MacBook Neo launches today for $599: Get it before it sells out

The MacBook Neo officially launches today, and as I noted in my MacBook Neo review, Apple is sure to sell a billion of these colorful laptops.

OK, maybe not a billion, but the point stands. The MacBook Neo is Apple's new budget MacBook, and it has an unbeatable price of $599 (or $499 with education pricing). Asus's co-CEO called its price a "shock" to the Windows laptop market, before throwing some obligatory shade its way.

Get a quick download on everything you need to know about the MacBook Neo on launch day.

What is the MacBook Neo?

The MacBook Neo is Apple's first true budget MacBook, and it brings premium MacBook features to the budget category. The Neo has all but one of the MacBook's signature features. It has an all-aluminum build, a Liquid Retina Display, macOS, and, of course, the Apple cool factor. (It's been a long time since I've been in college, but from what I hear, it's still a status symbol on campus.)

To keep the price low, the Neo is Apple's first MacBook without M-series silicon since 2020, and it instead uses the A18 Pro chip first introduced with the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Some critics have been dismissing the device as a "computer phone," but the reviews so far are nearly unanimous: It's a surprisingly capable laptop.

In my testing, it scored nearly identical to the legendary M1 MacBook Air on benchmark tests. For students, casual users, and non-super-users, it should be able to handle your daily workload with ease. I was able to create simple videos in Final Cut Pro and edit massive image files in bulk.

Crucially, it also comes in fun colors: citrus, blush, indigo, and silver. I recommend citrus and indigo, personally.

The MacBook Neo: Will it sell out?

Users were reporting low stock during the preorder period, but as of this writing, all four colors were available for order at Amazon. However, due to an ongoing global memory shortage, you never know when that might change.

The MacBook Neo costs $599, but a version with Touch ID and 512GB of SSD is also available for $699. Both versions have 8GB of RAM.