Apple is set to launch its newest MacBook Neo tomorrow. As shipping dates continue to slip as you’re reading this, if you’re planning to get the MacBook Neo, you may want to consider the 512GB storage option, and here’s why.
Currently, the 256GB is the base storage option on the iPad Pro, the Vision Pro, the iPhone 17 lineup, the iPhone Air, and the just-announced iPhone 17e. 256GB is also one of the storage options for the iPad mini, the iPad, and the just-announced iPad Air with M4. Upgrading the storage to 512GB on any of the aforementioned models would set you back $200.
When Apple updated the MacBook Air with the M5 chip last week, it bumped up the starting storage from 256GB to 512GB. So previously, the M4 models started at $999, but now, you’d have to pay $100 more (by default) as the M5 models now start at $1,099. Interestingly, Apple didn’t touch the storage configurations and prices for its desktop Mac offerings, so upgrading from 256GB to 512GB on either a Mac mini (M4) or an iMac (M4) would set you back $200.
But if you look at the MacBook Neo, it starts at $599 ($499 for students/educators) with 256GB, but upgrading the storage to 512GB is just $100, and since that upgrade also comes with Touch ID, that is a much better deal and a no-brainer upgrade. It’s unclear why this storage upgrade is more affordable compared to the same upgrade for other Apple products discussed earlier, but I suspect that it has to do with the significantly downgraded read/write speeds on the SSDs used in the MacBook Neo.
The initial hands-on and unboxing videos of the MacBook Neo are now live, and this laptop is set to launch tomorrow.
