The forthcoming MacBook Neo is certainly compelling — at least for the right person. One could argue that buying a last-gen MacBook Air is a better bet in most instances; however, if you’re still sold on picking Apple’s colorful budget laptop ahead of its launch on March 11th, Best Buy is throwing in a $25 e-gift card when you preorder either the 256GB model for $599 or the step-up 512GB variant for $699.
At its core, Apple’s cheapest laptop is all about tradeoffs. For $599, you get a 13-inch aluminum machine with a fairly large bezel around the display, a color-matched Magic Keyboard, a physical (!) trackpad, and a 1080p camera that lacks some of Apple’s newer tricks (ahem, Center Stage). On the side, you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, side-firing speakers with support for spatial audio, and a pair of USB-C ports (one USB 3 and one USB 2), both of which can be used for charging. There are no MagSafe or Thunderbolt ports, though the higher-end 512GB model does include a TouchID sensor for added convenience.
Inside, the MacBook Neo packs 8GB of RAM — its biggest shortcoming, by far — and Apple’s A18 Pro chip, which is the same mobile processor first introduced with the iPhone 16. Still, the A18 Pro is relatively quick despite being a couple of years old, and should be able to handle any task that doesn’t require a ton of processing power. That makes it well-suited for streaming, browsing, checking emails — you know, the kind of stuff you don’t need a blazing-fast M5 series chip for.