The $599 iPhone 17E kicked off Apple's latest round of product announcements, and the $599 MacBook Neo concluded the flurry. In between, we saw updates to both the MacBook Air and Pro lines, a couple of overdue Studio Display monitor refreshes and a new iPad Air. Whew!
It's a lot to keep track of, so I've collected all the news in one place. In reverse chronological order, here are all the new products that Apple announced this week. And yes, everything listed below is available to preorder now and shipping March 11.
MacBook Neo
This was the biggest piece of news from Apple this week, and I'm not just saying that because I review laptops for a living. The new MacBook Neo significantly lowers the entry point for MacBook shoppers. At just $599, it costs $500 less than the cheapest MacBook Air, and students can get it for $499. I expect to see a lot of MacBook Neos in classrooms by next fall, but I think the Neo could be more than just a school laptop.
The MacBook Neo has an iPhone-level processor and only 8GB of RAM, so it's definitely geared more toward writing term papers than the heavier lifting required by STEM or graphic design students. And even then, you'll probably want to spend the extra $100 for the larger SSD and Touch ID keyboard. Its 13-inch display isn't much smaller than the Air's, and it has a lightweight, all-aluminum body that's on par with that of Apple's pricier MacBooks. Plus, it comes in three fun colors (in addition to standard silver).
I expect the MacBook Neo to sell well, and it will probably eat into iPad sales more than the MacBook Air's. Or maybe the two will eventually merge, sending CNET's Scott Stein into nirvana.
The MacBook Neo comes in four colors and costs $599. Apple/CNET
M5 MacBook Air
Apple's mainstream MacBook got a refresh this week. The MacBook Air was upgraded to Apple's latest M5 processor, but that wasn't the only change. Apple removed the undersized 256GB SSD option from the previous version, upping the minimum storage to 512GB. The starting price went up by $100, but the M5 MacBook Air is actually a better deal than the M4 model -- currently my favorite laptop overall for most people -- when you factor in upgrade costs. Plus, Apple says the new SSD in the M5 Air is twice as fast as before.
M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro
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