Apple announced a US$599 (AUD$899) “MacBook Neo” marketed as delivering the signature MacBook experience at an accessible price on Wednesday, just one day after unveiling the next generation of MacBook Air and Pro at substantially hiked-up prices compared to last year’s models.
Key Facts
- The $599 price point is significantly lower than Apple’s cheapest laptop from the current generation of devices: the $1,099 MacBook Air.
- The MacBook Neo features a 13-inch liquid retina display, up to 16 hours of battery life, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera and a starting storage capacity of 256 GB.
- The new laptop will offer “AI capabilities,” Apple said in its announcement.
- It will come in four colors: silver, blush, citrus and indigo.
Fascinating Fact
The MacBook Neo will be available to students for $499 under Apple’s education pricing, which undercuts not only Chromebooks and most Windows laptops but also the cost of buying an iPad with a Magic Keyboard to mimic the laptop experience, which is a popular approach among teens and young adults on a budget. The most basic iPad model starts at $320 for students. Add on the $229 keyboard, and the total goes up to $549. That’s savings of $50 by opting for the MacBook Neo.
Big Number
50%. That’s how much faster the MacBook Neo is for everyday tasks like web browsing at its peak, compared to the bestselling PC with the latest shipping Intel Core Ultra 5, according to Apple’s release.
Key Background
On Tuesday, Apple announced its new lineups of MacBook Air and Pro models, raising prices by up to $400 on the top-tier MacBook Pro with the M5 Max chip. Lower-end models saw price hikes in the $100 to $200 range compared to last year’s drops. Though Apple did not comment on the pricing changes, the tech industry has been going through a memory-chip shortage and facing increased component costs due to AI-fueled demand. About 15% to 20% of a laptop’s manufacturing cost is made up by the memory chip, according to IDC, meaning continued shortages could raise prices further on higher-end Apple laptops. As with today’s MacBook Neo announcement, Apple emphasized the AI capabilities of the new MacBook Air and Pro, including faster video enhancement and text prediction.
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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