Additional Coverage:
- Apple’s $599 MacBook Neo is a ‘shock to the entire market’—and PC makers are ‘taking it very seriously’ (fortune.com)
Apple’s New MacBook Neo Shakes Up Laptop Market, Competitors Take Notice
Cupertino, CA – Apple’s unexpected dive into the budget-friendly laptop arena with the new MacBook Neo has sent ripples through the entire personal computer industry, according to a top executive at a major PC manufacturer.
Priced at a surprising $599, the MacBook Neo, unveiled last week, is roughly half the cost of Apple’s previously most affordable laptop, the MacBook Air. It even undercuts the standard iPhone 17, which hit shelves last year with a $799 price tag. This strategic shift positions Apple to directly compete with a new segment of lower-cost PCs, and rivals are certainly paying attention.
Nick Wu, Chief Financial Officer of PC giant Asus, expressed the industry’s surprise during a recent earnings call. “Given Apple’s historically very premium pricing, launching such an affordable product is certainly a shock to the entire market,” Wu stated in an English translation of the call. Apple has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the Neo’s impact.
While the Neo’s price point is a game-changer, Wu also highlighted some of its limitations. He suggested the device is primarily designed for “content consumption,” noting its un-upgradeable storage and only 8 gigabytes of unified memory, which could hinder certain applications. “In that case, the Neo feels more like a tablet,” he added.
Indeed, the base model of the MacBook Neo doesn’t pack the same punch as its pricier siblings, such as the MacBook Air M5. It comes with 8 gigabytes of unified memory, lacks a backlit keyboard, and offers only 256 gigabytes of storage – the same as a standard iPhone 17.
In contrast, the MacBook Air M5 boasts a higher 16 gigabytes of unified memory and 512 gigabytes of storage. An upgraded Neo model, available for $699, doubles the storage to 512 gigabytes but retains the 8 gigabytes of memory.
“It’s not that it cannot do all the work, but considering user experience and those hardware limitations, the experience, I think, differs significantly from mainstream products,” Wu commented on the Neo’s functionality.
Despite these potential drawbacks, early reviews suggest the Neo could be a solid choice for students (especially with Apple’s student discount) and casual users who primarily stream video or create documents. However, it may not fully satisfy professionals engaged in demanding tasks like coding or extensive photo and video editing. Interestingly, some reviewers have successfully used Apple’s Final Cut Pro and Adobe Lightroom on the device without issues.
Facing the Threat Head-On
Even with its limitations, the PC industry is treating the MacBook Neo as a significant threat, Wu emphasized. “I believe all PC vendors, including upstream vendors like Microsoft, Intel, and AMD, they’re all taking this very seriously, seriously discussing how to compete with this product in the entire PC ecosystem,” he revealed.
The release of the MacBook Neo is the latest move in Apple’s long-term strategy to attract price-sensitive consumers without compromising its premium brand image. This approach has previously included the 2016 iPhone SE, a budget-friendly entry point for iPhone buyers, and a $329 iPad launched in 2017. Earlier this month, the company also unveiled the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost iPhone starting at $599 – matching the Neo’s price.
Now, Apple is extending this strategy to the PC market, and Wu predicts the industry will rapidly adapt to compete. “Of course, the entire PC system will launch corresponding products to compete with Apple,” Wu affirmed. “The final market competition outcome is hard to predict.”