New York, March 5, 2026, 10:03 EST
- Apple unveiled the $599 MacBook Neo, its lowest-priced Mac laptop in years, with deliveries starting March 11.
- Reuters reported the new model targets Chromebooks and lower-end Windows PCs, and ships with 8GB of unified memory during a memory-chip crunch.
- The launch follows Apple’s M5-series Mac refresh this week as PC demand stays uneven and component costs rise.
Apple on Wednesday unveiled the MacBook Neo, a new laptop starting at $599 that pushes the company deeper into entry-level PCs. The device is available for pre-order with deliveries and in-store availability set for March 11, Apple said. “It delivers the magic of the Mac at a breakthrough price,” Apple hardware engineering chief John Ternus said. 1
The Neo is a rare step downmarket for Apple, which has leaned on premium pricing to defend margins and keep the Mac positioned as a higher-end choice. A cheaper Mac, if it sells, could widen Apple’s base in schools and among first-time buyers who start on low-cost notebooks and stay put.
This matters now because PC makers are still fighting for upgrades after an uneven stretch of demand, while key parts have become more expensive. Apple this week refreshed MacBook Air and Pro models with M5-series chips and larger base storage, framing it as an upgrade push in a softening PC market squeezed by rising memory costs. 2
Reuters reported Apple is steering the Neo at Google-powered Chromebooks and lower-end Windows laptops, a segment where Microsoft’s push for Arm-based designs — the phone-style chip approach meant to save battery — has not kicked off a sales boom. The $599 Neo comes with 8 gigabytes of unified memory, a shared pool used by both the processor and graphics, as the industry wrestles with a global memory-chip crunch. “How it balances cost, performance and brand positioning” will be the key question, said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of client devices at IDC. 3
In its higher-end lineup, Apple detailed a refreshed MacBook Air with M5 starting at $1,099 and doubling base storage to 512GB. The company also added Wi‑Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, with shipping set for March 11. 4
For the MacBook Pro line, Apple introduced the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips and what it calls a new “Fusion Architecture” that links two chip dies into a single system. “M5 Pro and M5 Max are a monumental leap forward for Apple silicon,” Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies, said. 5
Apple shares were down about 1.3% at $259.20 in New York morning trading, compared with a prior close of $262.52.
But the bargain price brings trade-offs. If component costs keep rising or supply stays tight, Apple may have to ration units, absorb thinner margins, or take heat for a base model capped at 8GB of memory.
The Neo also puts Apple into a bruising slice of the market where shoppers compare spec sheets and promotions more than brand story. Chromebooks and low-end Windows machines win on price and volume; Apple is trying to win them over with its ecosystem and tighter hardware-software integration.
Deliveries start March 11. The next test is whether Apple can move the Neo in big numbers without undercutting pricier Macs or blunting the premium image it has guarded for years.
