Apple's MacBook Neo has been one of the company's biggest successes of 2026. The device has helped Apple secure large education deals with schools across the world, achieve the best Mac launch week ever and helped cement 2026 as the year with the most Mac units ever sold.

Now, we are expecting the Neo's successor in spring, with a more powerful chip, increased RAM and Apple thinks it will be even higher in demand.

Expected Launch Date

As a first-generation product line, we don't really know when Apple will refresh the MacBook Neo, as a release pattern is yet to be established.

However, as a popular mainstream product we are expecting the device to refresh in just a few months’ time in either February, March or potentially April.

This means the MacBook Neo 2 could be as little as 3 months away.

If we look at previous release patterns over the past few years, Everything Apple is also expecting a new MacBook Air, iPhone 18e, iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2 to launch at a similar time.

We could also see new iPad and iPad Air models, meaning the MacBook Neo 2 could be among a flurry of spring releases just like we saw in March of this year with the first model.

Performance & RAM

The original MacBook Neo debuted with the A18 Pro chip which originally released in 2024 made for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

As this chip was made for an iPhone, Apple had only engineered the A18 Pro with 8GB of RAM. This meant that the MacBook Neo was only available with one RAM option of 8GB.

However, the next generation could feature the A19 Pro chip which was released in 2025 for the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

All of these iPhone models received 12GB RAM. As Apple uses unified memory, meaning it is all attached to the chip, if Apple uses A19 Pro on the next MacBook Neo this will also debut with 12GB RAM.

Whilst this seems like a small amount, this will unlock additional Apple Intelligence capabilities on the device.

Devices with A19 Pro or newer get access to more powerful on-device models and more expressive voice options for Siri AI where you can adjust the expressivity and pace of the voice.

Additionally, with a little extra RAM and a newer chip, the MacBook Neo 2 will likely see small performance boosts that make day-to-day use a little faster.

Ports

"USB-C Ports of Macbook Neo" by Kyu3a, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

One compromise of the MacBook Neo using an iPhone chip is that it is very limited by what ports it can use. Whilst on the outside the two USB-C ports and headphone jack look like the exact same set of ports found on the MacBook Air, the USB-C ports use different technologies.

Whilst MacBook Air users get the faster transfer speeds of ThunderBolt, MacBook Neo has one USB 3 port for faster data transfer and connectivity, and one slower USB 2 port that supports charging but no video output.

This downside could remain with the MacBook Neo 2, though it is unlikely to affect the target audience of the device anyway.

Price

MacBook Neo launched in March 2026 at a shockingly low £599/$599 price. The device, built primarily for students, was even cheaper on the education store for £499/$499.

These were prices we had never seen on a MacBook before, as prior to the Neo the cheapest MacBook Available was £999/$999.

Unfortunately, these prices didn't last as the memory cost crisis continued over the summer, leading to the Neo now starting from £699/$699 and the Air from £1,299/$1,299.

We expect the price to hold at £699/$699 for the next model, with an A19 Pro chip, 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. This still remains the cheapest MacBook available and starts from £649/$649 for students.

Double the production

"MacBook Neo on display" by Seasider53, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Recently, the Digitimes reported that Apple is expecting to produce 16 million MacBook Neo units in 2027. This is double the amount forecasted for 2026, which sits at 8 million.

Of course, 2026 does not include the first two months of the year as the device was released in March, but January and February are not expected to increase demand by 8 million units.

This shows how popular the Neo is, especially amid a market where prices are continuing to rise and shipments are falling, according to Counterpoint Research.

Final Thoughts

The second-generation MacBook Neo expected this spring will be a reasonable upgrade over the first generation. With more RAM and a newer chip, it will remain one of the best entry-level laptops on the market.

There is no word on new colours or an external design change so it is currently very likely this remains an internal upgrade, just as we see each year with every other MacBook model (the MacBook Air has had the same look since 2022).

If you already own the MacBook Neo you likely shouldn't upgrade, but if you're currently shopping you may as well hold off if you can, but its not the end of the world if you buy the current model.