull off the Neo during the RAM crisis?
The timing of the MacBook Neo is great for consumers who are feeling the pinch in a still-challenging economy, but it’s not so great for rivals. The ongoing RAM shortage caused by a surge in AI data centers has led to constrained supply and surging costs, causing many PC makers to raise the prices on their laptops.
The memory crisis makes it harder for competitors to respond. The problem is that the MacBook Neo doesn't cheap out on industrial design, materials, or displays.
Avi Greengart, Techsponential
And while it’s limited to just 8GB of RAM, the $599 Neo should make things very difficult for Apple’s competition in the sub-$600 laptop market.
“The memory crisis makes it harder for competitors to respond,” Greengart said. “The problem is that the MacBook Neo doesn't cheap out on industrial design, materials, or displays. And it starts at $600, so Apple isn't leaving rivals room to raise prices.”
He says that Apple’s rivals could very well turn to Qualcomm and MediaTek for repurposed phone silicon for laptops. But as the price of RAM and storage both skyrocket, a PC maker is “stuck between raising prices or compromising on other components.”
Are Chromebooks in trouble?
The MacBook Neo is not as much of a threat to Chromebooks as it is budget Windows laptops. And that’s because Chromebooks are often sold directly to schools, and Google Classroom is embedded in most school systems, with over 60,000 K-12 schools using the platform.
That's a whole lot of kids getting Google accounts from a young age, which is significant for future platform lock-in. It's not to far-fetched to think Apple's seeing this huge generational potential to future-proof its ecosystem with a ton of new users.
However, even after the $100 education discount that brings the MacBook Neo to $499, it’s still more expensive than the Chromebooks schools tend to purchase. The opportunity for the Neo comes after high school.
“Students in post-secondary institutions are more likely to go with the MacBook Neo than Windows devices simply because Windows devices wont’ be able to provide the same value,” Ubrani said.
I’d argue that the Neo will actually win over high school students, at least when it comes to the systems parents decide to buy for their children. That will put a dent in the so-called premium Chromebook market.
Will the Neo cannibalize the MacBook Air?
Given that the MacBook Air M5 now costs $500 more than the Neo at $1,099, it’s natural to wonder if Apple’s budget laptop will eat into the Air’s sales.
But there are some important differences between these two machines. The MacBook Air M5 has more powerful chip, more RAM, double the storage (512GB vs 256GB and longer battery life. It also offers Thunderbolt support, four speakers instead of 2 on the Neo and new Wi-Fi 7 connectivity. Our MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air M5 comparison has all the details.
But that doesn’t mean that shoppers who would have gravitated towards the Air might not snatch up the cheaper Neo instead. “We do expect some cannibalization of the MacBook Air, particularly the older models or refurbished SKUs,” Urbani said.
But Urbani doesn’t see MacBook Air cannibalization being a problem for Apple for a couple of reasons. First, the $100 price increase for the Air and the ability for both the Neo and Air to grow Apple’s services business should offset any loss in revenue. In addition, shoppers who may have been considering a cheaper base model iPad may wind up stepping up to the more expensive Neo.
Outlook
The MacBook Neo represents a huge potential sea change in the computing industry.
Shoppers on a budget finally have an option that combines “good-enough” performance with a premium design and display at a price that is normally reserved for crappy Windows PCs that frankly vendors normally don’t want to send Tom’s Guide for review. These are the types of machines we normally have to purchase ourselves if we want to test them.
I think the Air is going to be a huge wake-up call for the likes of Dell, HP and Lenovo. And as Jason England found out while talking to Qualcomm about the Neo, I wouldn't be surprised to see a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 system in the near future.
But given that about half of people who buy a Mac or new to the platform, I think the Neo is going to win over a ton of would-be switchers.
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