Apple's sub-KES 80,000 MacBook Neo utilises iPhone silicon to dominate budget Chromebooks, while rendering the expensive iPad Air completely obsolete.

Apple plans to release a second-generation MacBook Neo in the first half of 2027. The new model is expected to use the A19 Pro chip with 12GB of memory, up from 8GB on the current one, and to come in new colours.

The MacBook Neo is Apple’s cheapest laptop. It launched in March at USD 599 in the US, or about KES 78,000, and Apple raised that to USD 699, about KES 91,000, in June after memory chips got more expensive. The 512GB version with Touch ID now costs USD 799, about KES 104,000. Inside is the A18 Pro, the chip from the iPhone 16 Pro, in a version with five graphics cores where the phone has six. Whichever storage you pick, you get 8GB of memory.

Why the memory matters more than the chip

On a Mac with Apple’s own chips, the memory sits in the same package as the processor, and the processor and graphics share it. That’s why Apple calls it unified memory. It’s also why you can’t open the laptop and add more later. So the 8GB you buy is the 8GB you live with for as long as you own the Neo.

For browsing and documents, 8GB is enough. Run a video call with a dozen tabs open behind it, though, and macOS starts using the SSD as overflow. The SSD is much slower than memory, so the laptop starts to drag.

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We think the jump to 12GB comes with the chip. The first Neo runs on an iPhone chip, and the A19 Pro is the one from the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, which the iPhone 18 Pro replaced in September. Apple also says the A19 Pro has Neural Accelerators in each graphics core, hardware that speeds up AI work done on the device.

So if the leak holds, a Neo 2 owner can keep more apps open before things slow down, and the laptop is better suited to Apple Intelligence features that run on the device.

Apple expects to sell a lot more of them, too. It has reportedly given suppliers a forecast of 16 million MacBook Neo units for 2027, about double the nearly 8 million expected this year. That forecast doesn’t name a new model, but a launch in the first half of the year would fall inside it.

No price figure has leaked yet, and neither have storage options or a launch date. It isn’t clear whether the cheaper version gets Touch ID, or whether the second USB-C port moves past USB 2 speeds. On the current Neo, only one of the two ports supports USB 3 and an external display.

What it means if you’re buying a Neo in Kenya

Apple doesn’t sell the Neo directly in Kenya, so the price is whatever local shops charge. When it arrived in March, we found it at KES 130,000, about KES 50,000 above the US price at the time. By June it had dropped to KES 90,000 at one retailer. Earlier this week we covered a Black November sale listing the 256GB Neo at KES 99,000 and the 512GB version at KES 113,000.

If you need a laptop now for school or office work, and your apps fit in 8GB, KES 99,000 is a fair price for the current Neo. If you plan to keep it for five years or more, or you already know 8GB is tight for what you run, wait for the 12GB model or buy M3, M4, M5 options within range. Just expect the first units to reach Kenya at a markup, as the first Neo did in March, and give the price a few months to settle.