Apple launches MacBook Neo: $599 with A18 Pro CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, on sale March 11

As was widely expected, Apple launched its new budget laptop at today's press event, and it's called the MacBook Neo as a leak suggested yesterday.

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It's a 13-inch laptop which does indeed run with an iPhone chip, the A18 Pro (again as rumored), but the key bit here is that - despite my paranoia due to the MacBook Air M5 price bump - it's genuinely affordable. The MacBook Neo starts from $599, in fact ($499 with the education discount).

Okay, so as you might guess, the core spec is modest, with 8GB of system RAM and 256GB of storage for that base price.

You get a 13-inch Liquid Retina display with a 2408 x 1506 resolution, one that's rated for 500 nits of brightness and has an anti-reflective coating. In a press release, Apple observes that:

"The display is both brighter and higher in resolution than most PC laptops in this price range, putting it in a class of its own."

Indeed, Apple is keen to draw comparisons with laptops packing Intel CPUs, noting that:

"(The MacBook Neo is) 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."

Apple says the new laptop offers up to 16 hours of battery life. There's also a 1080p FaceTime camera on board, along with a Magic Keyboard and multi-touch trackpad. There are two USB-C ports and you get Wi-Fi 6E support.

The MacBook Neo has an aluminum design and weighs 2.7lbs (1.22kg), so it's nice and light, with the laptop available in the following colors: blush, indigo, silver, and citrus. You can pre-order now with the on-sale date being March 11.

The price is a surprise, then, as I wasn't expecting Apple to dip this low with a MacBook - particularly not when we're in the middle of a memory crisis exerting upward pressure on PC pricing. The disappointment with the base model is that 8GB of RAM loadout, which is questionable for any kind of future-proofing - but to get this low price, there were obviously going to be compromises.