Apple put an iPhone chip in a laptop, painted it highlighter yellow, and charged £599 for it. That’s the MacBook Neo in Citrus, and it’s the most interesting thing Apple’s shipped in the budget tier in years.
The Silicon Story
This is the headline. The Neo doesn’t run an M-series chip — it runs the A18 Pro, the same silicon family as the iPhone 16 Pro. Six CPU cores, five GPU cores, 16-core Neural Engine.
Sounds like a downgrade. Mostly isn’t. A18 Pro is a genuinely fast core design, and pairing it with macOS instead of a 6-watt Intel part is why the Neo hits 16 hours of battery off a 36.5Wh cell. For context, the Air needs 53.8Wh to get there. That’s the whole trick: less silicon draw, smaller battery, lighter machine, lower price.
The Spec Sheet
| Chip | Apple A18 Pro — 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine |
| Memory | 8GB unified — soldered, not upgradeable |
| Storage | 256GB or 512GB SSD |
| Display | 13-inch Liquid Retina, 2408×1506, 219 ppi, 500 nits |
| Battery | 36.5Wh, up to 16 hours |
| Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD |
| Colours | Citrus, Blush, Indigo, Silver |
| Price | From £599 |
About That Yellow
Citrus is loud. Apple hasn’t gone this hard on a colour since the tangerine iBook, and the internet split roughly down the middle on it — reviewers who’ve seen it in person mostly say it reads better in daylight than in press shots. Apple even colour-matched the keycaps, which pushes white keys slightly yellow on this model. Nice detail.
If you want the same machine without the statement, the Neo line also does Blush, Indigo and Silver. Same internals, quieter energy.
The Catch
8GB, permanently. There is no 16GB option. That’s the line Apple drew to protect the Air, and it’s the spec that decides whether this machine is right for you.
Browser tabs, docs, Mail, streaming, light photo work, a few dozen Safari tabs — fine. Xcode builds, Logic sessions, 4K timelines, VMs, or forty Chrome tabs plus Slack plus Docker — you will feel it, and you cannot fix it later. Apple’s aiming this at schools and small businesses for a reason.
Verdict
At £599 the MacBook Neo is the cheapest genuinely good Mac laptop Apple has ever sold. Real Retina panel, real all-day battery, real macOS, in a colour that makes a Dell look like a filing cabinet.
Buy it if it’s a second machine, a student machine, or a writing-and-web machine. Skip it and stretch to the Air if 8GB makes you nervous — because on this one, it’s forever.
Specs per Apple UK. Pricing checked 21 August 2026 — confirm current retailer pricing before ordering.
