The MacBook Neo is here, and it didn’t take long for an executive at a major PC manufacturer to put his foot in his mouth trying to discuss this new competition to Apple’s $600 laptop. On Asus’ latest earnings call, CFO Nick Wu said that the Neo and its aggressive entry-level pricing are “definitely a shock to the entire market.” Wu also revealed that Asus had some knowledge of Apple developing the Neo in 2025, as many of us have heard rumors of a MacBook with an iPhone chip for months — and yet, Asus and other PC makers have been caught off guard.
Worse, these company executives don’t even know what Neo stands for. Apple has fully entered the budget laptop space, with a highly capable (and colorful) device that’s seemingly ready for everything from mainstream Windows laptops to the fleet of Chromebooks in schools everywhere. Apple’s manufacturing prowess, design chops, and near-total ownership of its tech stack give it the tools to take on this market in a big way. Somehow, PC makers still don’t see it coming. Here’s how Wu describes the MacBook No, specifically its 8GB RAM range:
“I think when Apple positioned the product, it focused more on content consumption. It’s a bit different from mainstream notebook usage scenarios, because in that case, the Neo feels like a tablet — because tablets are mostly for content consumption.”
wait Can we stay here for a second?
Equating the MacBook Neo to a fantastic Netflix machine is ridiculous. It’s not a desktop replacement-class laptop with tons of power, but it’s a very capable machine. And this misunderstanding tells me that PC manufacturers are about to repeat many of the same mistakes as when they spent years mocking the supposedly underpowered MacBook Air, and when former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laughed at the iPhone. Again, it seems the Windows world doesn’t understand what people really want.
Exactly, how does the MacBook Neo differ from mainstream notebook uses, such as web browsing, editing documents, creating basic presentations, and maybe even playing the occasional game? As of 2025 CNET According to the survey, 52 percent of laptop owners use their laptops to create and view documents. Next highest was 35 percent who used their laptop for streaming and watching shows and movies (content consumption, yes). Other uses surveyed behind it were creative work, studying, test-taking, and basic life organization. These are all things the Neo can do well (with some limitations on the creative side). And it does so while having a good trackpad, a bright and colorful screen, a solid keyboard, and quality speakers — things that go a long way to make a computer compelling, and which are often lacking on lower-priced Windows laptops.
If the Neo came out running iPadOS, sure, call it a used machine, but it runs macOS — a desktop OS known to run better than Windows with less RAM. And, in the meantime, thanks to the ongoing shortage of RAM, we may once again see more new laptops running Windows with 8GB of RAM. As RAM prices explode, Apple’s vertically integrated supply chain can continue to offer cheaper computers. Even if PC makers can match the specs, they will have a hard time matching the price.
The proof of the MacBook Neo’s performance for the money is in the numbers. In single-core benchmarks tests — the most accurate measure of what you’ll do on a computer every day — the Neo’s A18 Pro chip outperforms every Windows laptop, including the new flagship Intel Panther Lake chip in Asus’ own $2,400 Zenbook Duo. Is a Zenbook Duo more capable than a MacBook Neo for heavy tasks, like photo and video editing or playing more graphic games? Yes, and that’s part of why I liked this dual-screen laptop when I reviewed it. But the Zenbook Duo also costs four times more. And, again, the Neo can hang with it for most common tasks, even with its 8GB of RAM.
I said in my review that the Neo puts the entire class of affordable Windows laptops to shame, but more shame on these companies if they have nothing to answer for. I hope they are already working on that next generation of laptops that will actually compete at $600. And I Really Hopefully companies like Asus, Microsoft, Dell, HP, Acer, Samsung, and MSI will have a real understanding of what makes their new competition so good, and what it can do for so much less than current Windows-based offerings. I reached out to all of these companies, and the responses I’ve received so far are predictably milquetoast.
Howard Chiu, Gigabyte’s marketing director, told me, “Gigabyte is not currently carrying laptops in the same segment as the Neo. The Gigabyte A16 will be the minimum specs we’re into.” Which, well, I can actually respect. Because Gigabyte is a small player in the laptop space and mostly specializes in gaming — it’s not just competing with the Neo.
Dell PR rep Nathalia Romano pointed me to COO Jeff Clark’s CES keynote. Clarke teased the release of a new XPS 13 laptop that will be “the most accessible XPS price point ever.” He also said that the company aims to “cover all price points with great products. Is a great product at $399 different from a $1,999 one? Of course it is, but they can both be great at what they’re expected to be.” What does Dell currently have on the price of the Neo? A Dell 15 laptop with a dim 16:9 display, plastic construction, a three-year-old Intel chip, and… 8GB of RAM. On Windows 11. Woof.
It’s not just about the performance score or the amount of RAM, it’s also about making affordable laptops that don’t feel like a punishment to use – a total package for everyday people, for a price that’s not too high. That’s what Windows laptop manufacturers are up against, and if they don’t understand that, they don’t understand an entire class of consumers who can walk into an Apple Store today and get one for exactly $599. Because they are going to happen.
