Apple MacBook Neo. The name sounded ridiculous to me at first, but then I hadn’t seen the colorful, classy and affordable laptop in person. What I didn’t know is that it’s very likely the look, which includes colors like Citrus and Blush that playfully bleed all the way onto the keyboard, that’s probably at least partially responsible for the Neo name.
Think about it: “Neo” is one letter smaller than “Neon,” and these colors, especially Citrus and Blush, have the boldness of neon.
Finding the market
What Noveilli could talk about are the hopes for the MacBook Neo and some of the challenges Apple faced in bringing the MacBook DNA to life in an affordable system.
While she couldn’t provide details on the manufacturing process, Novielli did share some insight, mostly by comparing what other wearable manufacturers are doing in the space.
“If you think about many of the comparable personal computers that you can get in this price range, you’ll find that it’s very easy to make a computer that has features and experience that are just okay,” she told me, adding that Apple has “a relentless focus and attention to detail” and “an obsession with making sure the user experience is perfect in every way.”
That’s right, there are a lot of laptops in this price range made of plastic, and not so many $599, 2.7lb laptops with relatively durable (and mostly recycled) aluminum.
However, I think the real challenge here was reconciling Apple’s obsession with design and material quality with a product that would still sell for $599 or less ($499 in the education market). To do that, Apple had to build a new product from the ground up and make early decisions that would allow it to fit into the relatively tight price box.
The magic here is that most consumers might not even notice the sometimes subtle but impactful differences, like swapping a haptic touchpad for a physical trackpad (which works and feels a lot like the trackpad on a MacBook Air) and using a standard sleep button (Touch ID will cost you an extra $100, but you’ll also double the storage).
Even the decision to go with just 8GB of RAM, although that choice may have been partially driven by the decision to use the A18 Pro, which was paired with 8GB of total memory on the iPhone 16 Pro.
Addressing RAM in space
Thinking about that RAM, I was less concerned about the amount (8GB on a budget laptop is actually pretty good) than about how Apple would cope with dwindling RAM supplies (and skyrocketing prices), especially if the MacBook Neo is, as I expect it to be, a huge hit.
However, Novielli was happy and declined to comment on product demand, but assured me, “We are very confident that we will be able to put this great new product in the hands of many, many more customers around the world.”
Apple, she assured me, is well aware of the global situation. “Obviously, all the things you’re asking about are things that very intelligent teams at Apple think through on a regular basis,” she said, adding, “We understand what’s going on in the world, and we’re hyper-focused on making sure we can deliver the right products to the right customers at the right time.”
I reminded Noveilli that the last time I had seen such a unique Apple MacBook was the MacBook 12-inch, which was launched more than ten years ago. It looked like the MacBook Air, but if you looked at it through the wrong end of a telescope. It had just one USB-C port (a novelty at the time, Novielli reminded me) and cost $1,299. The product was not a success. Still, I saw echoes of the effort in this new MacBook Neo. Maybe I shouldn’t, though
“I think some might draw parallels with the MacBook product that you’re referring to, but you know, the MacBook Neo is a completely new product that was reimagined from the ground up,” she explained.
Finally we came to the question of purchase decision; not whether to get a MacBook Neo or a MacBook Air, but to choose between 256GB and 512GB. Look, some might want that Touch ID, but I asked Novielli how consumers should think about their storage choices. She offered a simple, and I would say useful, rule of thumb.
You should look at your current storage needs, she told me. “So whether you use a Mac or a PC, or whether you have your iPhone, you probably have an idea of the amount of storage space you use in relation to your files, your photos or engaged in larger things, and everything else you have stored on your current devices. And so it’s a really good way to measure what your needs are today and for the future.”
Hmmm. I might need the 512GB.
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