Apple raised the MacBook Neo's price by $100 on Thursday, June 25, 2026. The base 256GB model went from $599 to $699. The 512GB Touch ID model jumped from $699 to $799. Education pricing still saves you $100, but the new entry point with a student or teacher account is $599, the same as the original retail launch price.
The Neo wasn't alone. Apple raised prices across the entire Mac and iPad lineup. MacBook Air jumped $200. iPads went up $100 to $150. Apple TV climbed to $199. Even the Vision Pro got more expensive. The only product lines untouched were iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, the Studio Display, and small accessories like the Apple Pencil.
Apple's stock dropped 4% on the news, the company's worst trading day in over a year.
Why the price went up
It's memory. Specifically, DRAM (the chips that store your RAM) and NAND flash (the chips that store your SSD). Both are in critically short supply, and the reason has nothing to do with consumer demand. It's AI.
OpenAI signed a strategic partnership with Samsung and SK Hynix in October 2025 for its Stargate Project, a $500 billion AI infrastructure buildout. Stargate alone is projected to consume up to 40% of global DRAM output, around 900,000 wafers per month. Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon have placed what analysts describe as "open-ended orders" with memory suppliers. They'll take everything available, at any price.
The result: PC DRAM prices roughly doubled in Q1 2026, the steepest single-quarter spike ever recorded in memory industry history. NAND flash is up 55 to 60% over the same window. Tim Cook told analysts: "We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly."
Memory manufacturer Micron projects the shortage will last through at least 2027.
What the new prices look like
| Model | Old Price | New Price | Education |
|---|---|---|---|
| 256GB | $599 | $699 | $599 |
| 512GB Touch ID | $699 | $799 | $699 |
The $100 hike isn't massive in absolute terms, but it removes the Neo's most powerful marketing line: "the $599 Mac." At $699, the Neo is still the cheapest new Mac you can buy, but the framing has shifted.
Should you still buy a MacBook Neo?
Yes, with caveats. The Neo's value calculus didn't change overnight. The A18 Pro chip, the Liquid Retina display, 16-hour battery, and macOS Sequoia all still cost Apple the same to build. You're paying more, but you're getting the same machine.
The bigger question is whether to wait. The honest answer is: don't. Micron's 2027 forecast means memory prices won't drop meaningfully before late 2026 at the earliest. If you need a laptop now, the Neo at $699 is still cheaper than every comparable Windows ultraportable, and meaningfully cheaper than the $1,299 MacBook Air M4 that just got its own $200 hike.
The one exception: if you qualify for education pricing, you're effectively buying the Neo at its original launch price. Students, teachers, and parents shopping for a college-bound kid should absolutely use the education store: $599 for the 256GB or $699 for the 512GB Touch ID model.
The refurbished option
Apple started selling refurbished MacBook Neo units the day after the price hike (June 26). Refurbished pricing tracks 15% below new, so a refurb 256GB lands around $589, actually under the original launch retail. Available directly from Apple, with a one-year warranty.
Will prices come back down?
Probably, but not soon. Memory contracts are typically negotiated quarterly. Even if AI demand softened tomorrow, it would take 6 to 9 months for that to filter into consumer device pricing. The realistic floor for a $599 Neo is late 2027.
The bottom line
The MacBook Neo is still the cheapest Mac Apple sells. It's just $100 less cheap than it used to be. If you can use education pricing, ignore the hike. If you can't, the math on Neo vs. MacBook Air is even more lopsided now: $699 versus $1,299 is a $600 gap.