Apple on Wednesday unveiled the MacBook Neo, a lower-priced addition to its laptop lineup starting at $599, as it looks to broaden its reach in a price-sensitive PC market while rivals face tighter supply of memory chips.
A lower-priced laptop marks one of Apple’s most aggressive entry points into the PC market in years. The new MacBook will be powered by the A18 Pro chip, the same processor that debuted in the company’s iPhone 16 Pro models in 2024, according to Reuters.
At $599, it is Apple’s most affordable laptop ever, CNBC reported. It is far cheaper in both nominal and inflation-adjusted terms than Apple’s previous non-Pro, non-Air MacBook, which debuted in May 2006 at $1,099 – roughly $1,750 in today’s dollars.
Customers can pre-order the device starting Wednesday, with deliveries and in-store availability beginning March 11, Apple said.
“The real question is not whether Apple can sell a MacBook at this price (because it will be one of the most sold Macs ever if they can deliver), but how it balances cost, performance and brand positioning while maintaining the premium experience that defines the Mac,” said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of client devices at IDC.
The new MacBook is not Apple’s first foray into the price point. The company made a special $699 MacBook Air for Walmart using its M1 chip, which originally debuted in 2020, after retiring other models with that chip.
Source: VN Express