Apple's new $599 MacBook Neo uses an iPhone chip to become its cheapest laptop ever.
The episode begins with an ad for Shopify, followed by the announcement of Apple's MacBook Neo. The host, Félix Riaño, introduces the MacBook Neo as Apple's cheapest laptop, starting at $599 with a $499 student discount. It uses the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone, has 8GB of unified memory, 256GB of storage, and promises up to 16 hours of battery life. The design includes a 13-inch Liquid Retina screen and comes in citrus, blush, indigo, and silver colors, reminiscent of the iBook G3. Specifications are detailed: no keyboard backlighting, a 1080p camera, Dolby Atmos speakers, and two USB-C ports with different speeds. The episode explains that the A18 Pro chip has six CPU cores and five GPU cores, suitable for light tasks but limited for heavy workloads like video editing. Memory is capped at 8GB, which may be insufficient for multitasking. The host questions whether this is a smart entry point to Apple's ecosystem or a way to segment the market and push users toward more expensive models. Comparisons are made to Chromebooks, Windows laptops under $700, and Apple's own iPad Air. The MacBook Neo weighs 1.2 kilograms and includes features like copy-paste between iPhone and Mac, and support for Apple Intelligence. In the EU and UK, the charger is not included, but it is in the US. The episode concludes by noting that this product expands Apple's laptop range, with the Neo at $600 and high-end MacBook Pros over $7,000.
