Apple cuts corners to price MacBook Neo at $599

A $599 price tag on Apple's new MacBook Neo came with a laundry list of trade-offs that make budget shoppers think twice.

MacBook Neo headline specs

• A 13-inch Liquid Retina display runs at 2,408 x 1,506 resolution.
• Brightness tops out at 500 nits with uniform bezels.
• Dual-firing speakers pack Spatial Audio support.
• Color-matched aluminum frame and keyboard complete the look.

A18 Pro chip instead of A19 Pro

• Supply constraints on the A19 Pro forced Apple's hand here.
• Letting a low-margin laptop cannibalize iPhone 17 Pro production was a nonstarter.
• Apple fell back on the A18 Pro to keep things moving.

RAM and storage workaround

• Only 8 GB ships inside, courtesy of TSMC's InFO-PoP packaging.
• Bumping that number would have wrecked already razor-thin margins.
• SSD-based virtual memory kicks in to compensate during heavier tasks.

Trackpad took a serious hit

• Pressure-sensing capability got axed entirely from this model.
• Force clicks and pressure-sensitive drawing are both off the table.
• Haptic feedback is nowhere to be found either.

Battery and port limitations

• Its 36.5Wh cell manages just 11 hours of web browsing.
• That trails the M5 MacBook Air's 15-hour figure by a wide margin.
• One USB-C port maxes out at USB 3.0 speeds of 10Gb/s.
• Another port is stuck at USB 2.0, capping throughput at 480Mb/s.