TECHnalysis Research president Bob O'Donnell writes columns for the Tech section of USAToday.com and those columns are posted here.
These columns are also often reposted on other sites, including MSN and other publishing partners of USAToday.
March 5, 2026
By Bob O'Donnell
Sure, lots of people love Apple’s MacBook laptops and their latest generation iPhones. But premium prices for these devices have typically limited their potential audience. However, the company is hoping to appeal to a much broader range of possible buyers with this week’s launch of the $599 iPhone 17e and, most notably, the $599 MacBook Neo.
Apple’s low-cost moves are both surprising and particularly compelling right now because they’re happening at a time when most tech companies are being forced to raise prices due to shortages in critical components for memory and storage.
To make these low costs possible, Apple had to make several serious choices in the design and configuration of the new products. The ultimate question, however, will be whether they impact the Apple-level quality of experience that people have come to expect from the company.
In the case of the iPhone 17e, the answer is likely to be a straightforward no: Classic Apple performance and experience should remain intact. After all, Apple has been working on delivering lower-cost iPhones for several years now and the 17e benefits from some of the design choices the company made last year with the 16e. The new 17e features the latest generation A19 family processor, an improved C1X modem chip for faster downloads and doubles the baseline storage capacity from 128 to 256 GB. In addition, Apple added MagSafe support to work with more magnetic cases and other accessories.
As with the 16e, the 17e only features a single camera lens and its overall capabilities are similar to last year’s model, but with a 48 MPixel sensor and the ability to do 4K video recording, most people will likely be satisfied with its capabilities (especially compared to the older phones from which they would likely upgrade).
When it comes to the MacBook Neo, the choices Apple made become a bit more interesting. The biggest change is the use of the A18 Pro chip (originally designed for and used in last year’s premium iPhone line) as the main processor for the Neo. All other MacBooks, including the newly updated MacBook Air, use Apple’s M series processors. Final real-world performance won’t really be known until the machines become available March 11, but Apple clearly believes that for basic computing applications — browsing, email, watching movies, document creation, among others − its A series chips will work just fine.
When it comes to more demanding applications, however, there will certainly be lingering questions about how well the Neo will hold up. The concerns come not only from the processor, but also from the fact that Apple has chosen to include just 8 GB of memory in the Neo (and, no, it can’t be expanded). Not only is this driven by cost limitations, but it's also likely due to the industry-wide memory shortages that all computer makers are facing.
For the vast majority of consumers who don’t really care (or know) about the processors or amount of memory in their machines, these issues may not end up being much of a concern at all. However, many games and some upcoming AI-based applications could end up running slowly on Mac Neos because of these decisions that Apple made. To be clear, web-based AI tools such as Gemini, ChatGPT, etc., should be fine as they typically run in Apple’s Safari browser, but it is important to know when you consider your purchase.
Of course, if you have concerns, Apple also just updated its MacBook Air line to include their latest M5 processor, giving it the performance specs necessary to handle just about anything you throw at it. In addition, they doubled the amount of storage versus last year’s M4-based model to 512 GB (versus 256 GB) and added a new N1 chip to support the latest versions of WiFi and Bluetooth. They also kept the standard memory configuration at 16 GB. However, based on the increasing component prices mentioned earlier, they raised the based price $100 to $1,099, further reflecting that even Apple can’t ignore these industry challenges.
Getting iPhones and, particularly, MacBooks into sub-$600 price points (and sub $500 for students) is unquestionably an impressive feat for Apple. It will also likely open up a whole new range of customers for the company. But the move will also prove to be good news for entry-level Windows notebook buyers as well because the PC industry has been rife with rumors of the MacBook Neo for nearly a year now. As a result, big PC companies like Dell, HP, Lenovo and others have been developing what are likely to be competitive offerings in anticipation of its release.
Exactly how these new Windows machines compare remains to be seen, but the good news for all of us is that it looks like — despite ongoing industry challenges — this spring could prove to be a good time buy a notebook PC after all.
Here’s a link to the original column: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnists/2026/03/05/macbook-neo-apple-low-cost-devices/89001495007/
USA TODAY columnist Bob O'Donnell is the president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, a market research and consulting firm. You can follow him on Twitter @bobodtech. |
