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🍎 Apple is reportedly struggling to meet MacBook Neo demand
⚙️ The A18 Pro chip might be the culprit
📱 While the company is using leftover chips from the iPhone 16 Pro line, it seems to be closer to running out than it initially thought
👷 The company might have to restart production of the A18 Pro, but that would be costly
🤷 It’s unclear what decision Apple will make, but it’ll have to do something soon
It’s no surprise that Apple’s $599 MacBook Neo is a massive hit. Between the fun colors, solid performance, and accessible price point, many first-time Mac users and those who can’t afford higher-end models have almost instantaneously latched onto the laptop. Supply constraints were all but a certainty, then, given just how many people are interested in this device.
Except it doesn’t seem like Apple thought demand would be this strong.
Tim Culpan shared in the latest edition of his newsletter that Apple is seeing stronger demand for the MacBook Neo than its current supply plan will allow. That’s because the laptop uses the A18 Pro, a chipset from the iPhone 16 Pro that Apple no longer makes. While the company claims it “binned” the chipset for the laptop (a.k.a. intentionally made it slower), its supply reportedly contains chips that simply didn’t come out right for the iPhone, so Apple decided to save them and use them in the Neo, essentially making them “free” since it already paid for them.
As it turns out, there aren’t that many of those chips to go around. Apple originally planned to make 5-6 million first-generation MacBook Neos and use up the remainder of the A18 Pros, but Culplan claims the company will run out of chips well before it can meet demand from customers.
So, what does Apple do next?
It could beg its chip manufacturer, TSMC, to make more of the 3-nanometer chipset, except it would cost Apple a hefty amount of money to restart 3nm production since it’s sold out to other companies. Apple could also stick A18 Pros with 6-core GPUs in the laptop instead of the current one with 5 cores, but that wouldn’t be fair to those who already bought a Neo. Apple also has the option to switch entirely to the A19 Pro, which is what’s rumored for the MacBook Neo 2, but that would require rushing out an entirely new model.
A lot of these issues stem from Apple’s bottom line, which it likely wants to keep intact as much as possible. There’s a world in which the company drops the $599 model, has more A18 Pros made, and just sells the $699 512GB version to offset some of the cost, but that seems like the least likely scenario.
Right now, it’s very unclear what’ll happen to the Neo moving forward. Apple currently estimates a lot of orders as shipping out in the next 2-3 weeks, all while consumers continue scouring retailers for the color and storage model they want. It’s both an exciting time for the world’s richest tech company and also one of the most stressful to maintain customer satisfaction.
Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut and co-host of The Shortcut Live. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.
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