Apple’s budget MacBook Neo confirmed: What to expect

MacBook Neo Buying Information: Release date

• Pre-order from March 4: The MacBook Neo is available to pre-order from March 4.
• Shipping from March 11: Begins the following week with in-store availability at Apple Stores and resellers from March 11.

You will be able to pre-order the new MacBook Neo on March 4 from the Apple Store and via the Apple Store app.

Apple states that all models will begin arriving to customers, and will be in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers, starting Wednesday, March 11.

MacBook Neo Buying Information: Price

• Starting price: $599 / £599

The new MacBook Neo starts at the low price of $599 / £599, even lower than we had anticipated.

Prior to the launch of the MacBook Neo the cheapest laptop Apple sold was the $999 MacBook Air, but with the launch of the M5 MacBook Air Apple raised the price of the MacBook Air to $1,099/£1,099. As a result there is a $500/£500 gap between the price of the two Macs. You could essentially buy two MacBook Neo for the price of a MacBook Air.

Apple clearly recognises that there is a market for a low-cost MAcBook. Until recently, Walmart has been selling the M1 MacBook Air with a 256GB SSD for $649 and sometimes $599. The new MacBook could be thought of as a replacement for this Walmart model.

The low price of $599, should help Apple to compete with Chromebooks and Windows laptops.

Once the new MacBook Neo models are on sale they will be available to purchase from Apple and third-party stockists.

MacBook Neo Buying Information: Configuration options

• Processor: Apple A18 Pro chip
• Memory: 8GB unified memory (base)
• Storage: 256GB SSD or 512GB SSD
• Colors: Silver, indigo, blush, citrus
• Other: Keyboard options.

The configuration options for the MacBook Neo are very basic. There are no options to increase RAM beyond the basic 8GB unified memory.

U.K based and European shippers will need to add a Power Adapter if they need one as Apple no longer includes that in the box.

MacBook Neo Design: What does the MacBook Neo look like?

Apple

• Colorful aluminum chassis in Silver, Blush, Citrus, Indigo

Back in June 2023 analyst Ming-Chi Kuo accurately predicted the following colors: silver, blue, pink, and yellow. That is close to the Silver, Blush, Citrus, Indigo on offer.

The colorful chassis is aimed at students and casual users.

The MacBook Neo has a thin notebook design similar to other MacBooks and it lightweight. The dimensions are:

• Height 1.27 cm (0.50 inches)
• Width 29.75 cm (11.71 inches)
• Depth 20.64 cm (8.12 inches)
• Weight 1.23 kg (2.7 pounds)

This means it is a similar size and the same weight as the MacBook Air.

MacBook Neo Display: How good is the display?

• 13-inch Liquid Retina display
• 2408×1506 pixels
• 500 nits brightness
• sRGB

Like the MAcBook Air the MacBook Neo features a Liquid Retina (LED-backlit display with IPS technology) display.

Brightness is 500 nits, just like the MacBook Air, but significantly lower than the MacBook Pro model, which offers 1,600 peak brightness.

Unlike the MacBook Air the MacBook Neo display is sRGB rather than Wide colour (P3) and it also lacks True Tone technology, which adjusts color temperature based on ambient light.

This means the MacBook No can’t compete which the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro screens, which offers more vibrant, richer colours that are better for creative work (photo/video editing, design).

We are currently editing this article..

Read on for the rumors from before the launch.

New A18 Pro MacBook: Processor

• iPhone chip: A18 Pro or A19 Pro

Another way to meet the pricing goals for this new MacBook is to use a chip that isn’t as robust as the chips used in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. When Kuo first discussed the budget MacBook in his June 2025 report, he stated that Apple will use an A18 Pro, the same chip that was in the iPhone 16 Pro.

Now that the A19 arrived with the iPhone 17 it is possible that Apple will use this chip. Read more about what the iPhone 17 can tell us about the MacBook that could use the same chip in: Is Apple’s rumored cheap MacBook hiding in plain sight?

The A-series chips are used in iPhones, while M-series chips are in Macs. Both chip families are based on the same general architecture, but the M chips generally offer more processing power.

An A19 Pro and A18 Pro can technically do everything an M-series chip can, but it will be slower. When comparing Geekbench 6 benchmarks, the A18 Pro offered single-core performance that’s on par with the M3. However, because the A18 Pro has only 6 CPU cores, its multi-core performance is slightly behind the M1, which has 8 CPU cores. If Apple keeps everything the same, an A18 Pro MacBook will perform like an M1 MacBook Air, which, for a lot of people, has more than enough processing power. Should Apple use an A19 Pro we can expect something even better.

It will draw comparison with the iPad models that are powered by Mac chips, though.

MacRumors reported, in December 2025, that references to an A18 Pro MacBook appeared in a set of leaked Apple files.

New A18 Pro MacBook: Connectivity

Apple is using its own wireless networking chip, the N1 in the iPhone 17, bringing Bluetooth 6, Wi-Fi 7, and Thread. It’s possible that the same chips will make their way into the A18 Pro MacBook.

However the low-cost model may just use a Wi-Fi chip like the one in the A16 iPad (Wi-Fi 6).

There’s also a chance this new Mac will have cellular connectivity using Apple’s C1, C1X or yet to launch C2 modem. The C2 is likely to support mmWave.

Aside from this, it’s rumored that the budget MacBook will have fewer USB ports than the MacBook Air (which has two USB-C and a magsafe charging port). This low-cost MacBook may not support Thunderbolt.

One thing the MacBook isn’t expected to support is high-impedance headphones because it appears to use the same cheaper audio DAC found in the older M1 MacBook Air.

New A18 Pro MacBook: Battery & charging

The new MacBook might not support faster charging that newer Macs have. In 2025 files seen by Macworld (an internal macOS kernel) indicated that the new MacBook would lack drivers for “high-voltage chargers” – meaning it could take longer to recharge.

New A18 Pro MacBook: Camera

• No camera?

It’s also possible that Apple opts not to include a built-in camera. Over the past several years, Apple has promoted the Mac’s Continuity Camera feature that lets you use an iPhone as a Mac webcam, as well as the upcoming macOS Tahoe Magnifier app. Apple could promote this as a webcam solution. This would be a drastic change, since it’s been a long time since Apple shipped a laptop without a camera, but it could be a possibility in order to meet the company’s price goal.