£599. It's still a MacBook
Until I saw the rumours I at first would’ve doubted anyone that said Apple was to release a sub £800 MacBook. But that’s where we are today. Earlier today Apple announced their latest model in the MacBook lineup. Starting at £599, Apple is entering the world of budget PCs and Chromebooks. This is likely going to raise the bar in the price category, creating more competition for buyers.
Don’t be fooled by the price, this is still a MacBook, with a full aluminium build, USB C, 13” Retina display and powered by the A18 Pro. The processor typically found on the iPhone is what is driving down this lower price alongside the fanless design, 256GB storage and 8GB RAM configuration. You can spec this model up to include 512GB of storage and touch ID within the keyboard which is missed out in the base 256GB model. It’s also lightweight, coming in at 1.23KG.
The elephant in the room for me is the MacBook Air. In some ways these are both very similar laptops. The biggest difference is the processor. The M5 chip on the MacBook Air enables the Air to be much more capable when it comes to productivity tasks as well as its higher base RAM spec of 16GB. Plus its higher base storage of 512GB. These can all be specced up of course. But I think these two devices are clearly targeting different people. The Air is targeting people invested in the Apple ecosystem and who want the edge in performance, think university students or professionals who don’t quite need the power of a MacBook Pro. Whereas the Neo is targeting students on a budget or someone who wants a quality, reliable and efficient laptop but doesn’t intend to do professional tasks like coding, photo or video editing.
The A18 Pro is a genuinely capable chip running many productivity and gaming apps on iOS devices with ease. The level of performance on these other A18 Pro devices will be replicated here. Did I mention the battery life??? Tell me a comparable Windows laptop at the price point that will last a staggering 16 hours, I don’t think you’ll be able to… Apple claims that the Neo will last you a full day on this battery and I believe them. If the magic they’ve pulled with the M-Series MacBooks in regards to power consumption and efficiency is translated into the new MacBook then we will likely see these kind of numbers.
Where this product shines is simple. A MacBook for £599?! A quality device, aluminium build, high resolution screen, software updates for years and years! This is a product I’d easily recommend to anyone. If you know what an M5 chip is and what it can do this probably isn’t for you. In fact if you’re reading this and interested in tech it probably isn’t for you. But if I was Dell, HP, ASUS etc. I’d be scared…
So who is this for? If you just want to browse the web, use some web applications, watch movies, listen to music and the occasional productivity task then you won’t be disappointed with this laptop. This is the everyday MacBook, the laptop that 90% will be content with and it will likely last you a decade if you treat it right. There hasn’t been a MacBook at this price point before and I’d pick this over a Windows laptop every time. Knowing the quality you’ll get and the amount of time this device will last, it’s a no brainer. So to your family member, partner or friend who just needs a laptop to do everyday tasks this is the only laptop I’d be recommending.
