Has Apple stolen the budget laptop market?

(Image credit: Future)

Apple made waves at the start of March with the launch of the MacBook Neo, its first budget laptop.

As RAM prices skyrocket, businesses are under pressure to make device purchases that count and that will future-proof their workers for years to come. Both Apple and manufactures in the Windows ecosystem are vying for enterprise money in the budget and pro segments – even as it becomes more expensive than ever to spec devices to 16GB of memory and beyond.

Where does the latest Apple release fit into the wider business laptop ecosystem?

This week, Rory speaks to Bobby Hellard, ITPro’s reviews editor, to unpack all things MacBook Neo, Windows laptops, and the future of business hardware.

Highlights

"It's just a clever kind of construct. It's got a mobile chip, very low RAM, the display isn't as the best, and it's got some things missing from it that you would find on the MacBook Pro or the MacBook Air. So it's for people that want a MacBook but don't want to have the best of the best, don't want to spend so much money."

"So for single tests and single apps, it's brilliant, and that's part of the reason why they've got that A18 chip in there. It's an AI ready chip, and it can optimize the laptop better than it would with an M1 chip. So you get enough power and specific power to various apps so they work perfectly, no more, no less.

"Well, it felt like a return to form for MWC this year, because there were a lot of handsets, a lot of showcases. There were some foldable phones, folding screen laptops as well – Huawei was one of those it has, which we've reviewed, the MateBook Fold, which is an all-display laptop that folds. That was on display, it's very beautiful. Lenovo had some modular PCs, so they've got a new modular concept, which is an AI PC that you can completely tear down and pull apart, which has loads of use cases, particularly for fixing and sustainability."

Footnotes

TOPICS

Rory Bathgate is Features and Multimedia Editor at ITPro, overseeing all in-depth content and case studies. He can also be found co-hosting the ITPro Podcast with Jane McCallion, swapping a keyboard for a microphone to discuss the latest learnings with thought leaders from across the tech sector.

In his free time, Rory enjoys photography, video editing, and good science fiction. After graduating from the University of Kent with a BA in English and American Literature, Rory undertook an MA in Eighteenth-Century Studies at King’s College London. He joined ITPro in 2022 as a graduate, following four years in student journalism. You can contact Rory at rory.bathgate@futurenet.com or on LinkedIn.

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