Five reasons to buy Apple's new MacBook Neo

Parents, you're in luck. If you're looking to buy your kids a laptop for school or university, Apple has just unveiled the answer.

The MacBook Neo comes in at $899 and $749 on an education discount, making it their cheapest laptop this year by $900.

It comes in four fun colours and is designed to handle general work and entertainment purposes with up to 16 hours of battery life.

Curious to know more? Here are five reasons why you'll want this game-changing, budget-friendly laptop.

NOTE: Prices are accurate at the time of publishing.

Apple MacBook Neo at a glance...

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Price: $899 for 256GB and $1099 for 512GB and TouchID

Display: 13-inch, 2408-by-1506 resolution, 500 nits brightness

Performance: A18 Pro chip paired with 8GB of RAM

Build quality: Aluminium design, magic keyboard, multi-touch trackpad, 1080p camera, dual speakers and dual microphones

Software: macOS

1. Affordable performance

The biggest fear is that budget laptops are sluggish. The Neo skips budget processors and uses the A18 Pro chip to handle more than just homework. You'll be able to seamlessly work between apps like Safari, Excel, Canva and more, even letting you tackle more demanding tasks like photo editing! The display will also be great for entertainment purposes, like watching YouTube or movies.

2. Battery life that'll survive the day

There is nothing worse than scrambling to charge a laptop in the late afternoon. The Neo promises up to 16 hours of battery life, perfect for a full day of school or work plus a night of Netflix on a single charge.

Thanks to its fanless design, it'll run completely silent too. This makes it great for quiet libraries, as you won't have that jet engine fan noise of older laptops chugging away.

3. Built for the backpack life

Cheap laptops are usually made from plastic that's susceptible to cracking. The MacBook Neo uses a durable, recycled aluminium design, so it's built for that simple work or school life. At just 1.2 kilos as well, it's light enough for anyone to carry but sturdy enough to survive the commute.

4. Sync easily with the Apple ecosystem

For families already using iPhones, the Neo is a no-brainer. The Neo comes pre-installed with Apple apps like Safari, Messages and FaceTime that sync with your iPhone. Continuing tasks is made easy too with features like Handsoff, which lets you start an essay on your phone and finish it on the Mac instantly.

5. Straightforward software and hardware

For many, macOS is a favourite because it runs smoothly and remains remarkably intuitive. It's practically bloatware-free, and instead, the laptop uses Apple intelligence to help with practical tasks like summarising notes and can be easily turned off.

The laptop also has a 1080p FaceTime camera and dual microphones, which allows those calls to friends and family to sound crystal clear. Overall, MacOS is be incredibly reliable.

The verdict

The MacBook Neo is an affordable Apple laptop that'll be great for school, admin work and light gaming. It offers irrefutable value that'll mark a new gold standard for cheaper laptops.

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Are there reasons why you shouldn't buy it?

While the MacBook Neo drives some serious value, it's clearly not marketed for everyone. Anyone looking for a professional laptop to do serious video editing work or 3D rendering will find the base 8GB of memory a severe limiter.

Also, connectivity remains simplified as only one USB-C port supports an external monitor, and there is no keyboard backlighting. Finally, if you want the fingerprint security, that's exclusively found on the 512GB MacBook Neo (which is more of a reason to buy that model).

For creatives and general professionals: MacBook Air

From $1797

For the power users: MacBook Pro

From $2699

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