Apple’s student MacBook Neo discount shrinks to $50 after price rise
Apple has raised the MacBook Neo’s starting price for students to $649, $150 above its initial education price of $499. The increase reduces the student saving to $50 off the standard price, weakening the low price that helped make the budget laptop appealing when it launched in March.
The $649 model has 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, and lacks Touch ID. Apple raised the education price by $100 in June and added another $50 increase recently, citing shortages of RAM and other components as the broader backdrop. The regular starting price also rose to $699 in June; a new Neo with potentially more RAM is rumoured for early next year.
In short
- Student pricing has risen to $649.
- The discount is now $50 off.
- A higher-RAM model may arrive next year.
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The case for
The higher student price may reflect rising costs and shortages of RAM and other components, leaving Apple less room to subsidise the laptop while keeping it available. At $649, students still save $50 on the standard price, and the Neo may remain a relatively accessible way to buy a Mac.
The case against
The increase erodes the low student price that helped make the Neo appealing, cutting the saving from $200 at launch to just $50. For students on tight budgets, $649 for a model with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and no Touch ID may weaken the case for choosing it as an affordable laptop.
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Originally published by The Verge as “Apple raises the MacBook Neo’s student pricing again”.