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Macbook Neo Impressions: Reincarnated!

| 10 products mentioned
Marques Brownlee Marques Brownlee host
Macbook Neo Impressions guest
Watch on YouTube laptop reviews apple silicon budget tech education market chromebook competition product positioning mac lineup

Marques Brownlee reviews Apple's new MacBook Neo, a $599 entry-level laptop that finally delivers an affordable Mac option by pairing the A18 Pro chip with a premium all-aluminum design. Brownlee positions this as Apple's successful "reincarnation" of the failed 2015 12-inch MacBook, now viable thanks to Apple silicon's efficiency, and argues it directly challenges Chromebooks in education while offering substantially better value than iPad + keyboard alternatives.

Key takeaways
  • • The MacBook Neo at $599 ($499 with student discount) becomes Apple's most accessible laptop and matches the value proposition of the Mac Mini, making it competitive with Chromebooks in the education market.
  • • The A18 Pro chip (5-core GPU variant) handles everyday tasks like web browsing, email, and spreadsheets reliably, but lacks power for video editing or intensive creative work—it's positioned as a "Safari book" for basic computing.
  • • Base model sacrifices Touch ID and uses a mechanical trackpad instead of haptic feedback, with these premium features only available by spending an extra $100 for the 512GB storage tier.
  • • The MacBook Neo solves a decade-old problem: the 2015 12-inch MacBook failed due to Intel's weak processors, but Apple silicon finally makes an ultra-portable, thin-and-light laptop viable at an affordable price point.
  • • Display specs are modest at 500 nits brightness and 1440p resolution, and the 2.7-pound weight matches larger MacBook Air despite the smaller 13-inch form factor, suggesting room for further optimization.
  • • The laptop competes directly with iPad + keyboard bundles (which cost ~$600 with base iPad and keyboard accessory) while offering better functionality and ecosystem integration for students considering alternatives to MacBook Air.

Mentioned (10)

Mac Studio
Mac Studio "The new Mac Studio is everything that they wanted that machine to be, which is why they're going ..." ▶ 7:00
MacBook Neo
MacBook Neo "It is a 13-inch laptop powered by the A18 Pro chip, 8 gigs of RAM, 256 gigs of starting storage, ..." ▶ 0:21
Mac Mini
Mac Mini "It's the same price as a Mac Mini, which has actually been one of the best deals in tech for a li..." ▶ 1:17
iPhone 17 Pro
iPhone 17 Pro "The A18 Pro is the same chip that was in the iPhone 16 Pros last year, but actually this is a bin..." ▶ 1:33
Chromebooks
Chromebooks "Think of it like a Chromebook, but the Apple one. Chromebooks have been cheaper and have been jus..." ▶ 2:15
MacBook Air
MacBook Air "Up until now, the cheapest laptop available was the MacBook Air, and that just got a price bump u..." ▶ 3:14
iPad
iPad "A lot of students I've seen were trying to undercut a MacBook Air with either going cheaper, refu..." ▶ 5:13
Studio Display
Studio Display "There's a new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR to replace the Pro Display." ▶ 7:14
iPhone 17e
iPhone 17e "There's also an iPhone 17e with MagSafe and double the starting storage and a new pink color." ▶ 7:19
MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro "Spec Bump M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro with slightly less text on the keyboard." ▶ 7:27

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