Apple Launches MacBook Neo, the Cheapest Mac Yet with an iPhone Chip

Apple has launched the MacBook Neo, the company’s new model and its cheapest Mac to date. The MacBook Neo is the first Apple notebook to use a chip typically found in iPhones, with prices starting at $599. This marks a renewed effort to attract Windows and Chromebook customers and to accelerate growth amid a broad component shortage that has unsettled the market.

According to CNN Business, John Ternus, Apple’s Senior Vice President for Hardware Engineering, described the MacBook Neo as “completely new” and built “from the ground up” during an event in New York on Wednesday, March 4.

The iPhone remains Apple’s best-selling product, followed by its services business and then the wearables division. However, the Mac is crucial to ensuring iPhone and Apple Watch users stay integrated within Apple’s ecosystem. Apple appears to be diverging from its usual strategy by targeting price-sensitive consumers, a segment long dominated by PC manufacturers and Chromebooks. And so the MacBook Neo has arrived.

Expanding the reach to new audiences could be key as the industry faces a persistent memory shortage that some analysts warn could disrupt the affordable laptop market.

Compared with other Apple MacBooks, the Neo features a smaller display, less memory, and is offered in brighter colours, including a new citrus yellow.

The main differentiator, beyond the lower price, is the use of the Apple A18 Pro processor, a chip similar to the one used in the iPhone 16 Pro. This marks the first time Apple has used its mobile chip to power a laptop.

Apple’s ability to run Mac software on a phone chip underscores the advantage of having full control over its hardware and software, said Jitesh Ubrani, IDC’s Research Manager. PC makers, by contrast, typically design and manufacture laptops but rely on Windows or Chrome OS.