The MacBook Neo has been a huge success since it first arrived earlier this year. Now, early reports suggest that the company is already preparing to launch its successor. According to recent supply chain leaks, the new MacBook Neo 2 is reportedly coming out in 2027. It will feature several big hardware upgrades, including a […]
Apple is, of course, already working on the next MacBook Neo, a follow-up to the budget laptop that became one of its surprise hits this year. According to Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman, the company is testing an updated model with an A19 Pro processor, more memory, and additional color options as part of a broader Mac refresh stretching through 2026 and 2027.
The current MacBook Neo launched in March with a 13-inch Liquid Retina display, an aluminum chassis, and Apple’s A18 Pro chip. It ships with 8GB of unified memory and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. Apple introduced it at $599, or $499 with education pricing, in blush, indigo, silver, and citrus. The starting price later rose to $699 during an industrywide memory squeeze.
That 8GB memory ceiling is the machine’s most cited limit. Everyday browsing and documents are fine. Heavy tab stacks, several apps at once, and on-device Apple Intelligence features run tighter. Gurman has reported that the next Neo is being built around the A19 Pro and a larger memory configuration. Prior reporting around that same pipeline has pointed to 12GB as the likely step up, which would give the laptop more headroom for multitasking and local AI workloads.
Color remains part of the plan. Gurman has said Apple intends to keep refreshing the Neo’s finishes. That fits how the product was sold: as a cheaper Mac that still looks like a statement.
The next Neo is not expected to jump to M-series chips, MagSafe, or a touch display. Those upgrades sit on other MacBook lines in the same multi-year overhaul Gurman has outlined, including redesigned Pro models with touch and OLED. The Neo’s job stays the same: a lower-priced aluminum notebook that uses A-series Apple Silicon to undercut Windows laptops and Chromebooks.
A spring 2027 window has been the working assumption in coverage of Gurman’s reporting, alongside other consumer hardware. Pricing is the open question. Component costs already forced Apple to lift the first Neo’s sticker. A faster chip and more RAM could make another increase likely, even if the company keeps the model clearly below the MacBook Air.
MacDailyNews Take: Until Apple confirms the specs, the next MacBook Neo sounds like a targeted refresh: A19 Pro, more memory, new colors, and the same basic idea that made the first one sell: macOS in a machine more people can afford.
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!
If you’re a MacBook Air or MacBook Neo owner, there’s one accessory that I consider an absolute must-have; a USB-C hub. Why? Because it considerably expands the port options available to you, it’s not cumbersome, and the good news is that they’re also pretty cheap at around $25. What’s not to like? A good USB-C ... Read More
In another time, the MacBook Neo could have caused a substantial realignment of the lowish-end laptop business. Sure, it has shortcomings compared to the MacBook Air, but it could have at least encouraged PC makers to start shipping consistently decent keyboards, screens, and build quality in the Neo's $599 price window.
The PC makers did start responding, thanks in part to Intel's actually new non-Ultra Core Series 3 processors (codenamed Wildcat Lake). Intel has resisted its usual compunction to serve the budget market with aging, re-labeled silicon and has created a lower-end, lower-performance processor with the same building blocks (and the same manufacturing processes) as this year's high-end, high-performance models.
The likes of Dell, Acer, Asus, and Lenovo began hopping on the Wildcat Lake train fairly quickly, announcing would-be Neo competitors. But it felt like most of them were having trouble matching the Neo's barebones specs, let alone undercutting them. Dell's XPS 13 started at $599, but only for students. It would be $699 for everyone else. Acer's Swift Air 14 was announced at $699, too. Sure, sometimes these offered features the Neo didn't have. But the point of the Neo is that it eschews frills and frippery in favor of nailing the basics.
Há dois meses, falamos aqui sobre o RetinaDesk, um site muito bacana que ajuda você a escolher o melhor monitor externo para o seu Mac, levando em conta todas as especificidades dos computadores da Apple.
Pois bem, recentemente, a ferramenta ficou ainda mais completa com a adição de uma página que ajuda você a descobrir, de maneira extremamente intuitiva, a quantidade máxima de displays externos suportados pela sua máquina.
O banco de dados da ferramenta cobre todos os Macs com Apple Silicon lançados até hoje, bem como suas respectivas variantes — detalhe que joga o total de computadores listados pelo RetinaDesk para nada menos que 53.
Encontrar essa página é fácil: basta acessar o site do RetinaDesk, clicar na aba “Tools” na parte de cima da tela e, depois, selecionar a opção “Mac External Display Support by Chip” — ou simplesmente acessar esse link. Feito isso, é só selecionar o modelo do seu Mac na seção “Which Mac is it?” e, em seguida, sua respectiva variante — indicada pelo chip e o ano de lançamento (e, às vezes, o número de portas do computador) — em “Step 2”.
Captura de tela/RetinaDesk
Uma vez que você indicar o modelo do seu Mac, o número máximo de monitores externos ao qual ele pode ser conectado deverá aparecer à direita da tela, junto de uma ilustração do seu “setup máximo” — ou seja, com o maior número de monitores possível.
A nova página, no entanto, não para por aí, já que ela também conta com outra seção a qual ajuda você a montar setups com diferentes combinações de monitores, os quais podem ter resoluções e taxas de atualização distintas — sempre levando em conta, é claro, as limitações do seu computador. Ela também é uma boa forma de descobrir se o seu Mac suporta uma resolução ou uma taxa de atualização (ou uma combinação dessas duas coisas) específica.
Captura de tela/RetinaDesk
A seção “What each built-in port can drive”, por sua vez, exibe com quais resoluções/taxas de atualização cada porta do seu computador é compatível, além de revelar a sua versão (se é Thunderbolt 4 ou 5, por exemplo). Logo abaixo, temos a seção “How you can arrange the displays” que, como seu nome indica, mostra todas as combinações possíveis de monitores para a sua máquina.
Por fim, a ferramenta também deixa você comparar um Mac qualquer com outro modelo da sua escolha, checar se sua máquina precisa estar no modo clamshell para suportar um setup específico e aprender sobre soluções alternativas e suas respectivas concessões.
Captura de tela/RetinaDesk
Assim como o resto das ferramentas do RetinaDesk, essa nova página é totalmente gratuita, com o único “porém” sendo o fato de que ela não está disponível em português — problema que, é claro, pode ser facilmente remediado com a ajuda das ferramentas de tradução dos navegadores atuais.
Com inúmeros modelos e variações de Macs já fabricados, a Apple consegue abranger diferentes públicos-alvo. Desta forma, seja você uma pessoa que usa computador apenas para navegar na web ou um profissional que precisa de máquinas parrudas para dar conta do recado, pode usufruir de notebooks ou desktops da empresa.
Para ter certeza de qual modelo de computador da Apple você tem no momento, é possível conferir exatamente essa informação pelo sistema.
Cores: preto-espacial ou prateado Tela: padrão ou nano-texture Chips: M5 Pro ou M5 Max Memória: 24GB, 36GB, 48GB, 64GB ou 128GB Armazenamento: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB ou 8TB
Cores: preto-espacial ou prateado Tela: padrão ou nano-texture Chips: M5, M5 Pro ou M5 Max Memória: 24GB, 36GB, 48GB, 64GB ou 128GB Armazenamento: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB ou 8TB Adaptador de energia: USB-C de 70W ou 96W
Cores: azul-céu, prateado, estelar ou meia-noite Chip: M5 Memória: 16GB, 24GB ou 32GB Armazenamento: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB ou 4TB Adaptador de energia: USB‑C de 30W, 35W com duas portas ou 70W
Cores: azul-céu, prateado, estelar ou meia-noite Chip: M5 Memória: 16GB, 24GB ou 32GB Armazenamento: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB ou 4TB Adaptador de energia: USB‑C de 30W, 35W com duas portas ou 70W
NOTA DE TRANSPARÊNCIA: O MacMagazine recebe uma pequena comissão sobre vendas concluídas por meio de links deste post, mas você, como consumidor, não paga nada mais pelos produtos/serviços usando os nossos links de afiliado.
O macOS é o sistema operacional que equipa os computadores da Apple, os Macs.
Para receber os novos recursos e estar sempre protegido contra ataques ou brechas de segurança, é recomendável manter o seu dispositivo atualizado para a última versão disponível.
Veja como conferir qual versão do sistema seu Mac está usando! 👨💻
Cores: preto-espacial ou prateado Tela: padrão ou nano-texture Chips: M5 Pro ou M5 Max Memória: 24GB, 36GB, 48GB, 64GB ou 128GB Armazenamento: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB ou 8TB
Cores: preto-espacial ou prateado Tela: padrão ou nano-texture Chips: M5, M5 Pro ou M5 Max Memória: 24GB, 36GB, 48GB, 64GB ou 128GB Armazenamento: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB ou 8TB Adaptador de energia: USB-C de 70W ou 96W
Cores: azul-céu, prateado, estelar ou meia-noite Chip: M5 Memória: 16GB, 24GB ou 32GB Armazenamento: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB ou 4TB Adaptador de energia: USB‑C de 30W, 35W com duas portas ou 70W
Cores: azul-céu, prateado, estelar ou meia-noite Chip: M5 Memória: 16GB, 24GB ou 32GB Armazenamento: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB ou 4TB Adaptador de energia: USB‑C de 30W, 35W com duas portas ou 70W
NOTA DE TRANSPARÊNCIA: O MacMagazine recebe uma pequena comissão sobre vendas concluídas por meio de links deste post, mas você, como consumidor, não paga nada mais pelos produtos/serviços usando os nossos links de afiliado.
It seems the highly affordable Apple portable computer is sending shockwaves through the PC industry. The entry-level MacBook Neo is proving that a computer with just 8GB of RAM can handle incredibly heavy workloads without breaking a sweat. This strong performance has put immense pressure on Microsoft. Now, the software maker is working hard to […]
Apple is selling its most affordable laptop, the MacBook Neo, at its pre-price-hike price through the company’s refurbished store. All four color options are currently available and discounted.
The base 256GB model is listed for $599 (usually $699 when new), while the upgraded version with 512GB of storage and Touch ID sells for $679 (usually $799). The refurbished laptops come with a one-year manufacturer warranty, and buyers have the option to purchase an extended AppleCare plan.
The MacBook Neo features a 13-inch display and is powered by Apple’s A18 Pro chip—the same processor used in the iPhone 16 Pro—along with 8GB of RAM. Apple’s entry-level Mac laptop offers strong performance for everyday tasks, with an excellent screen, keyboard, and speakers.
While power users may feel limited by the 8GB of memory and relatively slow storage, it’s a solid choice for students, casual users, and anyone who doesn’t need demanding desktop apps.
Its A18 Pro chip (the same processor found in the iPhone 16 Pro) delivers smooth everyday performance for browsing, streaming, writing papers, online classes, video calls, and light multitasking. The excellent screen, comfortable keyboard, and strong speakers make long study or work sessions more pleasant, while the 13-inch form factor keeps it portable and easy to carry between classes or around the house.
With 8GB of memory and relatively modest storage speeds, it isn’t ideal for power users running heavy video editing, complex coding environments, or multiple intensive apps at once. But for high school or college students, it strikes a smart balance of capability, build quality, and affordability, especially at the current refurbished prices.
MacDailyNews Take: Check out all of the MacBook Neo – and all of Apple’s other refurbished hardware (it’s the best in the business) – via Apple’s Certified Refurbished store here.
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!
A Receita Federal anunciou dois novos leilões os quais contam com uma série de dispositivos da Apple que entraram de forma ilegal no país. Distribuídos nas cidades de Porto Alegre (RS) e Salvador (BA), eles somam, ao todo, 16 lotes com pelo menos um produto da empresa.
O órgão, é sempre bom lembrar, não especifica os modelos ou as versões de determinados itens incluídos nos lotes, sendo que alguns deles podem estar usados, vir sem caixa ou até mesmo sem acessórios (isso costuma ser alertado). Ele também não faz entregas.
Dentro dos lotes com produtos da Apple, também pode haver outros itens sendo leiloados, vale notar.
Porto Alegre
Com 190 lotes (embora apenas 11 com dispositivos da Maçã), os itens desse leilão estão concentrados na Superintendência Regional da Receita Federal do Brasil da 10ª Região Fiscal. Segundo seu edital, as propostas poderão ser enviadas para análise a partir do dia 25 de agosto, às 12h, e serão recebidas até 28/8, às 18h.
As melhores serão selecionadas para participar do pregão online — o qual está previsto para o dia 31/8, a partir das 14h.
Eis os lotes com dispositivos da Apple inclusos nesse leilão:
Lote
Produto(s) da Apple
Valor mínimo
4
2x AirTag (pacote com 4 unidades) 1x iMac (M4) 20x adaptador de parede USB-C (20W)
R$20.000
10
1x Magic Mouse (USB-C) 1x MacBook Air (M2, 256GB) de 13″ 2x MacBook Air (M1, 256GB) de 13″
R$10.000
18
1x Mac mini (M2)
R$10.000
32
219x adaptador de parede
R$3.000
33
6x adaptador de parede
R$4.000
36
20x adaptador de parede 1x Apple Pencil 6x EarPods
R$10.000
54
74x adaptador de parede 3x adaptador de parede (5W) 10x adaptador de parede (20W) 12x adaptador de parede USB-C 4x iPhone 12 Pro Max
R$3.000
83
2x AirTag (pacote com 4 unidades) 1x Apple Pencil Pro 1x MacBook Neo (8GB/256GB)
R$10.000
85
1x cabo USB-C de 1 metro 1x adaptador de parede (20W)
R$5.200
87
2x Apple Pencil (USB-C) 1x Apple Pencil (2ª geração) 2x Magic Keyboard 1x Mac mini (M4, 256GB) 1x MacBook Air (modelo não especificado, 8GB/256GB) de 13″
R$9.000
94
1x adaptador de parede (20W)
R$4.000
Salvador
Os itens desse leilão estão distribuídos em um total de 52 lotes, embora apenas 5 deles tenham algum dispositivo da Maçã.
De acordo com o seu edital, as propostas poderão ser enviadas para análise a partir do dia 17 de agosto, às 8h, e serão recebidas até 20/8, às 18h. As melhores serão selecionadas para participar do pregão online — o qual está previsto para o dia 21/8, a partir das 11h.
Lote
Produto(s) da Apple
Valor mínimo
28
3x adaptador de parede (20W) 23x cabo Lightning para USB 21x cabo USB-C para Lightning 1x cabo MagSafe para USB-C 1x cabo USB-C de 2m 1x capa de couro com MagSafe para iPhone 12 Pro Max
R$24.000
29
110x cabo Lightning para USB 1x cabo USB-C para Lightning 107x adaptador de parede (5W) 110x adaptador de parede (20W) 31x adaptador de parede (20W) 15x cabo USB-C para Lightning de 1m
R$22.000
31
2x AirTag
R$12.000
34
1x adaptador de parede (20W)
R$36.500
35
1x adaptador de parede (5W) 1x cabo Lightning para USB-C de 1m
R$8.500
Como participar
Todo o processo é feito de forma digital. Os interessados em adquirir os produtos do leilão precisam ter um CPF e um certificado digital válidos, via acesso ao Centro Virtual de Atendimento ao Contribuinte (e-CAC) — o qual será utilizado para acessar o site corretamente e poder participar de tudo.
Alguns lotes estão disponíveis para lances tanto de pessoas físicas quanto de pessoas jurídicas.
Em mais um dos seus comparativos, o canal do YouTube PhoneBuff colocou o MacBook Neo para disputar com o Dell XPS 13, ambos vendidos lá fora pelos mesmos US$700 (após o reajuste recente de Macs) com 8GB de memória — com diferença no armazenamento, 512GB contra os 256GB iniciais no caso da Apple.
Embora o XPS 13 tenha se mostrado um tanto competitivo em diversos cenários, o Neo se mostrou equivalente ou superior na maioria dos critérios estabelecidos no comparativo.
Quanto ao som dos dois, o computador da Apple, mesmo com metade da quantidade de alto-falantes, apresentou um resultado mais consistente em termos de qualidade — embora o XPS 13 tenha apresentado um volume maior.
Em se tratando da tela, tivemos a primeira grande derrota da Maçã: embora o MacBook Neo apresente maior visibilidade em ambientes com alta exposição à luz, o Dell XPS 13 venceu no conjunto geral ao contar com suporte ao toque, uma taxa de atualização de 120Hz e suporte ao padrão de gama de cores DCI-P3.
Sobre a bateria, embora perca em tempo de carregamento, o MacBook Neo compensa a desvantagem de capacidade física (36,5Wh frente aos 52Wh do XPS 13) com eficiência energética, até mesmo considerando a diferença entre a arquitetura x86 do Intel Core 5 320 e a arquitetura ARM64 presente no chip A18 Pro.
Falando em seus chips, aliás, o desempenho é outro ponto para a Apple: o computador da Dell vence em tempo de inicialização e nos testes de navegador por uma margem pequena (19 contra os 21 segundos do Neo), mas perde para o MacBook na descompactação de um arquivo de 6GB, sendo cerca de três vezes mais lenta na máquina com Windows, e também na abertura de um documento de 500 páginas no Word, com uma diferença de 5 segundos (12 no XPS e 7 no caso do Neo). A Maçã também levou a melhor com os programas da Adobe, concluindo mais rapidamente as alterações em projetos do Photoshop e do Premiere. Em jogos, foi o único momento em que o empate foi ruim o suficiente para ambos; títulos como Cyberpunk 2077 passaram com muita dificuldade da casa dos 30 quadros por segundo.
Câmera foi outro ponto positivo para o MacBook Neo, que apresentou imagens com mais nitidez e um microfone com uma filtragem de voz mais suave que sua contrapartida no universo Windows.
Já tratando de design, na avaliação do canal a vantagem é do Dell XPS 13 por sua leveza, bordas mais finas e a presença de retroiluminação no teclado (embora ele destaque positivamente o trackpad do MacBook) — ausência um tanto criticada por diversos entusiastas de tecnologia.
Em conclusão, ambas as máquinas possuem seus próprios pontos positivos — ou seja, não houve uma vitória clara para uma ou outra.
MacBook Neo
Cores: prateado, blush, amarelo-cítrico ou índigo Armazenamento: 256GB ou 512GB (com Touch ID)
NOTA DE TRANSPARÊNCIA: O MacMagazine recebe uma pequena comissão sobre vendas concluídas por meio de links deste post, mas você, como consumidor, não paga nada mais pelos produtos/serviços usando os nossos links de afiliado.
The Company posted quarterly revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16 percent year over year.
[…]
“Today, Apple is proud to report our strongest June quarter ever, with double-digit revenue growth across iPhone, Mac and Services, and in every geographic segment,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.
You can’t argue with the strong iPhone and Mac sales figures, and Apple specifically called out the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Neo, which Cook said “has been especially popular” and suggested that the company is still struggling to make them fast enough.
It’s admirable (and sensible) that Cook isn’t pointing fingers at anyone but customers who want Apple products, but the key phrase in his statement is “the supply chain just has less flexibility in it than normal.” This is an acknowledgement that while in the past, Apple might have been able to boost chip production from its partners, today the chip industry is maxed out thanks to the wild building of chips for AI applications.
[…]
As an aside, Cook also alluded to reports that Apple has tried to get the U.S. government to authorize purchase of RAM from some forbidden Chinese chipmakers, which has aroused political ire.
The latest financial numbers are in, and the Apple MacBook Neo is single-handedly pushing Mac sales to record levels. During its recent Apple Q3 2026 earnings call, Apple reported that Mac revenue jumped by almost 29 percent over the last quarter. This massive growth happened without the launch of any brand-new hardware during those three […]
Many MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Neo owners have noticed something curious; their MacBook battery stops charging at 80% when plugged in. To add to the confusion, even if they leave their MacBook plugged in overnight, the battery seems to be stuck at 80% and will not charge any further. Because this is not ... Read More
MacBook Neo helped Apple move against the global PC market in the second quarter of 2026, delivering double-digit Mac shipment growth while most leading computer manufacturers sold fewer units than a year earlier.
Preliminary data from IDC estimates that Apple shipped 6.7 million Macs during the quarter, up 10.1% from 6.1 million in Q2 2025. Its worldwide market share rose from 8.5% to 9.9%, placing the company within a fraction of the 10% threshold.
The rest of the industry moved in the opposite direction. Global shipments fell 4.9% year over year to 68.2 million units, ending nine consecutive quarters of growth. A separate Omdia estimate placed the decline at 3.6% and Apple growth at 15.9%, but both research groups identified the same pattern: the Mac gained ground while established Windows PC vendors contracted or remained flat.
IDC directly connected the Apple increase with the arrival of its lowest-priced notebook. MacBook Neo began shipping in March, giving the model its first complete quarter of retail availability between April and June.
MacBook Neo Drives Mac Shipment Growth
MacBook Neo entered the market as an alternative for buyers previously priced out of the Mac lineup.
The 13-inch notebook launched at $599 with an A18 Pro chip, 8GB of unified memory, a Liquid Retina display and up to 16 hours of video playback. It also brought macOS, Apple Intelligence and integration with the iPhone ecosystem into a price range commonly occupied by mainstream Windows laptops and Chromebooks.
That positioning attracted students, families and first-time Mac customers who did not need the performance or display technology of a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. The four-color aluminum design also gave the entry model a more recognizable identity than the older Mac notebooks that frequently remained on sale through discounts.
IDC had already identified the computer as an unusual source of strength when it revised its notebook forecast earlier in 2026. Demand exceeded initial expectations in several markets, and reported inventory shortages appeared shortly after the March launch.
The effect became much more visible in Q2. MacBook Neo was available for the entire three-month period, allowing Apple to increase production, expand retail distribution and serve customers who could not obtain the computer during its first weeks.
The entry model also widened the Mac lineup without replacing the MacBook Air. Buyers seeking more memory, faster ports, longer wireless web use or additional external-display support could continue moving toward the M5-powered Air, while the less expensive machine handled education, office work, web browsing and communication.
That separation allowed Apple to reach lower price points without reducing the value of its premium notebooks.
Image Credit: Apple Inc.
Lenovo, HP and Dell Lose Shipments
Apple remained the fourth-largest traditional PC vendor, but its performance contrasted sharply with the companies above it.
Lenovo retained first place with 16.6 million units and 24.4% market share. Its shipments declined 2.1% from the previous year.
HP experienced the steepest drop among the top five, falling 9% to 13 million units. Dell shipped 9.3 million computers, representing a 5% decline. Asus remained nearly flat at 5 million units, up only 0.2%.
Manufacturers outside the five largest brands collectively suffered a 10.5% contraction, indicating that weaker demand and component inflation placed even more pressure on smaller companies.
The figures measure shipments into distribution channels or directly to end users, not confirmed retail purchases by individual consumers. A manufacturer can therefore record shipment growth while some inventory remains unsold in stores or warehouses.
MacBook Neo demand appears to have been strong enough to support Apple production increases rather than simply filling channels. The company reportedly doubled its annual production target after the initial response, although later quarters will reveal how much of Q2 reflected lasting demand rather than launch-period enthusiasm.
Apple also benefits from operating at a scale that provides leverage with memory, storage and semiconductor suppliers. Smaller PC brands face greater difficulty securing components at competitive prices when shortages intensify.
Memory Costs Reverse the PC Recovery
The Q2 contraction arrived after manufacturers and commercial customers accelerated purchases during late 2025 and early 2026.
Buyers expected memory and storage prices to rise, encouraging some businesses to replace computers earlier than planned. Vendors also increased inventories while components remained available.
That activity supported nine quarters of market growth but borrowed demand from later periods. Once the early purchases were completed, the industry faced a more difficult combination of expensive components, cautious consumers and elevated retail prices.
The memory shortage is closely connected to the AI infrastructure boom. Chipmakers are dedicating more production capacity to high-bandwidth memory used by data center accelerators, limiting the supply of conventional DRAM needed for personal computers.
IDC expects little relief before the end of 2027 or early 2028. The research company forecasts an 11.3% decline in worldwide PC shipments across 2026, with the fourth quarter potentially falling 20% from the previous year.
Computer revenue may not decline at the same pace. Manufacturers have raised prices faster than shipments have fallen, allowing them to collect more money from fewer units.
That strategy creates another problem. Retailers and distributors can become trapped with expensive inventory if customers refuse the new prices, forcing promotions or production reductions later.
MacBook Neo initially softened that pressure by giving Apple a new product near the bottom of the notebook market. Its original $599 price made the Mac competitive with midrange Windows machines at the moment many rivals were becoming more expensive.
Image Credit: Freepik
The Price Increase Creates the Next Test
The strongest Q2 MacBook Neo shipments were recorded while most customers could still buy the computer at its introductory price.
Apple raised the U.S. starting price to $699 in late June as memory and storage costs affected the Mac and iPad lineups. The education price remained at $599, preserving the original offer for eligible students and educators.
A $100 increase changes the comparison with discounted Windows notebooks and places the entry model closer to older MacBook Air configurations available through third-party retailers.
Apple must now determine whether the appeal came primarily from the low launch price or from the combination of macOS, battery life, design and iPhone integration.
The company remains better positioned than many rivals to absorb supply disruption, negotiate long-term component agreements and promote several notebooks at different prices. MacBook Neo also uses an iPhone-class A18 Pro processor rather than an M-series chip, providing another way to manage silicon costs and production capacity.
IDC expects the full PC market to deteriorate during the second half of 2026. Apple will enter that period with almost 10% worldwide share, but the September quarter will be the first to measure MacBook Neo demand almost entirely at the higher $699 retail price.
Apple is developing an updated MacBook Neo featuring more memory, an upgraded A19 Pro chip, and additional color options as part of a wide-ranging refresh of its entire Mac lineup, according to a Bloomberg News report by Mark Gurman.
The original MacBook Neo, Apple’s budget-friendly entry-level laptop launched in March 2026, quickly became a huge hit. It debuted at $599 (as low as $499 with education pricing) before rising to a $699 starting price amid industry-wide memory cost pressures. Powered by the A18 Pro chip (the first Mac to use an A-series processor typically found in iPhones and iPads), it offered 8GB of unified memory, a 13-inch Liquid Retina display, and vibrant finishes including Silver, Blush, Citrus, and Indigo. Strong demand led to initial sell-outs, and it has been praised for bringing accessible Mac performance and Apple Intelligence features to a lower price point.
The next-generation Neo will address some of the original’s constraints by increasing unified memory — reports indicate a jump to 12GB — and switching to the A19 Pro chip (already used in recent iPhone models). Extra color options will expand on the fun, marketing-friendly palette that helped the first Neo stand out. These upgrades could help offset the recent price increase by delivering better performance and longevity, particularly for AI-related tasks.
This Neo update forms part of a much larger Mac pipeline. Gurman’s reporting indicates Apple plans new versions of nearly every Mac it sells over the next couple of years, driven by surging demand for AI-capable machines. Key elements include:
• An entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the new M6 chip expected this fall (2026).
• Long-awaited iMac refreshes also targeted for fall 2026.
• High-end 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros featuring OLED displays and touchscreens, powered by M5 Pro and Max chips, eyed for late 2026 or early 2027.
• A MacBook Air refresh that could include its first major redesign in over four years.
• Updated Mac mini models testing M5 Pro and M6 chips, plus Mac Studio variants with M5 Max and Ultra (or later M7 chips), though memory supply constraints tied to the broader AI boom may affect timing.
Industry observers note that ongoing global memory shortages exacerbated by AI server demand have already driven price increases across Apple’s lineup and could influence both availability and pricing of the new models. Apple has also been exploring ways to sustain sales momentum, including a new leasing program.
MacDailyNews Take: The MacBook Neo’s success showed Apple’s willingness to expand downward in the laptop market while defending premium margins higher up. An improved Neo with more memory and a newer chip would further strengthen that position, especially if it retains a competitive price relative to crappy Windows alternatives. Exact release timing for the updated Neo remains unspecified in the reports, but it fits into Apple’s broader push to modernize the Mac range for an AI-driven era.
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!
A brasileira Sofia Coelho, que atualmente ocupa o cargo de diretora de arte na Apple, ofereceu um raro vislumbre dos bastidores do processo criativo da empresa em uma publicação no LinkedIn, na qual revelou rascunhos e um protótipo do personagem Lil’ Finder Guy.
Coelho disse que a publicação era um “anúncio de aniversário bem-humorado” e descreveu a liderança do projeto como um “projeto de design dos sonhos”. Também mencionou os colegas que trabalharam ao seu lado na campanha.
"On March 4th at 11:00 a.m., measuring exactly one apple tall, a mascot, charmingly coined by the internet as Lil' Finder Guy, was born!"
In a post by Apple art director Sofia Coelho on LinkedIn (post taken down), Sofia shared early sketches and models of Lil' Finder Guy. pic.twitter.com/4Oo8xazSxx
Uma imagem mostrava uma folha de esboços explorando as expressões, as proporções e a forma geral do personagem. Essas imagens estavam ao lado do que parecia ser um protótipo físico do próprio Lil’ Finder Guy — o qual tinha “exatamente a altura de uma maçã”, segundo Coelho.
Ela também observou que a campanha figurou na lista de finalistas do Cannes Lions, uma das premiações mais prestigiadas da publicidade.
Apple Submitted the MacBook Neo & Lil' Finder Guy campaign to the Cannes Lions festival. pic.twitter.com/npRQ3G0hWw
Apple plans to raise the prices of its products as the cost of the memory chips it uses has surged, the technology giant’s boss has said.
Tim Cook, Apple’s outgoing chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that price increases were “unavoidable” as the situation around memory chips had become “unsustainable”.
During its holiday quarter, Apple’s profit margin on hardware was 40.7%; in its most recent quarter, that dropped to 38.7% — a remarkable figure for physical products. It is these high margins that led to analysts like Ming-Chi Kuo to claim Apple would keep prices more-or-less stable and offset the additional costs through its even higher-margin — 76.7% — services business.
Winkler suggests in his summary that Apple has absorbed the cost increases so far because it has always treated memory and storage upgrades as profit centers. That’s no surprise to the Apple community, which has long chafed at Apple’s premium prices for memory and storage. But now, for instance, the price of standalone internal flash storage is closer to and sometimes even higher than Apple’s upgrade prices.
[…]
Obviously, Apple could absorb such costs and more if it were to accept dramatically lower gross margins. But as high-minded and customer-focused as Apple is, the company is still in business to maximize profit.
I was recently looking to add another SSD and a few hard drives to my setup. Normally, prices go down over time, but currently it SSDs are about double the price I paid last year, and large hard drives are almost triple.
Apple, to my recollection, has never before issued a warning about price increases. Keep in mind that Apple deals with prices in a very different way from its competitors. For Apple, prices are part of a product’s brand, so they don’t fluctuate with component costs.
Apple has raised prices across the board for many of its products today. MacBook Neo now starts at $699 (up from $599), while MacBook Air now starts at $1299 (up from $1099). Other impacted products include MacBook Pro, iPad, iPad Air, and many more.
iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods pricing is unchanged.
Earlier this week, I outlined three reasons for agreeing with Mark Gurman that the Apple price increases could be imminent, and that indeed proved to be the case.
iPhones have escaped the increases, but they are otherwise both broad-reaching and pretty dramatic. But perhaps the most surprising thing is that the MacBook Neo has been included …
Apple today increased the starting price of the Mac mini with M4 Pro chip by $200, taking the higher-tier model up to $1,599 on its online store.
[…]
Apple had already raised the Mac mini’s effective starting price in May by discontinuing the $599 configuration with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, leaving the $799 model with a 512GB SSD as the new entry-level option. Interestingly, the 16GB RAM / 256GB storage option has now been reinstated, but the $799 starting price remains.
Pre-announce it with a small delay, thus giving you a temporary sales boost as people scramble to get their orders in at current prices, and to soften the blow when the increases hit.
I also can’t help but see that “we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac,” statement as implying more increases are coming. The iPhone price increase seems inevitable, and my money is on it starting with the new models in September.
Micron CEO, president and chairman Sanjay Mehrotra explained the SCAs in prepared remarks delivered during the company’s Q3 earnings call. He explained that Micron has signed 16 SCAs, most of them covering 2026 to 2030, and that they involve a commitment to buy a certain quantity of product and pay for it in a pricing band that has a floor and a ceiling price. The floor price covers the historically high gross margins mentioned above, and the ceiling price means those who commit to an SCA are insulated if memory prices go even higher.
Micron’s chief business officer has hinted, without calling it out by name, that Apple’s tough supplier negotiations contributed to the conditions behind the global memory shortage.
For years, Apple has been able to dominate and dictate to their suppliers thanks to their scale. But the Asian operations which Tim Cook so famously set up, have been upended, like most everything else, by AI. From TSMC on down, Apple is no longer the customer dictating terms for the entire industry, it’s now the company which has taken over the mantle as the most valuable one in the world: NVIDIA.
Here’s a table with most of the base models whose prices increased[…]
[…]
iPad prices mostly went up 20–25%, but the hardest hit was the no-adjective base model, which rose almost 30%, from $350 to $450. That’s a big increase for a product meant to appeal to buyers for whom price is obviously their biggest concern.
Anyone who purchased a MacBook Neo for $600 (or $500 with education discount) between March and this morning purchased the lowest-price MacBook Apple has ever sold — and perhaps the lowest-price MacBook they ever will sell.
The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly. We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac. We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions.
[…]
Apple indicating that it needs to “begin” raising prices suggests that additional price increases might occur later.
“and we are working tirelessly to find solutions.”
I find this to be the most confusing part. Do we believe this to be a genuine effort? Even if so, how would a “solution” actually work? Would they actually lower prices if a solution were to be found?
They also just said they “will continue working” on bringing Siri AI to the EU right before saying in a different venue that they’d stopped working on it.
But even setting aside the prices of competing devices, it just feels wrong to hike prices this much for four-year-old hardware running five-year-old pre-AI silicon. The higher-end model’s price went up 67 percent!
The only way this makes sense is if these prices are really meant for the upcoming new hardware, and those new models are more ambitious home hubs that warrant $200–250 prices.
The Financial Times reports that Apple is seeking clearance from the Trump administration to purchase memory chips from a blacklisted Chinese company. The move would help it meet demand for product manufacturing during the ongoing global memory supply shortage.
Perhaps this is the “working tirelessly” that Apple was referring to.
Apple previously sought permission from the Biden administration to do the same thing back in 2022, and that did not go well – despite promising to use the chips only for iPhones sold in China …
Something happens — outside the company’s control — that causes those essential components to rise in price significantly.
[…]
What you cannot do is hold a philosophically consistent logically coherent view where your answer to how a company should respond in such a scenario is contingent on what the “something happens” is that caused component prices to rise.
Maybe—but that’s only relevant if you accept the premise that it was out of Apple’s control. I don’t know the details of the deals, but there’s an argument that the rising costs to Apple are to some extent Apple’s “fault.” If Tim Cook gets credit for helping suppliers expand capacity and locking in contracts for memory at low prices over the past two decades, doesn’t the same logic apply in reverse? The AI-driven shortages were foreseeable—and publicly discussed years ago. If you believe Micron that Apple chose to prioritize its own past numbers rather than securing its future supply, doesn’t that make today’s situation different from, say, a tsunami that unexpectedly wiped out a bunch of factories? I don’t know exactly how the increased costs should be apportioned, but I think the reasons for the costs are relevant, and I don’t think they’re fully exogenous.
But while tech giants like Apple
and Microsoft, which both announced price hikes this week, have a hefty cash cushion, supply chain leverage and customers numbering in the millions or billions, a much wider swath of businesses face potentially dire straits. Most consumer electronics companies have little margin to spare and can’t confidently raise prices in an economy already grappling with inflationary pressures.
GoPro, the struggling maker of action cameras, warned this month that it might go out of business after memory costs shot up between 80% and 115% at the end of the first quarter. And shares of speaker maker Sonos
are down 23% this year as memory prices pressure margins.
Login
