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5 Mar 2026
Hi,
Before we begin, I wanted to clarify something:
One of my biggest interests pretty much ever since I was a kid was technology. I still remember being in awe seeing the premiere of the iPhone X or the Galaxy Fold. I have been following the consumer tech industry for probably more than 10 years now, and maybe I'm not the most knowledgeable, but I believe I am knowledgeable enough to have some opinions on the topic, although as I said I may not be the most reliable source out there.
That being said, I believe the new MacBook Neo is going to be a spectacular hit. It comes down to a few reasons:
First of all, people are starting to escape from Windows. As Microslop is pushing more and more useless bloatware and AI to their devices, many of their customers are looking to escape the unusable ecosystem of Windows 11. However, many of them are not tech-savvy enough to even try to install any Linux distro, and that is where the Neo comes into play. There is a big reason as to why it is advertised the way it is, with all the mentions about how it works with your favorite apps, like the Microsoft 365 Office bundle or Canva. People want to try Mac, but many are scared to do so as they are afraid it won't handle the apps they drive daily, and that is what they want to combat with the marketing for Neo. On the website and the introductory video, it is explicitly stated and shown on screen how it works with all the tools some people would usually expect to work only on Windows machines.
Second of all, the architecture and time is finally right. Apple first tried the "small portable Mac" strategy with the 12-inch MacBook in 2015, and while the intentions were right, they were too ahead of themselves. As they were still relying on Intel chips, they could not use the more powerful ones they used in Pro models, or even the Airs. Instead, it ran on the low-end Core m-series chips, which were slow and still drained battery like crazy, and, contrary to the Neo, it was actually kinda expensive. Ever since Apple switched to its own silicon, I talked about how the time is finally right to a spiritual successor to that device, a small, portable laptop for everyday people, and as it turned out, time proved me right. The use of the A18 Pro chip is also a good choice, since Apple probably has a plethora of leftovers from the iPhone 16 Pros and can reuse the chips from the phones that never sold. Plus, since the chip has been proven to be around 48% faster than the M1, it can be noted that no major performance sacrifice was done.
However, it's important to note the Neo is only a spiritual successor, and not actually a full-on rebrand of the plain "MacBook" laptops. The 12-inch MacBook was more of a premium-designed laptop for the people that would want to show off, however since it was a small sized laptop, it was also used by the everyday folk doing not demanding tasks. And while Neo is designed to be the other one (about which I'll talk in a moment), it is not a top-class designed laptop, it just looks playful, which will probably also contribute to the sales, but I digress.
The last reason is, of course, the price and the capabilities coming with it. For the 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage model, it is $599, and the more "high-end" model with 512GB of storage and additional Touch ID costs $699. You may wonder, well, what was sacrificed, cause RAM and Touch ID are probably not the only things that Apple omitted from the low-end Mac, and you'd be right.
From what I was able to gather, the things that the Neo lacks in contrary to the Air are as follows:
- No MagSafe charging
- There are no ThunderBolt ports - there are two USB-C ports, one is USB3, one USB2, and while both support data transfer and charging, only the USB3 supports external displays
- The keyboard is not backlit
- The built-in trackpad is not haptic, it is a normal "clicky" one
- Less capable processor (6-core CPU in A18 Pro vs 10-core in M5)
- Only two speakers
- No fast charging, only the default 20W are supported
There probably is more, but I wasn't able to find anything other than that.
Then, looking at all this, you may say to yourself "Well, with so much things missing, I probably am not going to buy it anyway"
Or something like "I wonder whether this laptop would be able to do X or Y or Z"
And if you even for a fraction of a second thought something along those lines, then you are not the target demographic for it, and should go for the Air.
The target demographic for the Neo are less tech-savvy people who just want to do everyday stuff. Browse the web, write e-mails or message friends, do some online shopping, watch videos, and so on. This is not a laptop to built to handle gaming or heavy video rendering, and that is absolutely fine, because it is not for people that would do such things. It is for the basic needs of a John Smith who doesn't know much about tech, he just knows he has an iPhone and has heard that Apple released some cheap laptop and he wants to try out if it would be better than his Windows PC, and seeing how people are actually trying to get out of it, the Neo will be a very compelling option for them.
It is also a very good way to combat the Chromebook craze in the education sector. This laptop would be a perfect opportunity for university students to get a cheap laptop that will handle all their schoolwork, and it might even be a good study companion for someone in a high or middle school, and a Mac will probably be a more reliable option anyway.
All in all, the Neo will not be a laptop for everyone, but it will be the go-to one for many, and, if you ask me, it is going to sell like crazy.
But that's just my opinion. If you have yours, feel free to comment.
Until next time
P.S.
Seriously? MacBook Neo? Don't get me wrong, the name is not bad per se, but I seriously feel that calling it just "MacBook" would probably be look way better in the line-up, and would pay homage to the previous entry-level laptops sold until 2012. The 12-inch MacBook is a separate thing imo
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