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The laptop market has split in ways that would have seemed unlikely just two years ago. Apple $AAPL +0.00% now sells a laptop for $599, Intel $INTC -0.70% is back with a chip architecture that finally challenges Apple Silicon on battery life, and the RAM shortage triggered by the AI boom is quietly pushing up prices on the Windows side. Choosing the right machine has genuinely become difficult.
The biggest story of early 2026 is the MacBook Neo. Apple's decision to launch a budget laptop — using the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 Pro — disrupted the entire affordable laptop segment. Chromebook makers and budget Windows manufacturers suddenly found themselves competing with a machine that offers premium build quality and macOS at prices they can barely match. For students, light users, and anyone who has been priced out of Apple's lineup, the Neo is a game changer.
On the premium side, Apple has also refreshed the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines with the M5 chip. The M5 Air delivers meaningfully faster performance, Wi-Fi 7, and an upgraded webcam. The MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max offers professional-grade speeds that still set the standard for sustained compute workloads.
