The $599 MacBook Neo has already spooked the laptop industry with its outstanding build quality, decent specifications and a price that’ll nearly everyone will say yes to. With Apple’s competitors playing catch-up, they’ll continue to trail behind next year as the MacBook Neo 2 is expected to succeed the current-generation model, but here’s a twist that you didn’t realize. Apple has given subtle hints that its upcoming affordable portable Mac won’t just exude value, but it’ll also seamlessly run the company’s most advanced on-device AI model.
With its chipset upgrade, the MacBook Neo 2 will probably be Apple’s cheapest hardware to run its most sophisticated on-device AI model
The way the A18 Pro is designed, whether it’s in the iPhone 16 Pro or the current MacBook Neo, it wasn’t possible to accommodate more than 8GB of unified memory. Thankfully, next year is where things take a turn, with the MacBook Neo 2 offering more than just a specifications bump. Talking chronologically, the A19 Pro will likely power its innards, and whether it’s the binned or non-binned version, Apple’s most affordable notebook will ship with 12GB of unified RAM.
This 50 percent bump in the RAM count means one thing, and that’s running AFM 3 Core Advanced, which is Apple’s most capable on-device AI model. With its 20-billion-parameter model that’s optimized for Apple Silicon, the upcoming hardware will obtain access to some of the California-based giant’s most advanced features like “expressive voices” and “advanced dictation,” which aren’t available on the original MacBook Neo due to its 8GB RAM limit.
In short, not only will the MacBook Neo 2 be an entirely different beast in compute and graphics performance, but its on-device AI capabilities will shoot through the roof, and it’ll be at a price that’s accessible to the majority of buyers. In the same weight class that also involves the same price, we’ve already reported that Windows 11-powered are unable to compete with the MacBook Neo, so imagine the expansion of possibilities when the MacBook Neo 2 arrives in markets next year.
Combine macOS 27’s optimizations and the ability to run AFM 3 Core Advanced. Now that’s a product that nearly everyone would love to see.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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