Overview
- Apple’s MacBook Neo recorded about 1.1 million shipments in the quarter ended March, outselling the debut quarters of the M5 MacBook Air and M5 MacBook Pro according to IDC data.
- The Neo launched in mid‑March with a $599 base price, an aluminum 13‑inch Liquid Retina design, an A18 Pro chip and 8GB of base memory to reach that entry price.
- Strong demand led Apple to roughly double its 2026 shipment target from 5 million to about 10 million units and to pursue new A18 Pro chip production runs to refill binned‑chip inventory.
- Rising DRAM and memory‑package prices driven by AI demand have increased per‑unit build costs and could force Apple to change Neo configurations or raise the starting price if pressures persist.
- Windows OEMs quickly unveiled sub‑$700 rivals (including a $699 Dell XPS 13) and analysts say the Neo could materially grow Apple’s share of the mainstream notebook market while reshaping pricing across the PC industry.