The MacBook Neo’s Carefully Considered Compromises
“The notebook reinvented,” Apple trumpeted in a 2015 press release when it announced the 12-inch MacBook meant to complement existing MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines. But the MacBook was dragged down by a paucity of ports, the problematic butterfly keyboard, mediocre battery life, and its $1299 price, which compared poorly to the $899 11-inch MacBook Air and $999 13-inch MacBook Air. In 2019, after four years and two updates, Apple would discontinue the 12-inch MacBook, two years after the 11-inch MacBook Air ended its six-year run. Since then, the 13-inch MacBook Air has been the most popular Apple laptop.
Now, Apple is taking another swing at expanding its laptop line with the MacBook Neo, an inexpensive, colorful laptop that will prove popular with K–12 students and budget-conscious adults whose basic computing habits don’t need the power of even the MacBook Air. It’s available for pre-order now in four colors—silver, blush, citrus, and indigo—with availability on 11 March 2026.
Unlike the 12-inch MacBook, the MacBook Neo isn’t a testbed for new designs and technologies. If anything, it’s the reverse, with Apple falling back on older, slower technologies like the A18 Pro, USB 2, and the Multi-Touch trackpad.
Nor, like the 11-inch MacBook Air, is it offering a significantly smaller and lighter package. Although it’s a tiny bit narrower and shallower than the MacBook Air, it’s essentially the same size and weight (2.7 pounds or 1.23 kg). The aluminum-bodied industrial design is also basically the same, with the rounded corners that replaced the MacBook Air’s wedge-shaped design several years ago.
Instead, the MacBook Neo is Apple’s attempt to bring the cost down with compromises that, the company hopes, will not significantly detract from the Mac experience for its target audience. And bring the cost down it has. The MacBook Neo comes in two configurations: one priced at $599 for 256 GB of storage, and the other at $699 for 512 GB of storage with a Touch ID sensor on the keyboard.
Contrast that with the M1 MacBook Air that Walmart has been selling for $699 for the past two years (see “Walmart Sells M1 MacBook Air for $699,” 15 March 2024). Even better is the MacBook Neo’s educational discount that lowers the starting price to $499—no Mac laptop has ever been so targeted at K–12 students. This pricing positions the Neo to compete with the low-cost Windows notebooks and Chromebooks prevalent in the education market.
That $599 price also puts the MacBook Neo in a completely different ballpark than the M5 MacBook Air, which now starts at $1099 with 512 GB of storage (see “MacBook Air Gets M5, MacBook Pro Gains M5 Pro and M5 Max,” 3 March 2026). Although Apple nominally kept the MacBook Air’s price the same, it did so by eliminating the 256 GB configuration that sold for $999. All the better to throw a light on the MacBook Neo’s low price.
Rounding Corners
So how did Apple get the price down to $599? The company didn’t so much cut corners as round them off to reduce costs. The MacBook Neo is still a Mac, and as far as we can tell without extensive testing, it looks, walks, and quacks like a Mac.
Processor, Memory, and Storage
The most notable change in the MacBook Neo is the A18 Pro chip, which was used in 2024’s iPhone 16 Pro models. Apple has never before used an iPhone-class chip in a Mac, but the company has regularly touted the A-series chips as having “desktop-class CPU” and “pro-class GPU” performance. We also know that the M-series chips are direct descendants of the A-series. So it’s not entirely surprising that Apple felt the A18 Pro would be up to the task. It even supports Apple Intelligence, should that ever become important.
Interestingly, the A18 Pro may not be that much cheaper than the base M-series chips, with industry estimates putting its cost at roughly the same $40–$50. However, for the MacBook Neo’s target audience, a lot of subsystems like Thunderbolt controllers, multiple external displays, larger unified memory footprints, and higher memory bandwidth aren’t necessary. Dropping back to an iPhone-class chip lets Apple build a simpler, more power-efficient system that can run from a smaller battery and stay cool without a fan.
Particularly given how the AI industry has driven up memory and storage costs, Apple’s decision to limit the MacBook Neo to 8 GB of unified memory makes sense. The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro now start at 16 GB and offer additional memory in build-to-order configurations. But 8 GB was enough for the MacBook Air for several years, and Apple undoubtedly believes that the less-demanding MacBook Neo audience won’t notice.
As noted above, the MacBook Neo offers only two storage tiers: 256 GB and 512 GB. As with previous models of the MacBook Air, 256 GB may feel tight, particularly for someone who takes a lot of photos or plays games with large disk footprints, but it’s certainly workable. There are always external SSDs for increasing storage.
Display and Camera
A larger share of the cost savings probably comes from the display. The MacBook Neo sports a 13.0-inch Liquid Retina display with a 2408-by-1506 resolution, 500 nits of brightness, and support for 1 billion colors. Apple claims the display is both brighter and higher-resolution than most PC laptops in this price range, and that’s probably true—inexpensive PC displays are often terrible. The MacBook Neo also comes with an anti-reflective coating that should help with viewability in variable lighting conditions.
However, compared to the MacBook Air’s 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display and 2560-by-1664 native resolution, Apple is undoubtedly saving a bunch. The MacBook Neo gives up some screen real estate, and it lacks True Tone, which adjusts the display for ambient light conditions. Although both screens support 1 billion colors, the MacBook Neo supports only sRGB color rather than the MacBook Air’s Wide P3 color, making colors slightly less vivid when viewing photos or videos. However, most people won’t notice these differences unless they compare laptops side by side.
Another big compromise comes with the MacBook Neo’s 1080p FaceTime camera. In all other models, Apple has standardized on the 12-megapixel Center Stage camera with support for Desk View. Video calls will be lower quality than on the MacBook Air, and there’s no Desk View, but both seem like reasonable compromises to reduce component costs.
Connectivity and Charging
In a move reminiscent of the 12-inch MacBook, Apple chose to limit the MacBook Neo’s ports. It does have two USB-C ports, but they’re strange. The left one supports USB 3 with speeds up to 10 Gb/s, but the right one only supports USB 2 at 480 Mb/s. In contrast, the MacBook Air offers two Thunderbolt 4 ports that each offer 40 Gb/s.
The practical upshot of this split is that only the left port can drive an external display, and only a single 4K display at that—not one of Apple’s Studio Displays, but they’re likely too expensive for the audience anyway. It would also be appropriate for an external storage drive. The right port would be useful for a keyboard, mouse, or other low-bandwidth accessory. macOS warns you if you try to connect a display to the USB 2 port. Luckily, both ports can be used for charging since there’s no MagSafe charging port, another cost-cutting move.
Speaking of charging, the MacBook Neo has a significantly smaller battery than the MacBook Air—36.5 watt-hours versus 53.8 watt‑hours. The smaller battery won’t yield much cost savings, but its reduced weight may be necessary to offset other components that cost less but weigh more.
Nevertheless, Apple rates the MacBook Neo at 16 hours of battery life for “video streaming” and 11 hours of “wireless web.” Those are sufficient for Apple to claim “all-day” battery life, even if they don’t match up to the MacBook Air’s 18 and 15 hours, respectively.
The MacBook Neo comes with a 20W charger, which is undoubtedly cheaper than the MacBook Air’s 40W dynamic power adapter with a max output of 60W.
In terms of wireless connectivity, the MacBook Neo supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 6. Although the MacBook Air supports Wi-Fi 7, few people have the necessary base stations, and no one in the target audience will notice the difference.
Keyboard and Trackpad
Other component compromises that contribute to cost savings include the Magic Keyboard and Multi-Touch trackpad. The Magic Keyboard is probably the same one as in the MacBook Air—it looks the same—except that it has no backlighting, and the base model lacks Touch ID.
More significant is the trackpad. Instead of the Force Touch trackpad introduced with the 12-inch MacBook that relies on pressure sensors and a haptic click simulation, Apple advertises the MacBook Neo as using a Multi-Touch trackpad. If that’s the same trackpad as before, it has a physical click mechanism that may not work as well at the edges and is more likely to fail. However, it’s undoubtedly cheaper and still supports multi-finger gestures. It doesn’t support the Force Touch features like deep pressing a file in the Finder to open it in Quick Look, but we doubt many people use them.
Mics and Speakers
Finally, the MacBook Neo has a dual-mic array with directional beamforming and a side-firing dual-speaker system. We’re sure it sounds fine, but on paper, at least, it’s not up to the level of the MacBook Air, which has a three-mic array with directional beamforming and a four-speaker system. Both have 3.5 mm headphone jacks, though the MacBook Air claims it has “advanced support for high‑impedance headphones.”
Realistically, we expect many MacBook Neo users to be using AirPods at all times anyway.
Who Is the MacBook Neo For?
Let’s face it. Most TidBITS readers aren’t the target audience for the MacBook Neo. We’re accustomed to using Macs where Apple hasn’t made numerous compromises, and we’d notice the little things.
By targeting low-end Windows laptops and Chromebooks, Apple is clearly aiming at the education market, specifically K–12 students. Many middle- and high-school programs now issue laptops, and Apple may worry that students who grow up using Windows machines will stick with that platform later in life. Although Apple has pushed iPads in schools for years—especially in elementary grades—an entry-level iPad with a keyboard often isn’t much cheaper than a MacBook Neo.
A MacBook Neo is perfectly adequate for writing short papers in Pages, creating presentations in Keynote, analyzing science lab data in Numbers, browsing the Web in Safari, keeping up with email in Mail, and chatting with friends in Messages. Oddly, Apple also said that AI tools like ChatGPT and Canva run beautifully on the MacBook Neo, a self-serving claim given that both are cloud-based services that don’t require local processing.
However, the MacBook Neo isn’t appropriate for all students. We’d recommend that most college-bound students stick with the MacBook Air, even if they don’t anticipate needing its full power. It’s hard to predict what might be necessary during college, and a student may find themselves wanting to edit video, produce music, run stats apps, and perform other tasks that work better with more processing power. Plus, college students are more likely to feel constrained by the MacBook Neo’s minimal ports compared to the MacBook Air’s pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports and MagSafe charging. Don’t discount the safety factor of the quick-release MagSafe over USB-C when on-the-go students are constantly plugging and unplugging.
Similarly, most business and creative professionals may run into the MacBook Neo’s limitations. In particular, it simply doesn’t have the performance or connectivity that creatives need. However, it may be a fine travel laptop for someone who has a Mac mini or Mac Studio at the office. It’s sufficient for keeping up with email, managing travel details on websites, and giving presentations.
Even if the MacBook Neo isn’t the Mac that most of us have been waiting for, it looks like an excellent addition to the MacBook lineup that makes numerous carefully considered compromises in the service of becoming Apple’s most affordable laptop ever.
The name is… odd?[1] But nevertheless, Apple managed to launch a MB for $600. It’s spec’ed very frugally, but even with its 8/256 and single 10-Gbps USB-C port and no TouchID, chances are it will serve countless students just fine — and they can get it for just $499. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these drive a lot of new sales. This is the entry-level Mac mini in the portable world.
And it really makes the iPad Air ($1218 for a 13" with 256GB and Magic Keyboard) look like a really poor deal.
Sure, lots of Mac geeks will lament all the Neo’s various downsides and long list of “missing features” (it reintroduces the diving board trackpad!), but I think that misses the point. This is not intended for these people. This is intended for people who just need a computer to do email, surf the web, take notes, and consume some media. It will do all of that just fine.
If you’re convinced it cannot do what you’d need it to do, you’re still in luck. For just $160 more than the new MacBook Neo, you can get a refurbished 13" M4 MacBook Air that does better than the Neo at almost everything. That’s a pretty sweet deal.
With Airbus Neo stands for new engine option. I’m not sure what engine Apple is referring to here. The Matrix?
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Well, that is somewhat dated, but will the new MBN be able to dodge bullets? Just be glad they didn’t use the more current buzzword “Paleo” which is the antonym for “Neo”!
It looks interesting and is clearly aimed at the same market as Chromebooks. And I think it will do well in that capacity.
But it is not (and was clearly not intended to be) for those considering a MacBook Air. Comparing the features that are important to me in the base models:
IMO, if your needs are basic (e.g., mostly web browsing and some light office apps), the Neo may work fine. But if you need anything more heavy duty, or if you want its hardware specs to remain useful for more than 3-5 years, then you may find the Air to be a better option, despite the higher price.
While they last…
I don’t disagree with the second quote, but I think that was why a lot of people considered the MacBook Air until now. I’m also guessing that if there are any schools who buy MacBook Airs rather than ChromeBooks these days, they are going to love this.
Since I prefer to store all of my files locally, and I need 1 TB to do that, I ordered a new M5 MacBook Air this morning (and I’m keeping my M2 as my backup/alternate laptop - as someone with two homes, I keep the backup/alternate in the other house so I don’t need to keep carrying a computer back and forth). But if 35 years ago me was transported to right now, he would have greatly preferred paying for the Neo, and would have lived with optimized storage, 8 GB RAM, etc.
I don’t think I’m alone in saying that, these days, I rarely use even one port on my MBA currently. I use ARQ to do the equivalent of Time Machine to storage on my network (plus to an S3-compatible cloud service online), my iPad and iPhone backup and sync to iCloud; sometimes I plug in a flash drive, but that’s rare. So, though I love MagSafe charging, I could live with this.
With the 2015 Retina Macbook it seems the design goal was to make it as small as possible, courtesy of Jony Ive. For the Neo it is evidently as cheap as possible (for Apple!). Both goals have their place.
My Retina Macbook still boots up (Mojave) and has been on many business trips over the years. It has its annoyances but is OK as a backup machine to my Macbook Air. A few years ago I managed to have its batteries replaced, while the parts were still available.
Broadly agree with @Shamino here. A good deal of the decisions were about ensuring clear water between the Air and the Neo. Surprised it wasn’t the A19 Pro though, even if the jump isn’t huge and they’re probably needed elsewhere.
The colours, blush and citrus, clearly aim young.
The intro video has some nifty animation…
This was either a very smart move by Apple or just perfect timing.
Watch them use the Neo to gain market share and sell to a whole class of new buyers as the myriad of cheap PC notebook manufacturers are forced to pass on steep memory price increases narrowing the gap between their indistinguishable cheap portables and the Mac.
If you can afford an iPhone 17e, you can now also buy a Mac that does almost everything Macs are known for.
People that hang out on Mac boards might not like it and focus on limitations (“this doesn’t have {} that you get with MacBook Air”), but I’m pretty sure this little Mac will end up being huge for Apple.
The WSJ appears to agree. Link de-paywalled.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-memory-chip-crunch-b0f6dc4a?st=XJV25d
It also looks like a play for more Services usage. These things are primed for iCloud usage – Music, Photos, etc. Sell the computers cheaply* and get continuing revenue from the monthly subscriptions.
*cheaply for Apple. I doubt they’re losing money on them, but I bet that the margin isn’t the same as for other hardware.
I love the idea of ARQ or similar service for backup, but since I have a usually nearly full 1TB drive, I’m terrified at how much extra my storage would cost beyond the free 1TB that’s included.
Sorry for the slightly off topic, but just to answer about ARQ:
100 GB of extra storage would be $0.60/month; 500 would be $3.00/month.
You can always back up to S3 storage like AWS or Backblaze B2 storage, too, for probably a bit less. So, you could use ARQ’s storage for part of your backup and the S3 storage for the rest.
As for online usage, I use about 600 GB, backing up my primary machine (MBA), the family iMac, which also has user account data for my wife, and my two Mac mini media servers. So, I’m pretty careful about which computer backs up what - my MBA backs up the most, but not my Music account, Photos, or any other media; my iMac backs up my Photos (I use iCloud Photo Library, but the entire library downloads to the MBA and iMac) and all of my wife’s account data; the one of the Mac minis backs up just configuration data that is not backed up by the others, and all of my movie files (those I backup to Amazon AWS glacier storage, which is dirt cheap to back up and store to, and pricey to restore from - it’s really just a disaster recovery storage location. It costs me about $0.90/month.)
But I also use ARQ to backup to my Synology NAS on my home network - that’s what I was referring to as a Time Machine replacement. Using the mesh network VPN Tailscale, I can back up to the Synology from anywhere that has a network connection for my MacBook, and of course from the iMac and the Mac minis. I don’t keep as much history as Time Machine would - daily backups for 7 days, weekly backups for 3 weeks, monthly backups for 3 months. That’s enough for me. Before I got the Synology (free - a friend was replacing his old one and had no use for it anymore), I backed up to an external drive on one of the Mac minis.
I don’t doubt that, but until two days ago Apple was selling M4 MacBook Air with only 256 GB storage for as low as $999, so that part hasn’t really changed.
Except for my M1 Ultra Mac Studio, all my Apple laptops and Mac minis are maxed out spec M4 variants.
The current political environment has me doubting the wisdom of traveling internationally with any of my M4 devices with all of my information available there on.
The beauty of the Neo is that one can in initialize it before crossing borders. If asked to turn it on at a border, only the initial Apple MacOS startup screen displays. On the road, so to speak, email and Safari are the main programs used. Image Capture with an external Apple USB-C SD card reader can bring in the images and then transfer to a larger USB-C external drive or shove them to the iCloud.
I only have to remember two email passwords and the Apple account passwords to restore the operating system and download the email program.
Ordering it in silver with the optional 526 SSD and Touch ID makes life easier and not stand out. The three other colors would make it stand out as different and attract attention. At home. it would reside on a shelf as not being a daily use device.
Purchase decision is in the future after we see some real world numbers on this device.
I had a “CostCo” net book many years ago and the speed was like watching corn grow during a draught.
I don’t think any established Mac users will consider using a Neo as their primary computer. It will be a secondary (or tertiary) portable, for use when you’re not near your main computer (traveling, in a different room of your home, etc.)
And, depending on what you plan to run on it, and how long you expect it to last before replacement, it should work really well in that capacity.
My main computers, with all my files, never leave my home. Ever.
My laptop only has generic stuff that nobody will care about, and (sometimes) an encrypted disk image with copies of my personal finance spreadsheets, so I can update them when away from home.
I do this with an Air today, and will continue doing that in the future with whatever replaces that Air.
My work computer has a lot of sensitive content, but I follow my employer’s policy regarding travel. Meaning if I’m stopped somewhere, contact the corporate security office and let them and their lawyers slug it out.
Is that an actual brand? Sounds cheesy enough to be used by some no-name Chinese vendor.
Costco sells a lot of computers from a lot of different vendors (including Apple). Some are good and some are not, as you’d expect.
I don’t think Costco sells any computers with their own branding (which would probably be “Kirkland Signature”) on it.
The MBA wasn’t making the same tradeoff – the price was still high, even with the low memory. Now, the price is low & memory are low and the trade that I’m guessing Apple is hoping for is that that puts lots more people on the Services treadmill.
This is exactly how I see it. A low cost machine which handles a few simple tasks whilst travelling. If I desperately need to work on something I can sign into iCloud and access my regular documents.
The only question for me is whether to actually buy one. My current machine — M1 Max 14" MBP — is about 5 years old now and I could use it in the above way. I could direct funds to a new, highly spec’d Mac Mini or Studio and rock a very fast new desktop and still have a small, light machine for travel.
Regardless, it seems a great way to introduce people to a Mac. When my son started years 11 and 12 of high school, the standard device was a Chromebook provided by the school. Apple now has the chance to be that machine.
Looks like a “fun” and inexpensive Mac. If I were to buy one, the 8 gig of Ram could be an issue in the future. Yes, without much multitasking, current available apps can be accommodated. But there is the possibility that future updates to apps (and essential updates) could consume more memory. It’s bad enough the OS uses so much. The other caveat that can be easily (and inexpensively) addressed is the lack of ports. For that reason, a hub would be essential.
The students in my classes don’t “edit video, produce music, run stats apps”. Well, actually the latter they do, but none of that takes remotely as much CPU power as even just half an efficiency core could deliver. Even today, there are still a bunch of STEM students, not everybody is training to become a videographer or acquire “influencer” skills. And these students need something to read books, papers, and web pages. They need to do email and browse course sites. They run Python (or just Jupyter notebooks) for simulation labs or edit Overleaf to generate PDFs when they turn in assignments. I’d argue 99% of what they do in my classes can easily be done on a MacBook Neo. Granted, some of them will still prefer to do it on other hardware, but that usually has to do with a preference for the simplicity of iOS over a “conventional” computer OS or things like being able to directly using Apple Pencil. But rarely will it have to do with Neo not bringing enough CPU power, the 8 GB of RAM, or not coming with TB5 et al. Campus equips them with ample cloud storage so even the paltry 256 GB on-board flash should be plenty.
I’d be tempted to buy one in yellow just for the fun of it. I have no use for it myself. Perhaps for the next summer intern though.
Since MacOS uses virtual memory for anything beyond the 8GB, I’m not sure it’s a big problem. Apps would just run slower, but they’d still run.
That’s exactly my thought – I ordered a yellow one as I’ve got a trip to Europe coming up and I don’t really want to take my work laptop with all my stuff on it. The color seems fun and lighthearted and I am less likely to forget it on a plane or hotel room.
Sure, I could have used an older laptop or bought a used M1 or something for similar $, but I wanted to try out the Neo. I figure when I’m not traveling I will use it exclusively for fiction writing. It will be a good way to have a laptop devoted to that task without all the distractions of my regular laptop.
IIRC, Apple’s roadmac, er, roadmap to its apps was to make it more subscription to Creator Studio. Perhaps this is the device its intended users are for?
Doesn’t need much local storage because, iCloud storage.
Doesn’t need much power, aka its iOS on A-processors, not M-silicone.
Perfect for notes, email, web, and basic Apple applications.
I think Apple is targeting those that want security over Microsoft or Google Chrome books. Microsoft’s Surface products are very expensive for notebooks. And Google could flip on a dime with support or features.
I remember a friend once told me, Apple will, eventually, have one OS. Its clearly now looking like that direction.
Someone like me, well, I would soon upgrade my old iPad to the newer M4 iPadAir, with Pencil Pro, and possible Magickeyboard. A lightweight, email/web access (wifi or tethered) sketching device, not heavy on images. I have a Mac Studio for that..
It’s worth pointing out that M CPUs were derived from the A CPUs — Apple Silicon started with A series CPUs for iPhone/iPad. Now, specifically the A18 Pro that’s being used for the first time in a Mac (well apart from the original Dev Kit Mac mini equipped with an A12Z Bionic) for most tasks will perform equally or better than the original M1 that Apple put into the late 2020 MBA. Such performance level was not previously guaranteed, but A series CPUs have now reached that point and I’m convinced it’s thus not at all a coincidence we’re now seeing them come over to low-cost Macs.
Since many non-students seem to be talking about the Neo as a secondary/tertiary/travel device, it will be interesting to see what impact its release has on iPad sales. A basic iPad with an Apple keyboard costs around the same as the Neo.
I bought an iPad Air in 2022 to use with my drone. Last week I gave it to my daughter (I’d bought a new drone with its own screen).
As much as I tried, I simply didn’t get along with the iPad. It’s simply not the way I want to do computing. Perhaps it’s a reflection of my age, but I’m not a heavy iPhone user either. I make calls, send texts, use maps, and check the weather.
I’d hate to rely on an iPad when I travel, although I know many people would happily do so. I’d take the Neo every day of the week over an iPad.
CostCo was the vendor for the no name net book in the 2009 time frame. I traveled the world for the last ten years with my MacBook Pro of the day. I have also traveled with my M series iPad Pros because of the cellular capability and small size for the airline fold down tables.
We seem to be now in a space where disposable cell phones and erasable laptops may be the norm for international travel or maybe even domestic travel.
That has to be a very basic iPad though. Even the A16-based bare bones 11" iPad with 128 GB and keyboard starts at $600.
If OTOH you spec an iPad Air, even just an 11", and add the KB, you’re looking at a bare minimum of $868. And that’s with just 128 GB.
Next to the MacBook Neo, the iPad is looking pretty overpriced right now. The best way I can see to get this to work is by double-checking if a keyboard is really a requirement. If somebody doesn’t need a keyboard, they can get a comparably priced iPad. But as soon as they want to add a keyboard, the Neo is going to get them far more bang for their buck.
That basically was my point. A 256 GB A18 Neo without an education discount is $599. A 256 GB 11" A16 iPad with a keyboard is $698. (The Neo also has 8 GB RAM compared with the iPad’s 6 GB, though typical iPad usage likely uses less RAM than typical MacBook usage.)
The main advantages of the iPad are that it is a little lighter, it can be purchased with a cellular option, and you can use a pencil with it.
If you’re in the $600-700 price range, the Neo seems to be a far superior deal.
My personal travel setup—as opposed to business travel—for the last few years has been an iPad Air with a Magic Keyboard. Prior to that, I used an iPad Mini. I changed to the Air from the Mini when the Mini stopped getting upgrades and I decided I prefer a physical keyboard.
For me, the pros of iPad versus Mac travel are being able to use the Apple dual-port 35W charger + World Adapter Kit on both my iPhone and iPad (no need to bring a heavy 60-80 watt charger, only need to carry one charger), the ability to undock the iPad and use it as an e-reader, and (usually) no need to take the iPad out at airport security checkpoints.
But having said all that, I will give the Neo serious consideration when it’s time to replace my iPad Air. It seems to have and do everything I want when traveling plus it’s easy to set up multiple, temporary macOS user accounts.
I should mention that I have a 6th Gen iPad (A10) with a third-party bluetooth keyboard that worked well as an alternative to a Mac on road trips where I didn’t expect to use Microsoft Office much.
I’m actually quite pleased with its performance for most tasks, but it’s stuck at iPadOS 17, so I don’t want to use it for anything sensitive, especially on public networks. We also have a 9.7" iPad Pro with an Apple Keyboard in the family. It feels like it can do a good job for a few more years, too, but it’s limited to iPadOS 16.
I had been considering selling them both and using the proceeds to get a new iPad for a very specific task, but the Neo changes the equation.
Thank you! That’s really helpful. I have a Buffalo LinkStation sitting idle that macOS no longer wants to talk to via Time Machine, so this could be a viable solution for me.
Thanks for this. I think it’s a right move for Apple to compete with Chromebooks which are all over the place. It’s a good entry into Apple’s Mac ecosystem for those who don’t and those who do have only iPhones.
OK. I’ve jumped. My Use Case is a little bit different from what others are talking about. I needed to update my fifth-generation iPad Air 64 to one with higher storage, as my current iPad used more than 25 Gb for the OS and a basic set of apps, so there was no way there was enough storage left for full-size RAW photos and high-res movies to be created during an upcoming 6-week trip. For less than a new iPad 256 and the ridiculously expensive ‘magic’ keyboard, I get a MacOS laptop with 512 Gb that will run my road trip apps and allow me to sort and triage my movie files and RAW photos. I don’t need to do any processing or editing, I just need to do the weeding ;-) I’ll add to that my compact little 2Tb external Lacie SSD drive, and I’m set. the Neo arrives today, so I’ll post an update if I find any stoppers/issues.
How does that work, they buy a Neo instead of having a phone?
I think Apple absolutely hit a homerun with the Neo. I would never buy one for myself, as I rely on the additional capabilities (and screen size) of my MacBook Air 15” and my Mac Studio. But it is a fantastic value for a budget computer (far better than any Chromebook or Windows PC in the same price range), and I expect a future iteration of the Neo (with 512GB storage and Touch ID) will very likely be the first computer I buy for my kids. None of the features in the MacBook Air that are missing in the Neo are important features for most kids (except, probably, older kids who want/need to do intensive graphics/video editing). (I’m not sure about video games, but since a huge percentage of games run on iPhones and iPads, I would assume the Neo is adequate for that too.) The MacBook Neo is a great way to introduce kids (or other people with basic computing needs) to Macs. Plus, the synergy of using an iPhone together with a Mac greatly increases the value of the Neo over Chromebooks and budget Windows laptops. I think the Neo will pay tremendous dividends for Apple in the years ahead, as many kids start off using a Neo and get hooked into the Apple ecosystem and continue purchasing Apple devices for many years.
Jason Snell’s review:
… and today, it is easy to get a basic USB-C hub that includes power-delivery pass-through. For less than $20, you can get a USB-C hub that includes a type-C port, two type-A ports, HDMI and up to 85W (more than enough for a Neo) power pass-through.
There is an unconfirmed report that macOS Tahoe 26.3.2 (released yesterday, exclusively for MacBook Neo) enables MacBook Neo to support Studio Display (2026) and Studio Display XDR.
https://www.macotakara.jp/mac_os_x/entry-50661.html (in Japanese)
Ars Technica has a good in-depth hands-on review of the Neo — including speed tests:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/apple-macbook-neo-review-can-a-mac-get-by-with-an-iphones-processor-inside/
MacRumors article on the subject is more definite. But only applie to the new 2026 Studio Displays, according to the article.
From the Ars review:
I wonder if this is a limitation that will be addressed with the 26.3.2 update. It seems odd that a notebook capable of DP 1.4 and 4K native support cannot scale its native 4096x2560 to 2560x1440 (1/1.6). (Not that many MBN users will be attaching to a 4K display and expecting high res.)
I was tempted by the Neo images, size/weight specs (in comparison to my M2 MBA) but especially the apparent return of an SD card slot (I use cameras that use SD cards) on the side, in promo images.
Then I scrolled thru the specs and more photos and realised those are speaker ports not an SD card slot, doh!
And the max 512GB storage wouldn’t work for my situation/wants.
I did the same thing.
And John Gruber’s review. The money quote:
Also from John Gruber’s review:
I use my M1 MBA so often, I had forgotten that most other Macs have notches. I’m one of those people who has a lot of menu bar icons and would rather have a bigger bezel and smaller display than wrestle with third-party utilities to re-arrange icons around an annoying notch.
I agree completely. Those that have been using iPads as cheap laptops (equipping them with keyboards and mice) have almost certainly been doing so because there were not cheap/good laptops. And now there is one.
Tablets are great devices, but they are not small laptops. They have different use-cases, and have different preferred UI mechanisms.
If you are an artist who needs to be able to draw onto a computer screen, a tablet is absolutely perfect. Likewise if you’re producing video and like to do in-camera editing. If you’re into mobile gaming and want a larger screen, that’s another great use-case.
But if you what you need are desktop productivity apps, and were only using a tablet due to the hardware cost, I would argue that the tablet was always the wrong choice, and was a compromise driven by budget.
And now there’s no longer a need for such compromises. Yes, you can get iPads equipped with more RAM and storage (e.g., some configurations of iPad Pro), but if you are buying one of those, then the reason has nothing to do with the price tag.
And cellular data - the one thing MacBooks are still missing.
Another good review from The Verge, this time with a gift link:
It’s definitely a worthy consideration if you anticipate a lot of remote use, especially if the alternative is public wi-fi. On the other hand, the cost of tethering phones to laptops has come down quite a lot (essentially zero for some carriers), so that may be good enough for a lot of people.
Regarding Gruber and being “done with iPad” – it really depends on your use case. I’ve never been a laptop person and what I do on an iPad doesn’t require a keyboard; the standard iPad form factor is what I want when I’m using that.
(We have a Macbook Air that I use when I need to, but somehow the basic laptop form factor requires either the screen or the keyboard to be far away from where I want it to be.)
From On My Om blog, fye. Thoughtful, not specful look, at MBNeo. fye.
An interesting read on the meaning of neo. I learned something today.
He is, among other things, a photographer – and his photos, not surprisingly, emphasize minimalism.
My iPad is a completely different use case and the Neo isn’t a replacement.
Perhaps, but there are still drawbacks.
Without a third-party utility, there is no way to get MacOS to limit the amount of data syncing that could be put off until there is a wifi or ethernet connection; it drains the battery of your phone; it’s sometimes fragile (meaning that it will disconnect randomly without discernible cause). That is not the case for a cellular iPad, and would not be if Apple built cellular modems into MacBooks (they’d put in the data usage controls that iPadOS and iOS have when using cellular data vs. WiFi, for instance.)I use my iPad a lot for reading material - I find it better than my Mac and iPhone for that - I use it for watching YouTube videos - ditto vs. Mac and iPhone - and I use it as my computer when I travel on vacation, where I can use cellular data rather than public wifi, or where wifi doesn’t exist. A much-heavier MacBook Neo could replace that for me, but I like using the iPad for this. Of course, the iPad has the drawback of not having a built-in hardware keyboard, but I can get by with the onscreen keyboard.
I remain surprised that Apple hasn’t added their new cellular modem chips to at least MacBook Pro models, at least as an option.
I agree. I’m 100% a notebook person and I don’t even have an iPad anymore. But I still like the idea that Apple offers all this variety — they are a huge computer company. They can handle the reality that different users have vastly different use cases. So while I think Neo is great, I still want to see more and better iPad development.
What I would critique about the current iPad is its price/performance relative to the MB Neo. The inexpensive iPad hits the right price, but its specs are sub-par vs. Neo. The iPad Air has better specs, but just compare its $700 (11"/256) price tag to the Neo’s $600. And if you compare a 13" iPad Air at $900 it’s even crazier.
Doesn’t “Low Data Mode” limit a lot of the background stuff?
I guess! Somehow I forgot that Apple added that.
I did stop by the Apple Store today to pick up my pre-ordered M5 MacBook Air and stopped to try out the Neo. It’s just as the reviews described - the screen seems fine to me; the keyboard seems the same as an MBA; if I hadn’t known from the reviews that the trackpad was different, I don’t think I would have noticed. At least from a usability point of view, it felt to me just like using a MacBook Air.
They’ll have to prise my beloved iPad Mini from my cold dead hands…
I do think that the Neo is a great alternative to a Chromebook; I’m going to be pointing that out to a lot of my friends and neighbors.
I also think that Apple’s tagline: “Love at first Mac” is right on target.
Truth be told, if I hadn’t replace my 2018 MacBook Air and it’s second dying keybord at the end of 2024 with an M3, I’d be buying a maxed out Neo.
It’s really all I need. I write. I use TextEdit, BBEdit, Bear, Scriven and Pages. At a publisher’s editing stage I get a short term license for whatever version of Micrsoft Word they want me to use.
A Neo would suit me fine.
I just don’t know how I’d choose between Citrus and Indigo.
Citrus. No, Indigo. No, Citrus. Nope, I can’t do it either.
I was able to play with some Neos at an Apple Store. The Citrus is beautiful, but the polished deck around the keyboard is super shiny. I think it makes it harder to view the display. Blush is also shiny but not quite as much. Indigo is a bit darker. I didn’t play with the silver, but it should be the same as other MacBooks.
While we were at the store, we ran into a guy who was looking at iPads and wondering how they worked with keyboards. He was looking to replace a Chromebook but was unaware of the Neos, assuming the MacBooks were out of his price range. It didn’t take much convincing to have him target a Neo instead.
I’d be Citrus if I needed one.
That would be my top pick too. Then Blush.
Apparently very repairable:
I would guess that improved repairability was part of the design spec from the beginning, at least if Apple intended the Neo to appeal school districts. Coincidentally, iFixit recently gave the Lenovo T14 and T16 business laptops 10 out of 10 repairability scores. I particularly appreciated this comment from Lenovo:
I’m not expecting miracles from Apple, but if targeting institutional use encourages improved repairability, I’m all for it.
PS. iFixit is working on a Neo repairability report.
And getting a surprise, it seems. From Nick Heer:
Looks like they had to change the title once they actually started looking at the computer.
Another thoughtful blog about the Neo, linked from a blog in Macstories.
iFixit has just posted their teardown:
I love the fact that the battery is relatively easy to replace - a bunch of screws, no glue, and no need to remove any other parts (although you do need to disconnect three cables).
I also love the fact that the trackpad tension is adjustable. A surprising but possibly useful feature.
I’m just curious why 18 screws are required for the battery or 44 for the keyboard.
I’m just thankful they didn’t use welds instead of screws.
I think it was just a price comparison.
My USB-C hub is arriving today, a week ahead of my new Neo ;)
Also, arriving is a 65w charger; the little Neo 20 W charger might not be enough to power the computer plus hub and attached accessories.
Mostly, I use my aging iPad to read substacks at the laundromat. It’s good for that. And e-books.
One of the teardown stories I read said that the battery tray has a double duty in the Neo: holding the battery (!) and adding rigidity to the outer shell. So more screws means more attachment points, leading to less flexing of the enclosure.
“must repairable MacBook in 14 years". This must refer to my beloved 2012 MacBook Pro 13 inch—so beloved that I bought three of them. It was the last laptop that I could open up and replace the drive, the battery, or other piecesparts, and add memory.
My last one, purchased in 2015, went belly-up last week, and I just ordered a Neo to replace it; it wasn’t my main computer, but a secondary one for use at the office. Probably the biggest challenge will be seeing if I can make Tahoe run the old ScanSnap.
Good Luck! see at least these other Topics here in TBT:
If I need a quick scan to the Tahoe Mac, I use VueScan, which I’ve set up to as close as I can have it to my ScanSnap Manager settings. If I have a bunch to do, I can fire up the MacBook Pro (running Sierra) and it works as I’m used to for many years.
Popped by an Apple Store tonight to check these out. The Indigo one is pretty gorgeous with its candy coloured keys. The others are really nice with white keys.
I ordered one today as a ‘travel’ machine, and sprung for the higher spec in Silver.
They appear very solid and well made, and from a 10 minute play in the store they seem usefully snappy. I’d like to have waited for the next version (I expect it will be bumped to 16gb), but the current machine will serve the family well — we all have some longer trips planned in the next 12 months.
Delivery expected by April 10 – just in time as we fly out April 15.
Well, if they use the A19 Pro currently in the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air, it would be 12 GB.
Thanks, David @TBTdn. Grok found this for me: Replacing ScanSnap Manager on MacOS - Max's Notes. My Neo hasn’t arrived yet, but at least now I have a starting point—which turns out to be pretty much the same as getting the scanner to work on my M1 MacBook Air now on Sonoma. Might have to fiddle with the OCR.
There’s always Vuescan…
So the Neo arrived today - a few days ahead of schedule and plenty of time to use it a bit before travelling OS next week. First impressions:
That’s all for now, here it is…
The keycaps correspond to a British Keyboard. If you change your default keyboard seetting to ABC or US, you should restore the shift-3 to # (not £).
The keyboard was set to Australian (where I am), but you did point me in the right direction. The Text Input was set to British - in fact it was the only option - so I had to manually add the Australian option and select it - which resolved the problem.
Seems an odd behaviour given English (Australian) was chosen during setup
Reading all this Neo Stuff reminded to check on my 2008 OLPC. Not only does it boot up to Sugar OS or Fedora - I always do a browser check. ( i was a big eMate user about few years earlier) - OLPC was built for kids to use in order to help level the Tech playing field in poorer countries (and there’s a much larger story in how Intel and MS perceived this “threat”) anyhow, battery charges up- some keys have fallen off but work, and i have to reseat the video camera, wifi includes Mesh -so kids could collaborate on projects! I know some of the folks who built this thing and as much as I appreciate technology in general - this still amazes me!
We have such a mix of US and Ire/UK in our house I’ve resorted to a keyboard substitution htg will produce a # on pretty well every device here.
I think you ordered the wrong keyboard. It’s the British ISO type, used in Europe, and you probably want the US English ANSI type, used in the US and Asia. You might want to return and reorder if possible.
Bugger, you’re right. I had no idea the keyboards were different but seem to have chosen British because that more closely aligns to Australia than the US.
I’ll return it, but it’s a little annoying given I wanted to travel with it next week. I’ll check with a local store to see if they have any in stock which could be swapped.
Thanks for pointing this out, I totally missed it.
A quick trip to the Apple store today saw the machine replaced with the ‘correct’ one. Before going I spoke to our Business contact and she was able to arrange an exchange machine before we even arrived. Took all of 10 minutes.
I have to admit their return system is pretty good.
Glad you got it sorted. I have the opposite problem on the rare occasions I try and type on a US keyboard – I’m constantly inserting backslashes when I want to hit return. Muscle memory is a real thing though it can be retrained. I grew up with the US keyboard layout so find it strange I now struggle to use it.
Back home after a couple of weeks in the land of the long white cloud. The Neo was great, I mean, really great. Small, light, and easily popped into the laptop sleeve of my camera bag.
It performed flawlessly and happily served as a streaming TV receiver. I installed NordVPN before leaving so I could access my local subscription sports service whilst away, and it worked without a hitch.
The only tiny issue I had was with a couple of wi-fi setups at hotels. These are the ones which connect automatically as an unsecured network, then when you fire up a browser it directs you to a login screen before you can proceed. Both hotels which had these wouldn’t load the login site, although my phone had no issue. After trying various ways to force it to the site, I finally restarted the machine and it worked (both times). Annoying at the time but in hindsight not a big deal.
Overall I’m delighted. I feel so much more comfortable carrying the Neo than my heavily loaded, very expensive, MBP. I don’t store my regular files on it, basically using it just for web, email and entertainment. I did install Lightroom Classic so I could dump a bunch of photos as we moved around - no issue at all - although I wouldn’t want to do tens of thousands.
Highly recommend for anyone looking for a very serviceable travel machine.
Usually when I see this, it’s due to a DNS issue.
On my Macs, I have the networks configured with a static IP address, and the addresses for my router and DNS. I created a “Home” location for this, so when I’m traveling I can switch it back to “Automatic” (where it gets this information via DHCP).
If I forget to switch it to Automatic, those captive portals don’t work, because my DNS won’t go to the portal’s server (needed to redirect traffic to the login screen). But switching it after the fact always lets it work.
I wonder what the cause was in your case. I assume due to some kind of cached credentials leftover from the network you were on prior to the hotel. Or maybe it was a macOS bug. But since a quick reboot worked, you’ve got a workaround. Hopefully it will be fixed in a future update.
(FWIW, I recently bought a new M5 MacBook Air. I’ve been quite happy with it, although the UI changes in macOS 26 have taken a bit of time to get used to.)
I’ve had my Neo for about a month. I must say I’m very happy with it. The trackpad is actually usable for someone with manual dexterity challenges, although I still use an Apple mouse and external keyboard.
I got an Anker USB-C hub to connect an external monitor via HDMI, a Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500, 90W charger, and ethernet. I was concerned about the hub overheating with the video, but it’s been fine. All of this is plugged into the computer’s rear USB-C port.
Setting up the antique scanner was…a snap; what’s taking much longer is finding a clipboard manager to replace the abandoned AgileRoute Clipboard History, which won’t work in Tahoe.
Thanks for the update.
It occurs to me that the Neo is going to be Apple’s most modded computer, given how easy it is to take apart. I’m hoping that the Neo-philosophy will migrate to other models rather than standing alone. I don’t mind if Apple glues everything together for solidity and reliability but if they can manage those things without the glue, I’d be all for it.
Easy to take apart? That’s great news. I still have my 2012 MacBook Pro 13” which was the last one I could take apart and replace things.