Apple launches $599 MacBook Neo with A18 Pro chip, targeting students and first-time buyers

Apple unveiled the MacBook Neo on Wednesday, a new $599 laptop aimed at expanding the company’s reach in the entry-level segment of the PC market.

The device is now Apple’s most affordable portable computer in years and signals a renewed push to attract students and first-time Mac buyers.

Pre-orders opened Wednesday, with deliveries and in-store availability scheduled for March 11. The launch introduces one of Apple’s lowest-priced entry points into its laptop ecosystem in more than a decade.

The MacBook Neo is powered by Apple’s A18 Pro chip, the same processor that debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro in 2024. The move reflects Apple’s growing strategy of extending its mobile silicon into additional device categories to control costs while maintaining performance.

The device is designed to compete directly with Chromebooks and lower-priced Windows laptops that dominate classrooms and entry-level computing. Apple has struggled to compete in those segments as its Mac lineup steadily moved upmarket.

The MacBook Neo includes 8 gigabytes of unified memory, which is lower than the 16 gigabytes found in Apple’s latest M4 MacBook models. The reduced memory configuration comes as the global electronics industry continues to face rising memory chip costs and supply constraints.

The Neo launch also comes during a broader refresh of Apple’s hardware lineup. This week the company introduced a $599 iPhone 17e with increased base storage and updated its MacBook Air and Pro models with new M5 chips and larger memory configurations.