The MacBook Neo could be one of Apple’s most exciting products in a long time

As someone who bought my first Mac in 2019 as a young student without much of my own money, the MacBook Neo is incredibly inspiring. When the M4 Mac mini came out in late 2024, I had a strong feeling about its potential to inspire new creators — and the MacBook Neo is moving forward.

MacBook Neo makes creativity accessible

In my case, I bought a 2015 11-inch MacBook Air used for about $450 in 2019. That thing had 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a dual core 5th generation Intel Core i5. There was nothing fancy about it, but it did one thing – it ran macOS, and because of that, it helped me start building my first iOS apps.

Was it a good experience? Far from it. I had to deal with macOS Catalina full of bugs. That’s beside the point though, because in the end, skill is what counts.

The MacBook Neo doesn’t have the same compromises. For all intents and purposes, the A18 Pro is about equal to the original M1 chip in multi-core, and far surpasses the M1 in single-core. The chip is no slouch, despite being just an “iPhone chip”.

Many complain that the MacBook Neo only has 8GB of memory. And of course, I won’t pretend I have plenty. It’s a limitation. That said, and I won’t pretend it somehow makes it a bad value at $499 for students.

Even if you delve into the used market, you’ll have a hard time finding an M2 or M3 MacBook Air with 16GB for around $500-600. Maybe you can get an M1 MacBook Air, but the M1 MacBook Air is almost 6 years old at this point, and probably not an affordable option if you care about longevity.

Comfort without compromise

The MacBook Neo costs the same as the M4 Mac mini. $599 for retail, and $499 for students.

Of course, the Mac mini will have a high-performance M4 chip, and 16GB of memory. The Mac mini has one big compromise though: it’s a desktop.

Let’s ignore the fact that the Mac mini needs a display, keyboard, and mouse. Those things alone add several hundred dollars to the total cost, but you probably already have all those things.

The desktop is wrong.

If you’re a student, or a creative young person, the fact that you can just work anywhere is incredibly important, and that’s what a laptop buys.

You can be in the park, on a road trip in the back of the car, on a plane, or anywhere else. The point is, creativity can strike anywhere, and that’s the value of having a laptop over a desktop.

The MacBook Neo isn’t a flagship device, but it’s no slouch either. I know my 14 year old self would have loved to have one of these, and I’m incredibly excited about the potential here for future builders and creators. With Apple Creator Studio making Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and more more accessible – and the emergence of agent coding tools, getting your idea out there has never been easier.

You can read more of my early impressions of the MacBook Neo here.

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