Apple MacBook Neo with A18 Pro chip, Liquid Retina display, and macOS Tahoe launched: Price starts at Rs 69,900

Apple has announced the MacBook Neo, its most affordable laptop to date, starting at Rs 69,900 in India. The Neo is powered by the A18 Pro chip, the same silicon found in the iPhone 16 Pro, and features a 13-inch Liquid Retina display with 500 nits brightness and support for 1 billion colors. At 1.23 kgs, the MacBook Neo is lighter than it sounds, and the aluminum build keeps it feeling premium despite the lower price tag. Two USB-C ports, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 6, a headphone jack, a 1080p FaceTime camera, and dual side-firing speakers with Spatial Audio round out the hardware.MacBook Neo ships with macOS Tahoe, giving users access to Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools and Live Translation right out of the box. iPhone Mirroring is supported too, letting users interact with their iPhone directly from the MacBook screen—useful for anyone already deep in the Apple ecosystemThe A18 Pro brings some serious grunt for this price bracket. Apple claims the MacBook Neo is up to 50% faster for everyday tasks than a comparable Intel Core Ultra 5 Windows laptop, and up to 3x faster for on-device AI workloads. The 16-core Neural Engine handles Apple Intelligence features locally, keeping things private. The 5-core GPU is capable enough for casual gaming and photo editing. And since the whole thing is fanless, it runs completely silent. Battery life is rated at up to 16 hours.On the sustainability front, Apple says the MacBook Neo is its lowest-carbon Mac yet, made with 60% recycled content including 90% recycled aluminum.The MacBook Neo is priced at Rs 69,900 for the 256GB model with the standard Magic Keyboard, and Rs 79,900 for the 512GB model with Magic Keyboard and Touch ID. No Cost EMI starts at Rs 11,150 per month with instant cashback. Pre-orders are open now ahead of the March 11 sale date.