Asus CEO says the MacBook Neo is pretty great

Apple’s budget-focused MacBook Neo, which starts at just $600, is getting a lot of attention. While it makes some compromises with a low-power iPhone processor and just 8GB of RAM, it’s come out just as laptop prices are soaring. Even Asus is impressed. One of its co-CEOs called the laptop “a shock to the entire industry.”

According to a machine translation of the latest Asus earnings call, co-CEO S.Y. Hsu said that Apple’s move into budget-friendly territory is a threat. “In fact, in the entire PC ecosystem, there have been a lot of discussions about how to compete with this product,” reads the translation.

Hsu wasn’t entirely complimentary. He went on to say that the MacBook Neo’s limited performance makes it a “content consumption” device, more akin to a tablet than a conventional laptop. And, to be frank, I’m calling BS on that bit of hedging. If an underpowered processor, limited RAM, and paltry storage makes a laptop a content consumption device, then Asus is selling a lot of them.

Browsing the official Asus online store, I can only find ten laptops currently selling for $600 or less. With one singular exception, the rather dated Vivobook 15, they’re all using 8GB of RAM or less. Most of them are Chromebooks, which by definition are less flexible and capable than a Windows laptop or a MacOS one. And not a single one of them has the Neo’s most appealing feature to me: a full aluminum chassis.

The MacBook Neo launches today, and from what limited information is available, it already seems to be a hit. Reviews are glowing, even with the hardware’s limitations, and pre-orders are already slipping out to several weeks. As I said in my initial write-up, I think Microsoft has a real problem on its hands, especially as it has zero Surface-branded products that are anywhere near the Neo’s entry price point.

Laptop prices are now projected to rise as much as 40 percent due to the RAM crisis. Between the Neo’s low, integrated memory and Apple’s ability to swing a big stick in the supply chain, it seems to be making the best of a bad situation with the low-priced MacBook. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it as the student laptop of choice at the end of summer.