I hope Apple keeps the MacBook Neo separate from the AI hype and maintains its genuine identity.
If there's one factor that has shaken up consumer tech economics over the past year and changed our recommendations for products, it’s the continuously increasing prices of memory and chips.
The urgent need to expand AI infrastructure has led major manufacturers to focus more on enterprise demand, which has resulted in significantly fewer options for everyday consumers. The products that are available are considerably more expensive than they were a year ago.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
RAMageddon is upsetting consumer tech finances
You might have thought the memory crisis was just a theory, but if even the globe's most valuable consumer tech firm is feeling the strain, it’s clear it has become a tangible issue, more severe than many anticipated.
Apple is known for its delayed yet successful product launches: OLED screens, always-on displays, and Siri AI all followed this trend. Unfortunately, the same applies to its price increases driven by memory costs; this is Apple’s largest mid-cycle price hike.
Not all product categories have been equally affected. In fact, Apple has currently spared iPhones from this situation. However, tablets, mini PCs, and laptops have faced the most significant impacts.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
MacBook Neo succumbs to RAMageddon just three months after its release
The circumstances are dire enough that Apple has raised the price of the MacBook Neo by $100, a significant increase from its launch price.
If you've somehow missed it, Apple’s MacBook Neo surprised the entire laptop market when it debuted in March at $599 for the base model, featuring 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a surprisingly powerful iPhone-class chip.
The Neo exceeded Apple’s initial sales expectations; it was selling rapidly. Just one month after its launch, reports indicated the company raised its initial order from “several million” units to over 10 million.
As someone who has closely observed the Neo’s launch, I can share a few insights into why.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
Why the Neo's pricing remains effective
Featuring an aluminum unibody in a $599 device while competitors opted for lower-quality plastic, delivering Apple Intelligence features that were previously only found in premium MacBooks and iPhones at a more accessible price, and acting as a compelling entry point into the Apple ecosystem, the Neo hit nearly every important mark; that’s its true allure.
Even with the $100 price increase, I believe the Neo still holds a unique place in the market, being $400 to $500 cheaper than the entry-level M5 MacBook Air, offering better price-to-performance and value than most available alternatives in its category.
And that’s why I sincerely hope Apple doesn’t "fix" the MacBook Neo next year by transforming it into an AI-first device.
Vikhyaat Vivek / Digital Trends
Dear Apple: The Neo is not broken, so please don’t "fix" it
The consumer tech industry is currently fixated on AI.
Take Windows OEMs as a case in point. Even though the average customer doesn’t care about on-device AI capabilities driven by local LLMs or local AI processing power, most brands below the $1,000 price range are chasing Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC branding, which requires at least 45 TOPS of local AI compute power.
This demand leads to the necessity for more powerful CPUs, GPUs, or integrated system-on-chips like those from Qualcomm. These machines also require larger memory pools and faster memory, all of which inevitably raise prices.
That’s precisely why the MacBook Neo — with its 8GB of RAM and a reported repurposed A18 Pro chip — made perfect sense from the outset.
Apple
It’s designed for everyday computing, not local AI tasks
It didn’t need to shine on the specifications sheet, as Apple clearly understood what customers seek.
Typical budget laptop buyers just want to browse the internet, manage documents and emails, join Google Meet or Zoom calls, edit a few photos, and watch films or shows on streaming platforms.
That's the target demographic for the Neo: it’s not for users running local LLMs, creating AI images (especially with on-device tools), or spending all day editing or generating videos.
Apple
Apple is already adopting a segmented AI approach
Apple's current strategy is already divided. Older iPhones, like the iPhone 15, don’t support Apple Intelligence. Meanwhile, the new Siri AI experience is available on the MacBook Neo and the iPhone 17, but advanced features like on-device Siri voices and natural dictation are reserved for the iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone Air.
In effect, Apple isn’t treating AI as a consistent experience. The company is comfortable making distinctions, meaning the Neo’s next iteration doesn’t need to match the capabilities of other devices. It simply needs to maintain its focus.
If Apple wants to enhance performance, it could simply use binned A19 Pro chips, much like it reportedly
Other articles
Three Siri AI features that have truly enhanced my daily routine.
From an improved Spotlight search to reminders in natural language and a camera that truly comprehends its surroundings, here are three Siri AI features that are significantly enhancing everyday iPhone usage.
Minions & Monsters records the lowest franchise opening with $64 million.
Universal's newest Minions movie topped the July 4 weekend with $64 million, but it marks the lowest opening for a Despicable Me film, earning only half of what its predecessors made.
This small MacBook accessory provides customizable shortcuts for meetings and enhancing productivity.
Project Mirage has introduced Dune, a three-button accessory for MacBook that provides context-sensitive shortcuts, automation driven by AI, and rapid controls for meetings and productivity applications.
The Merlin Bird ID app is now aiming to create a worldwide database of our disappearing avian companions.
Merlin Bird ID will soon integrate AI-driven bird identifications into Cornell's eBird platform, assisting researchers in tracking bird populations through millions of actual observations.
Harvard finds that AI-native startups employ fewer junior-level positions.
Researchers from Harvard and INSEAD have discovered that AI-native startups tend to be smaller, have flatter organizational structures, and employ a higher proportion of senior professionals, with entry-level hiring being 15% less than that of non-AI counterparts.
I was infatuated with my iPhone Air, but then summer came.
My iPhone Air was functioning perfectly until summer came. Now it frequently overheats, gives me constant warnings, and depletes the battery at twice the usual rate.
I hope Apple keeps the MacBook Neo separate from the AI hype and maintains its genuine identity.
Apple doesn't have to equip the MacBook Neo with DDR5 memory, a desktop-grade NPU, or 16GB of RAM.