Apple has a chip problem. MacBook Neo is selling far better than the company had expected, and now it seems like there aren’t enough binned A18 Pro chips to keep the production run going for another 6-12 months before a new version is released.
Some have floated the idea of Apple axing the 256GB trim, and just using an unbinned A18 Pro chip in the 512GB trim. That’s certainly plausible. I do wonder though, how can Apple prevent this from happening with every forthcoming MacBook Neo?
We already know Apple is making another version of the MacBook Neo with the A19 Pro chip and 12GB RAM in about a year.
What if, though, there was more diversity to it? Clearly, relying on one trim of binned chip isn’t necessarily going to cut it for the amount of demand there is for MacBook Neo.
You could argue a lot of this could be launch hype, but I also think the MacBook Neo is an absurdly good deal compared to the rest of the PC industry, and people will continue to want to buy it. Especially if they already have an iPhone.
Right now, there’s two trims to MacBook Neo, with no chip difference:
Apple only deploys one chip in the MacBook Neo, at least for now. With the A19 version, I think there’s room for them to move both higher and lower.
Apple can move higher, in the sense that the highest MacBook Neo trim is $699, whereas the lowest MacBook Air trim is $1099. And it can go lower, in the sense that people are clearly okay with 8GB of memory at this price point.
So, I could envision this lineup with the A19 refresh:
That provides some chip supply diversity, and creates a new incentive for people with a little more room in their budget to buy the chip that isn’t low in supply. I’m not sure I could see these prices sticking verbatim, but I do think the general structure is generally plausible.
One downside with the baseline A19 chip is the fact that it doesn’t embed a USB 3 controller. Apple could embed an external one on the board, bringing back a USB 3 port to the baseline model. An additional benefit to this is the fact that the A19 Pro chips do have an embedded USB 3 controller, so the external one would make both USB-C ports support USB 3 speeds. This is all hypothetical of course.
I’m sure Apple wants its Chromebook and low-end Windows laptop competitor to continually be in stock, and the A18 Pro shortages aren’t something it thought it’d have to deal with so soon. One way or another, I think more diversity with the upcoming A19 model is almost inevitable.
How do you feel about the MacBook Neo? Have you bought one? Sound off in the comments.
My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
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