Last week, Apple announced the MacBook Neo, a brand new budget laptop that starts at $599. For educators and students, it comes in at an even lower price, just $499. The MacBook Neo is designed to compete with lower-cost Windows laptops and Chromebooks, while expanding the Mac lineup with a significantly more affordable option.
Unlike any other Mac with Apple silicon, the MacBook Neo is powered by the A18 Pro originally developed for the iPhone 16 Pro. The device features a rounded design, a 13-inch Liquid Retina display with smooth iPad-style bezels (instead of a notch), a Magic Keyboard, a mechanical trackpad, two USB-C ports, 8GB of memory, a headphone jack, a 1080p camera, dual microphones, dual speakers with Spatial Audio, and of battery life . The laptop is available in four colors.
See also: MacBook Neo faces shipping delays
In a report last year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo correctly predicted that the MacBook Neo would enter mass production in the fourth quarter of 2025, but it would not feature a touchscreen. In the same report, he revealed some information about the second generation of the device.
The second generation of the MacBook Neo may feature a touch screen
Kuo said the second-generation MacBook Neo could feature a touchscreen. Apple's first touchscreen Mac is expected to launch later this year in the form of a new, high-end MacBook Pro with an OLED display and a new design.
See also: MacBook Neo: macOS will notify about USB-C port limitation
The device is expected to incorporate a touch panel that uses touch technology on-cell. On-cell touch technology embeds touch sensors directly into the top layer of the display panel (the “cell”) instead of requiring a separate, dedicated touch layer (thus reducing thickness).
After the launch of this device and the adoption of touch support in macOS 27, it would make sense for other MacBooks to follow suit with this feature. Many other laptops from HP, Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS, which now compete with the MacBook Neo, already have touch screens.
See also: MacBook Neo: The "shortcomings" of Apple's cheapest Mac
As of September 2025, the specifications for the second-generation MacBook Neo were still under discussion, according to Kuo. A faster chip like the A19 Pro is very likely.
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg suggested that Apple could extend the “Neo” brand to other affordable devices such as the Apple Watch SE, making it “Apple Watch Neo”.
