Low-priced Mac is here! Apple (AAPL.US) launches Neo with a minimum of $499, debuting the A18 Pro aiming to compete with Windows and Chromebook

Bloomberg reports that Apple (AAPL.US) has launched the MacBook Neo priced at $599, marking the company’s most aggressive entry into the entry-level laptop market to date, aiming to compete with Windows PCs and Chromebooks among budget-conscious consumers.

This new device is $400 cheaper than any previous generation of Apple laptops, significantly below the current $1,099 MacBook Air. The MacBook Neo offers multiple colors including orange, silver, indigo, and light pink, with Apple hoping to attract students and a broader consumer base.

The MacBook Neo features a 13.0-inch display, making it one of Apple’s smallest laptops, while the MacBook Air has a 13.6-inch screen. Notably, this product is the first Mac to use the A18 Pro chip, the same processor used in iPhones, marking Apple’s first time applying a smartphone chip to the Mac lineup.

Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus said the MacBook Neo was “built from the ground up with the goal of allowing more users to experience Mac at a lower price.”

The base model offers 256GB of storage for $599; an upgraded version at $699 doubles the storage and adds Touch ID fingerprint recognition for login and payment verification. Educational users can also enjoy a $100 discount, bringing the entry price down to $499. Apple announced that pre-orders began Wednesday, with shipments starting March 11 and availability in stores.

In terms of performance, the MacBook Neo is equipped with 8GB of RAM, a 6-core CPU, and a 5-core GPU, comparable to the iPhone 16 Pro released in 2024. The device has approximately 16 hours of battery life, slightly less than the latest MacBook Air with the M5 chip and 18 hours of battery life. The screen brightness can reach up to 500 nits, and it weighs 2.7 pounds, the same as the 13-inch Air.

Despite targeting the entry-level market, the MacBook Neo features an aluminum chassis, a full keyboard and trackpad, and supports WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 6, and a 1080p FaceTime camera. It offers two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, and comes with a 20W charger.

Apple states that the MacBook Neo is powerful enough for everyday tasks such as web browsing, document editing, photo editing, and video conferencing. Although it uses an iPhone chip, it runs the same macOS operating system as other Macs and is compatible with both Mac and iPhone apps.

Compared to low-end Chromebooks and Windows PCs priced between $200 and $600, the MacBook Neo is still somewhat more expensive, but Apple emphasizes that its design, configuration, and overall experience are significantly more premium. The company also claims that the device’s AI processing speed can reach three times that of some competing PCs.

Apple hopes this more competitively priced Mac will attract new users into its ecosystem, boosting sales of iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch products. The Mac business previously underperformed during the holiday quarter, with sales down 6.7% year-over-year to $8.39 billion, below analyst expectations of over $9 billion.

The release of the MacBook Neo is part of Apple’s recent intensive product updates. On Monday, the company launched the iPhone 17e and iPad Air with M4 chips; on Tuesday, it announced new MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Studio Display models. Additionally, Apple plans to introduce a touchscreen Mac later this year, further expanding its computer lineup.