Save $100: If you haven’t heard, Apple just announced significant price hikes across its entire product lineup, including the new MacBook Neo. The most affordable MacBook in Apple’s lineup is now $699, a notable $100 increase on the MacBook Neo’s original $599 price tag.
Several retailers haven’t matched Apple’s new price yet. Amazon had it on sale for $590 during Prime Day, but it’s sold out in all colors right now. Best Buy and Walmart still have select colors in stock at the original $599 price point, so if you’ve been eyeing the MacBook Neo, you may want to order quickly before retailers adjust their pricing to match Apple.
CNET laptop expert Matt Elliott tested the MacBook Neo and called it “an absolute banger of a budget laptop.” He gave it a review score of 8.3 out of 10, appreciating how the laptop still offers the same premium design and durability as Apple’s pricier MacBooks.
The single-core performance makes everyday tasks, such as browsing, streaming, emailing and word processing feel snappy. Battery life is just as impressive, as the MacBook Neo lasted nearly 13.5 hours in our YouTube streaming battery-drain test.
Elliott noted that the “MacBook Neo is easily the best laptop for school use, especially if you or the student you’re buying for already has an iPhone. For those out of school and who want a cheap, portable laptop for casual use around the house or for a job that doesn’t require demanding creative, scientific or AI tasks, the MacBook Neo makes a lot of sense for the money. You won’t find a better-designed laptop at this price.”
PRIME DAY LAPTOP DEALS OF THE WEEK
Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.
Alternatives to consider
The MacBook Neo isn’t the only affordable laptop out there. The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is a great choice if you’re on a budget. It’s got a 14-inch display, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Plus, it even supports some helpful Google AI features. This laptop goes for $799 but you can pick it up for $499 right now.
Read the full article here