The MacBook Neo may outshine more iPads than MacBook Airs

Apple has finally unveiled the long-awaited MacBook, the MacBook Neo – and it was definitely worth the wait. The shiny new device has reached a highly optimistic price point, with a starting price of just $599.

There is no doubt that the Neo will deplete MacBook Air sales. Although it certainly involves compromises, it will be the right decision for many. However, what I suspect is that it will end up eating away at the iPad crowd…

For some uses, only an iPad will do

I should preface my argument by acknowledging that there are other use cases that can be reasonably met by a tablet than a laptop. Examples include:

• To illustrate
• Some types of photo editing, difficult in brush work
• Takes handwritten notes
• Annotation of PDFs
• eBook reading

There are other uses where the iPad may feel like a more natural form factor. For example, reading digital magazines and other forms of pure media consumption, such as streaming video and browsing the web.

For many, the iPad is a portable computer

But there are plenty of people who use an iPad and keyboard as a laptop instead, and there are good historical reasons for that.

For a long time, the basic model of the iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard was much cheaper than the inexpensive MacBook Air. Many times, when non-techie friends ask me which Mac to buy, I ask them about their needs and usually end up recommending an iPad instead.

Even as iPads rose on the market, and the Magic Keyboard emerged as a cost-effective way to turn one into a fake laptop, there were still advantages. Fast startup and battery life were good points, and for the non-technical user who only uses one app at a time, the iPad is friendly.

Apple Silicon Macs changed the landscape

But things changed dramatically with the arrival of Apple Silicon Macs. Meanwhile, you can buy a MacBook Air with the same sleep/wake and battery life. Not only this, but if you wanted a 13-inch screen, the MacBook was actually cheaper than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard.

Yes, the iPad combo gave you the flexibility of having a fake laptop and tablet in one purchase, but this was the point where many of those who might have gone the iPad route opted for the MacBook Air.

Neo moves the goalposts again

But now… Directly comparable to the Neo will be the 13-inch iPad Air with the Magic Keyboard. That gets you the same screen size and the same quality keyboard. But if you match the 256GB storage, that comes in at $1,218 – literally double the price of the Neo!

Of course you can go cheaper. As we noted yesterday, the base iPad and the Magic Keyboard Folio come in at the same price, though you only get an 11-inch screen for your money. You can also get even cheaper by choosing to pair a base model iPad with a third-party Bluetooth keyboard.

Whether any of these options make sense comes down to whether any of your uses are better suited for an iPad than a laptop. The flexibility of a 2-in-1 device cannot be denied. But if you were buying an iPad to spend the rest of its life being used as a laptop, then the MacBook Neo makes a lot more sense from a hardware and software perspective.

On the hardware side, the Neo is much neater than the clunkier iPad and keyboard combination. Software-wise, iPadOS is much better than before, but it still falls short of macOS.

So yes, the MacBook Neo will undoubtedly beat the sales of the MacBook Air. But it will also hit iPad sales, and I suspect the impact will be far greater.

Do you agree, or do you think the iPad is safe even for those who buy it as a fake laptop? Please share your thoughts in the comments.