Most of Apple's announcements this week have been fairly straightforward internal updates to existing products, give or take some big architectural changes to its high-end processors.
But Apple has saved its most interesting announcement for today: the MacBook Neo is a brand-new lower-cost member of Apple's laptop family, and will take over for the 13-inch MacBook Air as the company's entry-level laptop. The new laptop starts at $599, the same as the M1 MacBook Air that Apple has been selling through Wal-Mart in the US, and much lower than the $1,099 starting price for the new M5 MacBook Air.
The new MacBook will go up for pre-order today and will be available on March 11, and you'll be able to buy it directly through Apple's website and retail stores in addition to third-party retailers. It's available in four colors: silver, indigo, a pink-ish color called "blush," and the yellow-ish "citrus."
source https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/the-599-macbook-neo-is-apples-long-awaited-colorful-lower-cost-macbook/