Apple aims to enter the affordable laptop segment through the MacBook Neo, priced from $599—a notably low figure for its products, matching the entry-level M4 iPad Air.

This positioning enables Apple to challenge low-cost Windows machines and Chromebooks, with an educational discount bringing the price to $499.

The introduction significantly reduces the barrier for acquiring a MacBook, as the entry-level MacBook Neo undercuts the base M5 MacBook Air by $500, establishing the latter as Apple's standard mid-tier option.

Selecting the MacBook Neo over the MacBook Air involves several concessions. For those interested in the distinctions between the Neo and the 13.6-inch Air base model, including potential losses with the budget choice, the following details outline them.

Initial visual differences between the models include color selections. The Neo offers vibrant choices such as silver, blush pink, light yellow citrus, and indigo. In contrast, the Air features subtler shades like sky blue, silver, champagne-toned starlight, and deep midnight blue.

Both devices weigh 2.7 pounds with minimal size variations. Each includes a headphone jack, a feature Apple continues to provide.

The Neo lacks a MagSafe charging option, requiring use of its two USB-C ports—one USB-C 2 and one USB-C 3—for power. The MacBook Air provides two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports alongside MagSafe.

Regarding power supplies, the MacBook Neo ships with a 20W adapter. The MacBook Air includes a 40W adapter capable of up to 60W dynamically, with fast charging support reaching 70W.

The MacBook Neo's 36.5-watt-hour lithium-ion battery delivers up to 11 hours of internet use or 16 hours of video playback per charge, according to Apple. The MacBook Air's 53.8-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery extends to 15 hours for browsing or 18 hours for video.

On audio capabilities, the Neo features a dual side-firing speaker setup supporting Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos, but without specified AirPods Spatial Audio integration. The MacBook Air has four speakers and an additional microphone; both models offer Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum audio modes.

When opened side by side, the MacBook Neo's display measures 13 inches diagonally, slightly smaller than the Air's. Both employ Liquid Retina panels at 500 nits brightness, but the Neo resolves at 2408 x 1506 pixels, below the Air's 2560 x 1664. The Air supports P3 wide color and True Tone for ambient light adjustment, while the Neo uses sRGB.

Both cameras record 1080p video, but the Neo's basic 1080p FaceTime HD unit lacks advanced functions. The MacBook Air's 12MP sensor includes Center Stage for automatic framing during movement and Desk View for showing both user and workspace.

The MacBook Neo includes a Magic Keyboard and multi-touch trackpad, noted as less robust in early testing. The MacBook Air offers a backlit Magic Keyboard, Force Touch trackpad, and built-in Touch ID.

Adding Touch ID to the MacBook Neo requires an upgrade to $699, which also increases storage to 512GB—the sole configuration option currently available. This leads naturally to examining the processors and storage.

Standard storage on the M5 MacBook Air is 512GB, expandable to 4TB SSD, while the MacBook Neo maxes at 512GB.

The MacBook Neo provides only 8GB of unified memory, half the Air's base amount, with the latter upgradeable to 32GB. The Air's memory bandwidth reaches 153GB/s, over twice the Neo's 60GB/s, reflecting rising memory expenses.

Powering the MacBook Neo is the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 Pro series, featuring a 6-core CPU with two performance and four efficiency cores, a 5-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine. The base M5 in the Air has a 10-core CPU with four high-performance and six efficiency cores, an 8-core GPU, and the same Neural Engine.

Direct benchmarks like Geekbench 6 are unavailable yet, but the MacBook Neo clearly lags behind the M5 MacBook Air in performance. It suits lighter tasks rather than intensive video editing, though Apple confirms compatibility with Apple Intelligence tools.