Apple Launches Budget MacBook Neo, Opens Pre-Orders
Apple has opened pre-orders for a slate of new devices, headlined by the MacBook Neo, its most affordable laptop to date. The launch also includes new M5-powered MacBook Pros and the iPhone 17e, a strategic push to capture both entry-level and premium buyers in a challenging tech market, with devices shipping March 11.
The MacBook Neo's $599 price point, with an educational discount to $499, marks Apple's most aggressive move into the budget laptop market. This is a significant departure for a company that has rarely offered a new laptop for under $999 in its own stores. The pricing strategy directly targets the Chromebook-dominated education sector and aims to attract a new wave of users to the Apple ecosystem. To achieve this price, the MacBook Neo utilizes the A18 Pro chip, the same processor found in the 2024 iPhone 16 Pro, rather than the M-series chips used in other Macs. The base model comes with 8GB of unified memory and a 256GB SSD, though it notably omits Touch ID, which is included in the $699 512GB model. This launch is part of a broader refresh of Apple's laptop lineup. The new high-end MacBook Pros are powered by the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, which are manufactured using a third-generation 3-nanometer process. The base M5 chip was first introduced in October 2025 in the 14-inch MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. The new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips feature a new 18-core CPU architecture. Apple claims the M5 delivers up to 15% faster multi-threaded CPU performance and up to 30% faster overall GPU performance compared to the M4 chip. The professional-grade laptops also gain support for Thunderbolt 5 and see their base storage doubled.
