Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET
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ZDNET's key takeaways
Apple's new MacBook Neo will disrupt the budget PC market.
PC makers will need to adapt.
This market disruption is good for innovation.
Apple's new MacBook Neo inserts a wedge into the budget laptop market. It's a product category traditionally dominated by Windows PCs, and Microsoft has been quite comfortable in this space for a long time -- its only real competitor being Chromebooks.
The MacBook Neo is a $599 laptop ($499 with the educator discount) that disrupts the market, bringing a trimmed-down version of the premium build MacBooks are known for to this lower price point. Yes, there are trade-offs to get the price this low, but Apple has done a good job at managing them.
Review: MacBook Neo
For starters, the Neo comes with the A18 processor, an iPhone chip, instead of the M-series processors in the rest of the MacBook lineup. This setup means the Neo is a little less powerful for high-end workflows, but very well-equipped for everyday tasks, such as working in the browser, multitasking across apps, and using iPhone integrations like FaceTime, Messages, and Phone Mirroring.
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