Whatever the theory’s validity, Neo represents a keenly priced option as the university year kicks off.
The new model sports a 13-inch liquid retina display and is the same weight (1.23kg) as the 13-inch MacBook Air (priced from $2199) and nearly as thin (it’s 1.27cm high to the Air’s 1.13cm).
Neo’s A18 Pro chip is lower-spec than the M series silicon featured in the latest Air and Pro MacBooks, but still has the requisite grunt to run Apple Intelligence.
Storage is a handy 256GB and memory serviceable 8GB (many entry-level laptops offer 4GB).
And it comes in a durable aluminium case with two USB-C ports.
Apple says the battery is good for up to 16 hours of video streaming, compared to the 13-inch Air’s 18 hours.
There are some trade-offs. Neo lacks keyboard backlighting, you can attach only a single monitor, and there’s no option to upgrade its 8GB of RAM.
But if you spring an extra $200, you can boost storage from 256GB to 512GB and add TouchID.
Neo pre-orders are open now with delivery from March 11.
New Air, Pro – double the storage for the same price
Higher up the food chain, Apple’s week of releases saw it launch a new MacBook Air with the same design as its predecessor, but its processor upgraded from the M4 to the M5 and a wireless boost to WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6, among other new features.
Keeping with the week’s theme, Apple now offers double the storage, with a leap from 256GB to 512GB for the same price: $2199. (There are upgrade options running through to 4TB.)
The MacBook Pro series (from $4299) got the same doubled entry-level storage and wireless spruik, plus the latest and greatest in Apple Silicon: M5 Pro and M5 Max processors built on the firm’s new Fusion Architecture and “super cores”.
Apple says the bottom line is performance up to four times faster with AI prompts, and a speed boost of up to 50% with graphics.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
