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MacBook Neo Starts at Just $499 for Students

Blackstick said:
iPad Minis fit perfectly in a doctor's white lab coat pocket on their thigh. In the medical field, Mini pricing is a steal of a deal and they have cellular options for paging anywhere. Hospital chains buy them by the pallet. When you're paying $3 million for an MRI machine, $600 for a doctor/nurse tablet is nothing.
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Yeah, my partner has all the iPad(s) and my ex partner (also a doctor) had all of them too, lol. They love iPad.
 
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kaspurr said:
You looked at the iPad Air lately? its gotta be the worst value Apple product out right now for its features and hardware. $1200 for 13" 256GB storage and Magic Keyboard
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Maybe, but you cannot detach the screen from the Macbook Neo or does it have a touchscreen, Pencil or Cellular support etc, so its not really a fair comparison. Ironically though, the iPad Air which is an iOS device has Mac OS hardware, where as the Neo which is a Mac OS device has iOS hardware!
 
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DennyRoozeboom said:
Agree they should streamline the lineup and make it a 8" iPad Air, and a 8" iPad Pro.
It is in this weird space in between everything now and no one knows what it is compared to the rest.
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Wait till a foldable phone comes out. They should have added phone capability to the Mini.
 
HVDynamo said:
I get that value is king with this product, but I think it really needed to at least hit 12GB. 8GB is just so brutal. I get that it may be on the edge of OK today, but what about 2 years from now? I just think 12GB should be the absolute minimum any machine that’s meant for general purpose computing ships with.
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If this is a popular product, Apple will be forced to optimize MacOS for 8GB, and smaller storage - which benefits every computer with better specs.
 
This is the best feature, IMO. And with volume pricing, I wonder if school districts order like 10,000 at a time could get the price down even lower, maybe $449 or $399? Curious if anyone who does volume ordering for a district could chime in. I'd rather my kids use these than ChromeOS, especially since they start out using iPads in elementary school and middle school, and then switch to ChromeOS laptops in high school. My daughter is still a couple years out from high school, so I'd like to advocate for these in our district.
 
macduke said:
This is the best feature, IMO. And with volume pricing, I wonder if school districts order like 10,000 at a time could get the price down even lower, maybe $449 or $399? Curious if anyone who does volume ordering for a district could chime in. I'd rather my kids use these than ChromeOS, especially since they start out using iPads in elementary school and middle school, and then switch to ChromeOS laptops in high school. My daughter is still a couple years out from high school, so I'd like to advocate for these in our district.
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Please procure the fun colors for the kids. Boys get yellow/citrus. Girls get pink/blush.
 
fzJNotIBOxgnbqejSeVCvJScL said:
Is the Touch ID button really worth that extra money?

And who pays for stuff using a MacBook?
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Yes, because you don't want to have it stolen or to have to type your password in front of a crowd of strangers on the university bench.
Yes, because MacOS and Password manager apps always ask for your identification.
And who buys stuff online, really?
 
svish said:
$499 is a fantastic price. Very good MacBook and should last a long time. I would however prefer to spend an additional $100 and get TouchID and double the storage.
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I think, I'm not sure, but I think you can use your phone or Watch to unlock your device and pay with Face ID or Touch ID, so it's not essential. But it's a quality of life feature and you won't miss it if other options aren't available. You get a code you can scan with your phone, or something.
 
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Interesting, but good for Apple to find a new category of people to rip some money from 😉
See what the Mac Neo will be worth at 2nd price?
Also wonder if many grown-ups will find it worth to buy them?

Not interesting for me, I'm all good with my 13'6 M3 MBA - it's a good portable mac what that will last awhile.
But if Apple released a small 11' I would be all over it.
 
fzJNotIBOxgnbqejSeVCvJScL said:
Is the Touch ID button really worth that extra money?

And who pays for stuff using a MacBook?
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I ordered 2 Neos at EDU pricing and the $100 I saved put it towards the Touch ID and 512GB storage.

Gotta have Touch ID on all my devices!

Ordered Indigo and Citrus Neo:
Screenshot 2026-03-04 at 8.37.07 AM.png
 
Compote said:
Wait till a foldable phone comes out. They should have added phone capability to the Mini.
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Starting $1100, in a more contraindicated package, in a form factor that looks like an over engineered gimmick.
I’d love to be proven wrong, honestly I hope I will, but I’m skeptical.
 
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