Apple launches MacBook Neo: A $599 budget laptop powered by iPhone's A18 Pro chip

Apple MacBook Neo preorder deal: Get a free $25 gift card at Best Buy

FREE $25 GIFT CARD: As of March 5, you can get a free $25 gift card when you preorder the new Apple MacBook Neo for $599 at Best Buy. The budget laptop will begin shipping on March 11. Preorders are officially open for Apple's new budget laptop: the MacBook Neo. Announced Wednesday during "special Apple experiences" in New York, London, and Shanghai, the long-rumored MacBook marks Apple's first foray into the low-cost laptop space. Not only does it start at just $599 (that's $500 cheaper than the MacBook Air), but if you lock in a preorder at Best Buy, you'll also get some free cash to spend. As of March 5, when you pre-order the new Apple MacBook Neo at Best Buy, you'll get a free $25 e-gift card to spend at your leisure. The laptop will begin shipping on March 11 and you'll get an email with your gift card after you receive your product. Triple check that you enter the correct email address to ensure you collect your free gift. The MacBook Neo comes in two storage configurations, 256GB or 512GB, and four colors: silver, indigo, blush, and citrus. The gift card preorder deal is valid for all configurations. Besides being the first budget MacBook in Apple's lineup, the Neo is also the first MacBook to run on an iPhone chip, the A18 Pro (the same as the iPhone 16 Pro). According to Apple, it can "fly through tasks" everyday tasks like streaming and web browsing 50 percent faster and run on-device AI workloads like advanced photo effects up to three times faster than PCs with the latest Intel Core Ultra 5 chip. Other specs include a 13-inch Liquid Retina display with a 60Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of brightness, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 6, 8GB of RAM, two USB-C ports, a MagSage charging port, and a headphone jack.

How to preorder the new Apple MacBook Neo (for only $499)

Students have seriously lucked out with this affordable design. Breaking: Apple announces the new MacBook Neo model - the first of its kind, and the first Mac powered by an A-series chip (the A18 Pro). It cuts a few corners to offer one of the most affordable MacBooks on the market, with decent AI performance, and four fun colours to choose from. I'm betting that this new model will be hugely popular among students and content creators with lighter workloads (and tighter budgets), plus with Apple's Student Discount, you can get the Neo for as little as $499 / $499 - which feels almost like stealing. So how can you preorder the MacBook Neo? I've got all the details for you below, but note that for non-students, the starting price is $599 / £599. To follow along with all of the Apple announcements and updates, check out our Apple March event Live Blog running right now. There are several ways to save on a new MacBook M5 Pro (and MacBook Air M5), too, if you need pro power. MacBook Neo prices & How to preorder What's the price? Prices for the brand new MacBook Neo start at $599 / £599 for the 256GB option, which increases to $699 / £699 for the 512GB model with a Touch ID magic keyboard. What are the best features? The MacBook Neo is an entirely new laptop from Apple with two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, a 1080p front camera, and speakers that support spatial audio. It has up to 16 hours of battery life on a single charge and delivers 3x faster on-device processing than previous Intel models. How to save: You can save £100 / $100 on the MacBook Neo if you are a student, teacher, or educator using Apple's Store for Education in the US, or the UK Apple Store for Education. You'll need to either register or be signed in with your academic email address to qualify.

Apple Announces the MacBook Neo, a Colorful $599 Laptop Powered by an iPhone Chip - IGN

Apple has taken the wraps off a brand new entry to its MacBook line of laptops: the MacBook Neo. It will come in four vibrant colors, feature a 13-inch display, and be driven by an A18 Pro chip, the same that powers the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max. Best of all, it'll be cheap: It starts at $599 (or $499 for those with education discounts). The price and the fact that this thing uses a smartphone chip instead of a laptop- and- desktop-class M-series Apple silicon chip are the obvious headliners, putting the laptop in competition with budget Windows machines and Chromebooks. But make no mistake: While this won't go toe-to-toe with the finest gaming laptops, the A18 is no slouch. Just looking at basic Geekbench scores, the A18 Pro in an iPhone 16 Pro put up single-core performance that's within striking distance of an M4 MacBook Air, and outdid the M1 MacBook Air in multicore scores. Apple says the Neo will be "up to 50 percent faster for everyday tasks like web browsing and up to 3x faster when running on-device AI workloads like applying advanced effects to photos compared to the bestselling PC with the latest shipping Intel Core Ultra 5." It comes with either 256GB or 512GB of storage, 8GB of RAM (with Apple Intelligence support, to boot), and a 36.5-watt-hour battery that Apple says is good for up to 16 hours of use at a go. The laptop comes with a 20W USB-C power adapter and USB-C charging cable. The Neo will weigh 2.7 pounds and come in a 0.50-inch thick aluminum chassis - that's a touch thicker than the 0.44-inch-thick MacBook Air - with four colors that Apple is calling Blush (pink), Citrus (yellow/green), Indigo (blue), and Silver (uh, silver). It won't have the MagSafe charging port from other MacBooks, but will feature two USB-C ports (one USB 3 and the other USB 2) for both charging and data - good to see Apple not repeating the single-port mistake it made with the 12-inch MacBook - leaving one for power and one open for accessories. It'll have a color-matched Magic Keyboard, but you'll need to upgrade if you want Touch ID, as that's not available in the base model. Below the keyboard, a Magic Trackpad, which means multi-touch and gesture support. The retina display will lack the notch from other MacBooks, meaning a thicker bezel, and will feature a 2408x1506 resolution and 500-nit brightness. In the top of the bezel, a 1080p webcam, and on the side of the machine, a headphone jack and dual side-firing speakers with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos support. And, via the rear USB-C port, the laptop can drive an external 4K display at 60Hz. Apart from the A18 Pro, which has a 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine for AI tasks, the MacBook Neo features Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 6 compatibility. The MacBook Neo is in preorder on Apple's website now, and will be available to purchase for $599 and up starting March 11.