Apple just revealed a lot about its ‘cheap’ MacBook

Source Domain: www.macworld.com

Apple has officially introduced the M5 MacBook Air, along with the M5 Pro and M5 Max variants of the MacBook Pro. Across the lineup, base storage and performance are up—and so are prices. The base MacBook Air now costs $100 more, while the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models come with an even heftier markup. A closer look at the updated pricing and technical specifications, as well as other relevant rumors, gives us a solid idea of what to expect from the “cheap” MacBook Neo launching as soon as tomorrow.

RAMping up

The RAM crisis has pushed many smartphone and computer manufacturers to hike their prices. To soften the blow, Apple has dropped the lowest storage tier from its entire MacBook line. This forces customers to pay more for the latest devices while giving Apple some flexibility with storage pricing.

The MacBook Air has long been Apple’s cheapest notebook, catering to students and junior professionals alike. It’s no longer as cheap, however. The M5 MacBook Air now starts at $1,099 and comes with 512GB of storage, discontinuing the psychologically tempting $999 256GB option. While customers requiring more than 256GB of storage won’t be paying extra, those with casual workflows will pay for storage they don’t need. That’s the gap Apple’s cheap MacBook will attempt to fill.

The MacBook Neo will serve as an M1 Air reboot.

Jason Cross/Foundry

A Neo era

According to an accidental regulatory filing, Apple’s budget-friendly notebook will be dubbed the MacBook Neo. The branding has a trendy ring to it, making it appealing to younger Apple fans and high school students. It also fits the new era, where many workflows, including AI computing, have been offloaded to cloud servers. The device will act as an M1 Air reboot of sorts, reviving the lower specifications and affordable pricing.

Since late 2024, M2 and newer MacBook Air models have come with at least 16GB of RAM. The MacBook Neo, however,…

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