MacBook Neo Launched in India With 13-Inch Liquid Retina Display, Apple's A18 Pro Chip: Price, Specifications

Apple launched the MacBook Neo on Wednesday as its new budget‑friendly laptop from the Cupertino company. The new MacBook Neo is equipped with a 13-inch Liquid Retina display, and it is powered by Apple's A18 Pro chip, the same processor that debuted on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The laptop is available in four colourways, features a Magic Keyboard with a multitouch trackpad and Touch ID for biometric authentication. Apple says it offers up to 16 hours of battery life on a charge.

MacBook Neo Price in India, Availability

In India, the MacBook Neo is priced at Rs. 69,900 for the base model that has 8GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage, while a 512GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 79,900. It comes in Blush, Citrus, Indigo and Silver colourways. Students can purchase the MacBook Neo with a Rs. 10,000 Education discount. In the US, pricing starts at $599 (roughly Rs. 55,200) and $499 (roughly Rs. 46,000) for retail and education, respectively. 

Pre-orders for the MacBook Neo start today, and it will go on sale via the company's website and authorised retailers starting March 11.

MacBook Neo will be available in four colour options
Photo Credit: Apple

MacBook Neo Specifications, Features

The MacBook Neo runs on the same chip as the iPhone 16 Pro, and the company claims that the A18 Pro chip is up to 50 percent faster at regular tasks than a Windows PC with an Intel Core Ultra 5 chip, while offering up to three times faster performance for some AI tasks. The laptop is equipped with 8GB of unified memory and 256GB or 512GB of SSD storage. Unlike the MacBook Air, you can't configure the MacBook Neo with more RAM.

There's a 13-inch (2,408×1,506 pixels) Liquid Retina IPS display on the MacBook Neo, and it has a pixel density of 219ppi. It features Apple's Magic Keyboard, and the 512GB model also supports Touch ID. Like the recently launched MacBook Air, it runs on Apple's latest macOS Tahoe. It has a 1080p FaceTime HD webcam and features a dual mic array with Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum microphone modes. You also get a dual speaker setup with Dolby Atmos and support for Spatial Audio.

Apple says that the MacBook Neo supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 6 connectivity, and has a USB 3.0 Type-C port (with native DisplayPort 1.4 for one external display at 4K resolution) and a USB 2.0 Type-C port — both these ports support charging. There's a headphone jack, which is also located on the left edge.

The MacBook Neo has a 36.5Wh battery which can be charged using a 20W USB Type-C adapter, which ships with the device alongside a 1.5m USB Type-C charging cable. Apple says the laptop can offer up to 11 hours of web browsing, or up to 16 hours of video streaming on a single charge. It measures 297.5×206.4×12.7mm and weighs 1.23kg.