Apple unveils $599 MacBook Neo powered by A18 Pro iPhone chip

Highly anticipated: Apple has finally unveiled its entry into the budget laptop segment, starting at $599 and delving deep into cheap Windows PC territory. For a roughly 45% price reduction compared to the latest MacBook Air, customers sacrifice a moderate amount of horsepower and are limited to just 8GB of RAM. On the other hand, the MacBook Neo features an aluminum chassis, Apple's typically excellent displays, long battery life, and weighs just 2.7 pounds.

Following months of speculation and leaks, the Cupertino giant has officially introduced the MacBook Neo. Representing perhaps the most ambitious display of synergy within Apple's hardware stack yet, the laptop aims to prove that a processor originally designed for a flagship iPhone can handle macOS's basic functionality.

The company claims that the budget laptop's 6-core A18 Pro SoC performs basic web browsing and on-device AI tasks faster than the top-selling Intel ...