The MacBook Neo is designed for a low price – but an amazing value

If there was one product that reinforced the myth of the “Apple tax” — the price paid for the logo — it was the MacBook Air. People can point to a $1,000 Apple laptop and exclaim loudly that you can buy a Windows machine or Chromebook for around $300.

The comparison was not true. The cheap laptops used to make the argument were ugly plastic things with very poor specs compared to the MacBook Air. Still, it couldn’t be denied that the four-figure starting price proved a deterrent for many people – but that all changed with the MacBook Neo…

A time before the MacBook Neo

Technically, of course, the MacBook Air started at $999, but no one in the world is going to cross that, and I don’t know why companies still do. The MacBook Air cost thousands of dollars and more.

I’d be preaching to the choir here if I listed the vast and varied differences between this and Windows laptops and Chromebooks. Suffice it to say that they were not remotely comparable.

However, you could make the argument that the average budget laptop buyer didn’t need the high specs offered by Apple devices. If all you do is email, web browsing and writing, then a cheap Windows laptop will do the job. Some argue that if Apple really wants to live up to its values, it should offer something affordable, even if that means making some compromises.

Until yesterday, the stock answer was that it was impossible for Apple to make a Mac worthy of the logo at such a low price. The MacBook Neo changed that overnight.

Neo makes many compromises

Compared to a thousand dollars, $599 (or $499 for students) is a very different proposition, and we can expect to drop $100 off that price from third-party sellers somewhere down the line. In a few months, people will be able to pick this up for half the price of the previous MacBook Air.

It goes without saying that it was only possible to achieve this by making a very long list of compromises. We yesterday provided a detailed comparison between the Neo and the Air, but let’s quickly review the limitations here:

• 8GB RAM
• Maximum 512GB SSD
• Reduced performance
• Slow charging
• Poor battery life
• Smaller color gamut (sRGB than P3)
• No True Tone
• Reduced external display support (1x4K vs 2x6K)
• No Thunderbolt support
• Only one USB 3 port (the other is USB 2)
• There is no Touch ID on the base model
• No keyboard light
• Mechanical trackpad instead of Force Touch
• The webcam does not support Center Stage (and no visible light)
• The speaker and the microphone collide

That’s a lot. However…

It’s still an amazing value

Again, this device costs $599, and will be widely available for $499 before too long.

A few of the compromises made could be distractions 9 on 5 Mac students. Many of you didn’t even get past the first one on the list.

But we are not the target market for this device. This is the Mac Apple hopes to sell to many of those who previously bought that cheap Windows laptop. People who only use their device for emails, web browsing and writing.

The target market does not use a video editing machine. They don’t connect it to a dock or external monitor. They don’t connect it to external hard drives. Almost none of the compromises will affect your use.

So despite that long list of limitations, this is the Mac I’d recommend to most people. Of course, when I talk to friends about their needs, I’ll sometimes end up recommending that they buy a MacBook Air instead, or maybe a MacBook Pro. But for most people, the MacBook Neo will be all they need.

Did I mention the price? Unless you need to use software that will only work under Windows, you’d have to be pretty crazy to buy a Windows laptop instead of a MacBook Neo. Apple will sell a gazillion of these things, and rightfully so.