Apple's low-cost MacBook Neo is finally here and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has some thoughts about the new laptop and its future. Plus, he put out a roadmap for the first MacBook Air OLED.
Like all tipsters and analysts, Kuo can be hit or miss but he's been pretty right on with the Neo. Last summer, he predicted Apple would release a cheap MacBook with an A18 Pro chipset and a 13-inch display.
Kuo also said it would arrive in late Q4 2025 or early Q1 2026. We're in late Q1 2026, but otherwise he was correct. He also said it would come in silver, blue pink and yellow, which proved correct with the silver, indigo, blush and citrus hues.
With that in mind, what is Kuo saying about the future of Neo?
No touchscreens
Now that the MacBook Neo is actually out, it is of course immediately time to turn our focus to devices that don't exist yet like the Neo 2.
"Neo 2 was originally expected to feature a touch panel to compete with Chromebooks," Kuo wrote. However, he says the Neo 2 may not adopt it.
With Apple specifically gunning for the budget-conscious laptop market, a lack of a touchscreen isn't terribly surprising. Apple has yet to even put such a panel on any of its more premium MacBooks.
Current rumors suggest the next MacBook Pro will feature a touchscreen and could release before the end of 2026, likely in October. Still, Chromebooks feature touch displays, so there's no reason Neo couldn't get one.
OLED MacBooks
Beyond MacBook Neo, Kuo corroborated Bloomberg's reporting that Apple will finally adopt an OLED panel for the MacBook Pro, followed by the MacBook Air. Kuo expects the OLED MacBook Pro to arrive this year, or perhaps in early 2027.
We may have to wait for the OLED Air. Kuo suggests the upgrade won't launch until 2028 or 2029.
"Memory market chaos" and iPhones
Interestingly, Kuo predicts that Apple will use the ongoing RAM crisis to steal market share from PC makers and other phone manufacturers. The company will "secure the chips, absorb the costs, and grab more market share," he says.
As major PC manufacturers struggle to survive the RAM crisis, the MacBook Neo is set to dominate the low-cost laptop zone.
Kuo believes Apple will keep prices unchanged on new iPhones going forward, since the goal is to expand its market share and not just surive the memory shortage.
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