I’ve grown to really enjoy using the word ciao during my time traveling in Italy as it has an opposite meaning depending on when and how the word is used (either hello or goodbye). The MacBook Neo, depending on how it’s used is either a phenomenal computer at an entry level price or an underpowered computer with too many compromises. For nearly everyone reading this MacBook Neo is the former not the latter.

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Last week I had the chance to visit the insanely beautiful Apple Store Via del Corso in Rome and saw the MacBook Neo in person. On the surface the MacBook Neo isn’t super exciting, a MacBook running a 2 year old iPhone processor, at a cheap price. Where’s all the brand new bleeding edge brand new technology Apple laptops are typically known for? It’s not present in this computer and yet that’s the point! MacBooks have never really been accessible to everyone, always sitting at the edge of the premium laptop sector MacBooks (both Air and Pro) never had an entry level option. Sure they are the best laptops on the market jam-packed with features and joyful industrial design, but they lacked the feature that was important to a large population: low price. Price is a feature and the MacBook Neo’s entire purpose is to nail that feature while not making a junk laptop.

I’m a nerd, and while I love having the coolest tech, I also think that technology should be accessible to as many people as possible. There’s something beautiful about putting a computer, one of the most incredible tools humanity has ever created, into the hands of even more people. Making the Neo at a much more accessible price opens this door to a whole new segment of the population. I feel in love with technology with a 2007 MacBook Pro my dad got from work. A device that empowers you to create, to learn, to make a living should not have to cost a fortune.

But devices at this price point (or even cheaper) have always existed, right? Yes but I’d argue that all of them are pieces of junk. They are all so slow, made of cheap plastic with terrible build quality and have screens that have barely changed in a decade. Walking into that Apple Store and seeing the Neo in person will instantly change any preconceived notions about the Neo. Now this sounds obvious but it’s a MacBook through and through. Picking it up there’s very little that distinguishes the Neo from other MacBooks. It feels so solid, nothing about its build quality felt off or cheap. It felt every bit as premium as its more capable siblings. For starting at $599 that’s insane.

So many people have to make a compromise between price and quality, with the Neo yes there are compromises but they all make sense and most people reading this won’t notice them in day to day use. In nearly every aspect that matters the MacBook Neo makes the right compromises to hit a price point that enables it to be more accessible. Now why does it matter? Everyone deserves to have something high quality in their life. Just because you can’t afford the nicest machine doesn’t mean your day to day quality of life should suffer. A device that feels nice to hold, doesn’t creak when you open it, and feels super solid is important.

Some people view technology the same way I view cars. For me, I just need a car that gets me from point A to point B. The Neo is computing version of getting you from point A to point B. That sounds reductionist but I believe that it’s actually a good thing. The Neo nails the basics and even allows for you to push it quite a bit but because of its compromises doesn’t obviate the need for a more powerful computer like the MacBook Air/Pro.

Now what compromises does the Neo make? I’ll list every single one and why I think it’s fine to hit the accessible price point of the Neo.

  • A18 Pro chip: Yes it’s an iPhone chip but this still blows the competition out of the water especially at this price point. Turns out an iPhone chip runs on a MacBook just fine.
  • 8 GBs of RAM. This one is tough for me because I love me some RAM. I do think that most people will be fine with this. Yes it could 100% be higher but macOS has really good RAM management and if things take a little longer to load I think it’s a decent trade off to make to hit the price point.
  • No ambient light sensor: This means that the display brightness will need to be manually adjusted more often. Not the end of the world for this price.
  • A physically clicking trackpad: Nearly every MacBook in the past decade has had a haptic clicking trackpad meaning it doesn’t actually click but vibrates when you press hard. I’d guess most people haven’t really noticed this is a thing at all.
    • The physical click of the Neo feels great and allows you to press from anywhere not just at the bottom. On top of this it doesn’t feel any more inferior to any other MacBook trackpad (which are class leading). The only thing I noticed is the physical click feels different on the edges vs the center. It actually feels slightly more satisfying sometimes. Not a dealbreaker.
  • No camera indicator light: While this seems bad (and I do wish it had it) it has a system level camera indicator on the screen that can’t be turned off by software. So practically it functions the same.
  • No backlighting keys: I usually have my keyboard’s backlighting turned off because I find it distracting. It’s a quality of life change but the keys feel just as nice. Not a dealbreaker.
  • Touch ID on the $699 model only: A bummer but apparently a necessity to hit the $599 price point ($499 for education buyers). Not a dealbreaker.
  • One USB-C port is USB 2.0: This is slightly annoying but most people don’t plug their commuters into anything and if you do plug it into the wrong port (for connecting things like a display) it will tell you via software. Not a dealbreaker.

All these compromises serve so that the MacBook Neo hits the more accessibly price point and honestly I don’t think most people will even notice they’re gone. Now is the computer for absolutely everyone? Nope. There certain professions and use cases where the Neo just won’t cut it. It’s almost like using a really good kitchen knife for a heart surgery, I guess you could but it would be really messy and there are better tools for that and most people don’t perform heart surgery daily. My work bought me an M4 MacBook Pro and it might just be the best computer I’ve ever used. That’s because for me I want my computer to be a workhorse and cut through every task like butter. I’m not a Point A to Point B computer user, I want a computer that can truly do it all with ease.

The Neo completes the MacBook lineup. MacBook Pro: The Workhorse for power users who want lots of headroom on the go. MacBook Air: An elegant solution that gets you where you need to go in style and comfort. And the MacBook Neo: The computer for the rest of us. For the first time in its history, Apple has made not just an entry level laptop with tons of compromises, but the entry level laptop with mostly meaningless compromises, and I couldn’t be more excited about it and what this strategy signifies for the future of Apple. Ciao Neo!