The cheapest MacBook is even cheaper: Neo costs even less at Alza than at launch

When Apple introduced the MacBook Neo in March for 16,990 Kč, it was the cheapest MacBook in history. However, in June, due to more expensive memory, it raised the price by three thousand, and today it costs 19,990 Kč on apple.cz. Alza is now selling the citrus yellow version for 16,140 Kč, which is 3,850 Kč cheaper than Apple and 850 Kč below the original spring price. It has never been sold for this price at Alza before.

Quick summary:
✅ For whom: students, households, and anyone who wants a light and quiet laptop for web browsing, office work, and movies.
⚠️ Where it saves: 8 GB RAM soldered, non-backlit keyboard, Touch ID only in the more expensive version, and no charger in the box.
💡 16,140 Kč vs. 19,990 Kč in the official Apple store.

An iPhone chip that can handle more than expected

Inside, the A18 Pro from the iPhone 16 Pro is at work – six cores (two performance and four efficiency) and a five-core GPU. In single-core tests, it scores approximately 3,500 points, more than the M3 chip (about 3,000). In multi-core tasks, it is weaker, its performance can be placed somewhere between M1 and M2.

For web browsing, office work, video calls, movies, and editing smaller photos, it’s more than enough. And because the chip has phone-level power consumption, the laptop has no fan and is completely silent, even with ten tabs and Spotify running.

Aluminum body and flicker-free display

The body is entirely aluminum and weighs 1.23 kg. The Liquid Retina display has a resolution of 2,408 × 1,506 pixels, a brightness of 500 nits, and a refresh rate of 60 Hz. Reviews praise its accurate colors in the sRGB space and the fact that brightness is not controlled by flickering (PWM), making it gentler on the eyes. However, in a dark room, black appears gray, as is common with IPS panels.

Apple promises up to 16 hours of video playback. However, at high brightness, it drops quickly, and charging is slow, but it will still be a laptop with one of the best battery lives in its price range. The webcam has a 1080p resolution.

Where Apple saved money

The operating memory is 8 GB and is soldered, so you can never expand it. It’s sufficient for everyday work, but it will run out with dozens of applications open simultaneously or more demanding video editing. The keyboard is not backlit, and Touch ID is only available with the more expensive 512GB storage version.

There are two USB-C ports, and one of them only supports USB 2 speeds. MagSafe is missing, so the charging cable will occupy one of the two ports, and only one external monitor can be connected. The charger is not included in the package, but a standard USB-C phone adapter with a power output of 20 W or more will work.

On Alza, the MacBook Neo has a rating of 4.9 out of 5 from 7 customers, and you can return it for free within 60 days. A refurbished unit costs 14,990 Kč.

A steal for 16 thousand, but not for video editing

The MacBook Neo is probably the best cheap laptop you can buy, and at 16,140 Kč, it’s an even better deal than at launch. For school, home office, or as a light secondary computer for travel, you get an aluminum Mac that is quiet, durable, and won’t slow down. The MacBook Neo now costs 16,140 Kč at Alza. Those who edit 4K video, need two monitors, or a lot of memory should save up for a MacBook Air.

Would you get the MacBook Neo as your first Mac, or would you rather pay extra for an Air?