Apple’s ‘big week’: MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e and more

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Apple rarely does anything quietly. But even by its own standards, this was a remarkable week. There was a near-relentless stream of announcements: new iPhones, new iPads, new MacBooks, new chips and even a surprise entry-level laptop that leaked before Apple had a chance to tell anyone about it.

Here is a clear-eyed look at what Apple actually announced, what is genuinely new and what is worth your attention.

MacBook Neo and more

The headline act of the week was undoubtedly the MacBook Neo. Apple accidentally revealed its existence before the official announcement on Wednesday, which made for an embarrassing few hours in Cupertino.

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The MacBook Neo starts at $599 — or $499 for students and educators — making it the most affordable Mac laptop Apple has ever sold. It is a direct challenge to the cheap Windows laptops and Chromebooks that dominate the budget end of the market.

The laptop runs on Apple’s A18 Pro chip, the same processor that powered the iPhone 16 Pro. It has a 6-core CPU, a 5-core GPU and 8GB of unified memory. That is enough to support Apple Intelligence features. Apple claims it will last up to 16 hours on a single charge.

The 13-inch Liquid Retina display supports one billion colours. The design is clean and compact, though early hands-on impressions suggest the keyboard and trackpad do not feel quite as premium as those on Apple’s higher-end machines.

Note that TouchID requires an extra $100 upgrade, which also doubles the storage from 256GB to 512GB. It comes in four colours: silver, blush, citrus and indigo.

The MacBook Air also received a meaningful update. Apple has fitted the M5 chip and doubled the base storage to 512GB. The new model also gains Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support via Apple’s N1 chip. However, the starting price has risen back up to $1,099 after a temporary cut to $999 for the M4 model. The 15-inch…

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