'Apple's gonna sell these by the boatload': why the new Mac Book Neo is already the most important product of 2026 | Tech Radar

Overview

'Apple's gonna sell these by the boatload': why the new Mac Book Neo is already the most important product of 2026

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Apple Mac Book Neo is probably the most important new consumer electronics product of this still-new year. It's not the most powerful laptop Apple has ever produced, but few products have thrown open the door to a new market and buying possibilities in quite the same way.

The Mac Book Neo arrives as a budget-laptop-busting portable that starts at just

With a 256GB hard drive and 8GB RAM, it may not sound like it's packed with possibilities, but Apple also equipped the Mac Book Neo with the still impressive A18 Pro — and if you haven't had any experience with Apple Silicon, you are in for a treat.

Here's how Apple's affordable Mac Book Neo compares to the new Pro and Air models

Apple launches the Mac Book Neo — and it starts at only $599

Apple's big March event live — the all new Mac Book Neo has just been introduced, and we're there

In the i Phone 16 Pro and Pro Max, the chip always had tons of power and what I like to call headroom. These chips are almost too powerful for your pint-sized pocket PC, but the Mac Book Neo should make ample use of the chip.

It should be noted that

Now imagine a 2.7-lb / 1.23kg, recycled aluminum laptop with a high-resolution Liquid Retina Display, spatial-audio speakers, two USB-C ports (only one is a fast USB-3), an HD webcam, and a large physical trackpad for $599 — and it's a Mac Book, running Mac OS.

In my experience, people shopping for low-cost laptops for students (grade school, high school, college) are often not considering Mac Books because of the cost.

Those shopping at big box retailers and online are often looking at

The Mac Book Neo changes that equation, and in style no less. I've seen and touched the new Mac Book Neo (at Apple's March Experience event), and it is every bit an Apple product.

Budget laptops can feel plasticky (because they often are) and feature dull screens and muffled audio. The Mac Book Neo features all the materials and tolerances you expect from an Apple product.

Here's how Apple's affordable Mac Book Neo compares to the new Pro and Air models

Apple launches the Mac Book Neo — and it starts at only $599

Apple's big March event live — the all new Mac Book Neo has just been introduced, and we're there

It's attractive and colorful, with hues that bleed all the way onto the keyboard.

Now, I can't yet speak to the performance of the A18 Pro with 8GB of RAM on a 13-inch laptop. But in my brief experiences with it thus far, it looked relatively peppy, even playing a new Oceanhorn 2 Apple Arcade game with some pretty nice-looking atmospheric effects.

I'm sure we'll test one in short order and know the full capabilities and deficits of Apple's new budget laptop, but my prediction is that the Mac Book Neo is the hottest product of the back-to-school season, Apple's gonna sell them by the boatload, and supplies will be very limited.

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A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.

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Key Takeaways

• 'Apple's gonna sell these by the boatload': why the new Mac Book Neo is already the most important product of 2026

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• Apple Mac Book Neo is probably the most important new consumer electronics product of this still-new year

• The Mac Book Neo arrives as a budget-laptop-busting portable that starts at just

  $599 / £599 / AU$
  899 (
  $499 / £499 / AU$
  749 for the education market) and rewrites the rules for a budget laptop

• With a 256GB hard drive and 8GB RAM, it may not sound like it's packed with possibilities, but Apple also equipped the Mac Book Neo with the still impressive A18 Pro — and if you haven't had any experience with Apple Silicon, you are in for a treat