Apple laptops have long been associated with the idea that they’re premium, and when you see the hardware, design, and reviews, it’s not difficult to see why.
They use premium materials like aluminium, high-end processors, great screens, and offer excellent battery life, putting them up there with truly great laptops, rather than some of the plastic mid-range meh you find around the market place.
Laptops can be found at a variety of price points, sure, but that doesn’t mean that every laptop is as good as another.
But they can certainly be pricy, and with the news of this week’s MacBook Air changes, so too came a bit of an increase on that sticker shock.
In 2026, the MacBook Air now costs a little more, while the latest MacBook Pro costs more, too. It sure ain’t easy to buy into the world of premium Apple laptops.
That looks set to change, though, with Apple finally pulling the covers off its long-rumoured inexpensive MacBook.
Say hello to Apple’s latest, the MacBook Neo, and its welcome addition to the MacBook family.
Designed like a Mac, spec’d like an iPhone
While the name “Neo” is a bit of a surprise, and might make you think of a certain sci-fi franchise filmed in Sydney, Australia, it’s more likely that Apple is working from the Greek of “neo” which simply means “new”.
Indeed, this MacBook is certainly new, and yet aspects are reminiscent of the history of Mac.
Like the original iMac, it has colour, and more specifically, like the follow-up to the original that brought in five colours and beyond Bondi Blue.
This has colours, too, with the MacBook Neo coming in blush pink, indigo, citrus green, and silver, colours that extend to the keyboard. It’s a little like the iBook, which also had a citrus-inspired colour in tangerine.
Back in 1999, the iBook was built as a sort of entry-level opposition to the PowerBook, and the Neo is kind of like that.
While the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro will be the more premium entries, the design is more fun and playful, while the spec is built to be both capable and less expensive.
Instead of the Apple M-silicon used in the Air and Pro models, Apple is instead using one of the capable chips from its phones: the Apple A18 Pro.
That’s the same chip Apple used in the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, the 2024 phones that were excellent, and offer plenty of power. With macOS, they should be perfectly fine for an assortment of apps, including Safari for web browser, Excel and the rest of the Office suite, and even image and video editing used through Apple’s Creator Studio.
It’ll come with an option for 256GB or 512GB storage, the latter of which comes with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, while the former does not. Apple is saving money where it can dependent on the features that are needed.
But neither the screen nor battery are areas where it’s holding out. The MacBook Neo will come with a 13 inch Liquid Retina screen complete with an anti-reflective coating, and a battery life of up to 18 hours.
Granted, there are only 2 USB-C ports, and only one of them is rated for USB 3 and DisplayPort (the one closer to the back), though you also get a 3.5mm headset jack, so you can still plug in headphones.
The one catch could be memory: armed with only 8GB RAM, the MacBook Neo won’t necessarily be as capable as an Air or Pro, but it should provide an entry level option, and that is the point.
Encased in aluminium and offering a MacBook for cheap is new, and it’s a bit of a game-changer for reasons you might not expect.
Why this matters
While a budget Mac is a little strange but definitely welcome, you have to see the sub-$1000 PC market to really understand why the MacBook Neo is a game-changer.
Over a thousand dollars, PC laptops are great. Under it, not so much. Windows doesn’t always excel under that price point when it comes to hardware, and while you can get some totally great purchases for the between $600 and $800, they’re not what you’d call a remotely premium experience. Plastic is common, and the screens aren’t always breathtaking to feast your eyes on.
But there is one category that delivers a pretty great mid-range laptop experience, and that’s from Google’s Chromebooks.
A bit of an evolution of the Chrome web browser, Chromebooks have become more interesting due to how compatible they are with Android.
What was once simply micro-apps and websites on a Chrome browser, Chromebook Plus brings support for AI services and Android apps to a Chromebook, meaning games and apps and entertainment services run on inexpensive laptops in the PC world. There are even premium Chromebooks, and while a little more expensive, they can be pretty spectacular.
That’s great, but it’s also a bit of a threat to Apple. With Chromebooks running Android apps, the laptops become a bit of a gateway for Android owners, especially when parents buy Chromebooks for kids.
A budget MacBook could throw a spanner in the works, providing an inexpensive way to keep kids in the world of the Mac and the iPhone, rather than hand them to Android.
Sure, Apple gear is premium, but the entry level doesn’t have to be as premium. It just has to be premium enough.
Australian pricing and availability
And that is largely what the MacBook Neo looks to be: premium enough.
Sporting a similar design, solid power, great screen, excellent battery life, macOS with compatibility for iPhone and Continuity, a weight of 1.2kg, not to mention a 20 watt power supply (lower than the MacBook Air), Apple might have just found a way to keep students and parents happy by reducing the cost and offering something still quite premium.
Apple even gets to recycle its A18 Pro chips, which were only used on the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, but can serve another purpose with laptops.
That price is also really interesting, with a starting price of $899 in Australia for a 256GB model with no fingerprint sensor, but then also costing $1099 for a 512GB model with Touch ID.
Memory does appear locked to 8GB RAM, which based on our benchmarks over the years is the same amount the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max arrived with. While the MacBook Neo probably isn’t an iPhone 16 Pro inside of a laptop, it may as well be one, sans-mobile modem.
And at these prices, the MacBook Neo sounds like a great deal for families keen on keeping high-quality Macs in their home without the high-end price. It’ll definitely make our back-to-school guides more interesting, that’s for sure.
Frankly, we’d suggest looking at the $1099 option, simply because 512GB will give kids longer life, while the Touch ID will be an easier way to quickly log-in and keep the Mac secure. But the $899 option sounds genuinely compelling for anyone on a budget, as well.
Australians can expect to find the MacBook Neo in stores next week, arriving on March 11.
