Apple entered a market it had never touched with the MacBook Neo, and the company would probably be wondering why it didn’t penetrate this category sooner because its $600 portable Mac has garnered heaps of popularity since its inception in April, according to the latest data shared by IDC. In fact, what’s impressive about these figures is that the MacBook Neo managed to account for more than 10 percent of the RTX Spark’s two-year estimated shipment tally, and that’s not something to be taken lightly.
Since its launch, the MacBook Neo has recorded approximately 1.1 million shipments and could become Apple’s most popular portable Mac ever released
The data surrounding the MacBook Neo from IDC was shared with TechCrunch, along with other figures mentioning the M5 MacBook Air and M5 MacBook Pro popularity. While Apple’s second most affordable machine accumulated an estimated 900,000 units, the M5 MacBook Pro came in third place with 550,000 units. With the MacBook Neo reaching 1.1 million units, it’s evident that consumers require a combination of high-quality internals and a reliable build to ease their workflow and keep their machines for longer.
Going further into the numbers, IDC reports that out of the total shipments, the U.S. was Apple’s biggest market, accounting for 44 percent of units. However, this is just the start for the Cupertino firm as it’s reported to bump production from 5 million to 10 million units, despite the fact that it may need to pay TSMC more for excess A18 Pro supply. Comparing the MacBook Neo’s shipments to RTX Spark, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates NVIDIA’s latest laptop SoC will ship 10 million units in two years.
However, Morgan Stanley believes notebooks featuring the N1X, which is the 20-core CPU variant of the RTX Spark, will retail from $2,899, while the N1 will start from a more affordable $1,799. Even the most affordable products will be significantly steeper than the MacBook Neo’s $599 base price, meaning that the 10 million shipment estimate could become a Herculean task, especially considering that there’s a lot we don’t know about the RTX Spark.
The analyst may also not have accounted for the MacBook Neo 2, which could usurp its predecessor in popularity, as it will ship with an even more powerful A19 Pro and 12GB of unified memory, offering a higher productivity ceiling than the MacBook Neo. It’ll be interesting to see how the RTX Spark fares after its launch later this year, but we have a feeling that Apple will have the last laugh.
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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