{"id":136324,"date":"2026-03-04T14:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/appleinsider.com\/articles\/26\/03\/04\/macbook-neo-is-apples-new-entry-level-notebook"},"modified":"2026-03-04T14:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:54:24","slug":"macbook-neo-is-apples-new-599-entry-level-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/03\/04\/macbook-neo-is-apples-new-599-entry-level-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"MacBook Neo is Apple’s new $599 entry-level notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following years of rumors, Apple has finally rolled out the new entry-level MacBook Neo<\/a>. It’s $599. <\/p>\n

The MacBook Pro<\/a> and MacBook Air<\/a> are premium notebooks on the market, with Apple avoiding the more budget-focused end for quite a few years. However, with its latest introduction, it is going to compete with Chromebooks and other low-cost notebook options, but on its own terms. <\/p>\n

The new MacBook Neo is an effort to tempt value-oriented consumers to sign up to Apple’s ecosystem. To do this, Apple had to create a low-cost MacBook, stripping it down to the bare essentials. <\/p>\n

From the outside, it looks like a MacBook Air, complete with a thin aluminum slab-style appearance. At 0.5 inches thick, it’s a tiny bit thicker than a MacBook Air, with its 11.71 by 8.12-inch footprint also a little bit smaller than the 13-inch Air. <\/p>\n

At 2.7 pounds, it weighs the same. <\/p>\n

Scaled back specs<\/h2>\n

The core of that change is the use of the A18 Pro, an A-series chip used in the iPhone 16<\/a> Pro, instead of the usual M-series Apple Silicon<\/a> chips. This isn’t too much of a stretch for Apple to get working, considering the Apple Silicon range is based on the same tech it created for the A-series chips in the first place. <\/p>\n

This technically isn’t the first Mac<\/a> to have an A-series chip, as the 2020 Apple Developer Transition Kit housed an A12Z<\/a> Bionic. However, this is the first to be actually sold directly to the public.\n<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Multiple colors will be available for the MacBook Neo<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

That’s a chip with a 6-core CPU, with two performance cores and four efficiency cores, as well as a 5-core GPU. The 16-core Neural Engine also makes an appearance. <\/p>\n

While not an M-series chip, consumers can expect to see multicore performance comparable to the M1<\/a>, and single-core power about M4 speeds. While not as powerful as the latest M5 chips, it’s still more than enough for everyday tasks and workloads that don’t require massive graphical processing. <\/p>\n

Along with the chip, Apple has also scaled down other core specifications of the MacBook. This includes the unified memory, which now sits at 8 gigabytes versus the 16 gigabytes you’d expect from the cheapest MacBook Air. There are no upgrades available.\n<\/p>\n

Storage is also similarly cut to the bone, with only 256GB or 512GB capacities available \u2014 with the $100 upgrade to 512GB version also coming with Touch ID. The port selection hasn’t suffered too much, with one side having both USB 3 and USB 2-speed USB-C ports, and the other having a 3.5mm headphone jack. <\/p>\n

Notably, the unit does not have Thunderbolt.\n<\/p>\n

\"Side<\/a><\/p>\n

Apple kept a few essential ports on the MacBook Neo<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While it does have a 13-inch display, it’s not the high-grade Retina that consumers are used to. At 2,408 by 1,506, it’s a lesser 219 pixels per inch. This is a bit more DPI than a 4K 32-inch monitor.\n<\/p>\n

That screen has sRGB gamut support, as well as up to 500 nits of brightness. <\/p>\n

External display support is curtailed compared to the other models, with it able to work with a single 4K screen at 60Hz. That display is connected to the USB 3 port, which has native DisplayPort 1.4 support. <\/p>\n

There is a 1080p FaceTime<\/a> HD camera in the top of the screen. This time, without the notch, like the iPad.\n<\/p>\n

Still a serviceable notebook<\/h2>\n

While a lot has been cut from the model to make it affordable, there’s a lot of staple elements from Apple’s designs that are incorporated into this model. <\/p>\n

You still get a full-size Magic Keyboard<\/a> with 12 full-height function keys. However, you can only get Touch ID<\/a> with the upper-tier model. <\/p>\n

For wireless networking, Wi-Fi 6E is included along with Bluetooth 6 support. <\/p>\n

\"Open<\/a><\/p>\n

The Magic Keyboard returns with the MacBook Neo, but you only get Touch ID on the upper-capacity model. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Though the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have four and six-speaker sound systems, this new model instead provides two-speaker stereo. There’s still Spatial Audio support if you have compatible earphones. <\/p>\n

Apple includes a dual-mic array as part of its audio setup, which also has directional beamforming and performs the same processing tricks as an iPhone<\/a> for voice clarity. <\/p>\n

Apple even claims that it has enough battery power to last up to 16 hours for video streaming, or up to 11 hours of wireless web surfing. The battery is a small 36.5-watt-hour lithium-ion cell, recharged by either of the USB-C ports, not MagSafe<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Budget-friendly, soon<\/h2>\n

Apple has made the MacBook Neo available to preorder, with availability from March 11. It will ship in four colors: Silver, Blush, Citrus, and Indigo. <\/p>\n

Pricing starts from $599 for the 256GB model, while the 512GB capacity option with added Touch ID is $699. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following years of rumors, Apple has finally rolled out the new entry-level MacBook Neo. It’s $599. The MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are premium notebooks on the market, with Apple avoiding the more budget-focused end for quite a few years. However, with its latest introduction, it is going to compete with Chromebooks and other low-cost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apple-insider"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}