Apple has long been known for premium-priced devices, so the launch of a budget laptop has surprised many observers. Priced at $599, or just $499 for students, the MacBook Neo is significantly cheaper than any mainstream MacBook Apple has sold in recent years.

The attractive price comes with a number of hardware compromises, which quickly sparked criticism across the tech community. Shortly after the announcement, social media filled with posts from tech analysts explaining why MacBook Neo is supposedly “terrible” and why consumers should buy a different laptop.

While many of those technical arguments contain some truth, they also reveal something else: many people are evaluating the laptop using the wrong criteria.

A deliberately basic laptop

The biggest criticism aimed at MacBook Neo is its use of the A18 Pro chip with 8GB of RAM that cannot be upgraded. Compared with Apple’s most powerful MacBook processors, the configuration is clearly modest. In fact, it is not even Apple’s latest chip.

When compared with the Apple M5 processor found in the newest MacBook Air, or even earlier M-series chips, the A18 Pro delivers noticeably lower performance.

As a result, many commentators quickly concluded that a laptop with such “weak” hardware is not worth the price. And in some cases they are right. With only 8GB of RAM, the machine is not suitable for editing 4K video, running Docker containers or building complex 3D models in Blender. The chip also lacks the power to smoothly run demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 or operate local AI language models.

But that is precisely the point of MacBook Neo.

If you regularly perform tasks like these, the laptop was never designed for you. You likely already own a much more powerful laptop or desktop computer. For such users, the only attractive feature of MacBook Neo might be its colorful design.

Apple’s goal with the MacBook Neo is not to compete with high-end MacBook Pro models powered by M5 Pro or M5 Max chips. Instead, the device targets the most common laptops in the entry-level segment, particularly Chromebooks and low-cost Windows machines.

Simply put, MacBook Neo is the most basic MacBook Apple can make at the lowest possible price. For many consumers, that alone makes it appealing.

Real-world laptop needs are often simple

Outside the “tech enthusiast bubble,” the real needs of most laptop users are extremely basic. Billions of people worldwide mainly use computers to send emails, browse the web, use a few web applications, watch Netflix or complete simple tasks.

For such needs, a laptop that can run Google Chrome smoothly is already more than sufficient—and MacBook Neo can easily do that.

What helps the device stand out compared with most Chromebooks or budget Windows laptops lies in other areas. It is lightweight, comes in youthful colors, features solid build quality and offers battery life of up to 16 hours on a single charge.

These qualities rarely appear together in laptops at similar prices. In many cases, design, weight and battery life matter far more than processor power when consumers choose a laptop.

In fact, most of the customers Apple is targeting with MacBook Neo likely do not know how much RAM their laptop has or what processor it uses. They also do not follow Apple’s product release cycles and might not even update their software unless prompted by the operating system.

MacBook Neo is designed for students who need a simple laptop for coursework. It can also be the computer you buy for parents to replace an aging machine that struggles to run basic tasks. Alternatively, it may serve as a second laptop for office workers who want a personal device rather than relying on one issued by their company.

Performance that is still good enough

For these groups of users, MacBook Neo will still feel fast enough. Although the A18 Pro is not Apple’s newest mobile chip, its performance is comparable to the Apple M1 processor that once generated huge excitement when it debuted.

The M1 also launched with 8GB of RAM. For Windows users, that amount might seem like a nightmare, but on macOS it can still handle a surprising number of tasks.

For example, a 13-inch MacBook Pro (2020) running the M1 chip with 8GB RAM and 512GB of storage can still manage a typical workday running Pages, Slack, WhatsApp, Spotify and the Arc browser with multiple tabs simultaneously without issues. It can even handle basic photo editing in Adobe Photoshop fairly smoothly. The only complaint after five years is that the battery no longer lasts as long as it once did.

That does not mean MacBook Neo lacks compromises. But the more notable ones are not related to processing power. For instance, the absence of a backlit keyboard or the lack of advanced Force Touch features in the trackpad may be more noticeable drawbacks.

Of course, some $599 Windows laptops offer larger screens and even stronger hardware specifications. However, they rarely deliver the same premium feel in design and build quality.

On the other hand, Windows laptops that look just as premium - or even more so - usually cost significantly more.

That may be the key to the almost certain success of MacBook Neo.

If you are someone who constantly cares about RAM capacity, USB standards or Thunderbolt ports on your laptop, Apple’s new budget machine probably is not for you. But for many others, MacBook Neo might be exactly the laptop they need.

And if someone tries to convince you to buy something else, there is a good chance they are looking at the problem from the wrong perspective.

Hai Phong