It’s time for the Mac Neo

Now that the Mac Mini starts at $900, there’s room for a cheaper Mac desktop with an A-series chip.

The Mac Mini is a great little desktop computer, and back when it cost $599 , it was easy to recommend to anyone who wanted something speedy, simple, and cheap. The new M6 model is even better , but it starts at $899, and its 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU might actually be overkill for someone who just wants macOS and mostly does web stuff.

That’s why we need a Mac Neo. The MacBook Neo proves Apple can get good-enough laptop performance from an iPhone chip for $699. And you get a great screen, keyboard, trackpad, and battery with that money. Throwing a smartphone chip, a power supply, some basic speakers, and a few ports in a small box shouldn’t cost all that much if a whole-ass laptop version is $699. I mean, it’s a screenless phone with a couple of USB ports, Michael. What could it cost? $499?

And while the current Mac Mini chassis is incredibly small for what it can accomplish, a stripped-down model with a phone chip and no fan could be even tinier. Apple could go super small or just repurpose something that exists, like the chassis it uses for the Apple TV 4K . Add some ports — maybe not quite enough, knowing Apple — give it a couple fun colors, and you’ve got a Mac Neo. Or, dare I say, a Mac Nano?

As Apple’s M-series chips keep getting more powerful and more expensive, there’s a segment of people it’s leaving behind. RAMageddon is making everything cost more, even the MacBook Neo, but the Neo showed that a lower-cost MacBook wasn’t just viable — it could be great. There’s no reason a Mac Neo can’t do the same.

More in: The Neo Effect: How Apple’s cheapest Mac is changing the PC game