Apple now has a MacBook for everyone, and that should worry Google and Microsoft


Apple (AAPL) took the wraps off of its long-rumored low-cost MacBook on Wednesday, opening up a whole new market to its traditionally pricy laptops.

The MacBook Neo, which starts at $599, or $499 as part of Apple’s education program, is meant to target schools, students, small businesses, and consumers who want to take a crack at a MacBook but don’t want to spend north of $1,000.

“We’ve been wanting to do a much more affordable MacBook, but it was only until recently where all the stars aligned to allow us to do it,” explained Thomas Boger, VP of Mac product marketing.

Apple didn’t just roll out the MacBook Neo, though. On Tuesday, it also showed off its newly refreshed $1,099 MacBook Air with the company’s M5 chip, as well as its upgraded MacBook Pro, which can be outfitted with Apple’s high-powered M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.

That means Apple now has laptops for everyday consumers in the Neo, those looking for something with a bit more oomph in the Air, and professionals who need serious horsepower in the MacBook Pro.

That’s a price the company hasn’t offered before, which could spell trouble for Microsoft (MSFT) and its Windows-based laptops, not to mention Google’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Chromebooks.

“The refreshed MacBook portfolio is positioning Apple to go on the offensive in the PC market,” Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani wrote in a note to investors following Apple’s announcement.

“In addition, Neo reinforces Apple’s flywheel effect by bringing more price-sensitive consumers into the Mac ecosystem, deepening cross-device engagement through iPhone integration … that could ultimately drive incremental hardware and services monetization,” he added.

The MacBook Neo is unique among Apple’s MacBook lineup for more than just its price point. It’s also the first MacBook to run on an A18 Pro chip, the same kind of processor that powers the iPhone 16 Pro.

“One of the things that is instrumental in making the MacBook [Neo] possible is the fact that we use an A-series processor. And if you’ve been following the evolution of the A-series processor, it’s been getting increasingly more powerful,” Boger said.

According to Shelly Goldberg, vice president of Mac hardware engineering, the power-efficient A-series chip allowed Apple to outfit the Neo without any internal fans to keep it cool.

Toss in 256GB of storage, with the option for 512GB, and 8GB of memory, and the MacBook Neo should be a solid option for everyday web browsing and light iPhone games. It’s designed to be the kind of notebook you’d be equally comfortable bringing to the office or handing off to your kids so they can do their homework.





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