It seems like Apple has finally run out of products to announce this week, after it blew through a new iPhone 17e, iPad Air, M5-toting MacBook Pros, Studio Displays, and finally, the low-cost MacBook Neo. Starting at $600, we guessed that it would land locally at a similar price as the iPhone 17e, which also costs $600. Apparently not.
You’re the one, Neo
Instead, the MacBook Neo, with a paltry 8GB of RAM and a choice of 256/512GB storage, will start at R12,000 when it arrives in SA on 11 March. That’s for the 256GB variant, of course. Even doubling that storage isn’t as detrimental to your wallet as initially expected, coming in at R14,000. It is packing an A18 Pro chipset, after all.
Compared to Apple’s newer MacBooks, it’s a bit of a steal. But when there’s an M1 MacBook Air out there with just as much RAM for R14,000, it makes you wonder where your money is going. One thing that Apple’s latest notebook has going for it is a 1080p webcam up top, beating out the 720p one in the M1 Air.
If you do go the Neo route, however, we should mention that the R2,000 increase isn’t all about storage. It also throws in a Touch ID key, enabling biometric logins. Whether both devices should include one is an argument for another day. We’re just letting you know what you’re getting into here.
