IT Home, November 3 news: Apple recently disclosed during its fiscal year 2026 fourth-quarter earnings call that it has sold 170,000 MacBook Neo units to teachers and students in the Philippines.
This scale makes it one of Apple’s most significant education procurement orders to date, indicating that the company is accelerating its expansion into emerging markets and the education ecosystem through more affordable entry-level Mac products.
The MacBook Neo was released in March 2026 and is Apple's first laptop powered by the iPhone chip A18 Pro. Initially priced at $499 for the education market (IT Home note: approximately RMB 3,324 at current exchange rates), Apple increased the price to $649 (approximately RMB 4,323 at current exchange rates) in late October; even so, it remains Apple's lowest-priced MacBook currently available.
In the Philippines, the 256GB version of the MacBook Neo is priced at approximately $721.25 (equivalent to about RMB 4,804 at current exchange rates), and the 512GB version is around $837 (equivalent to about RMB 5,575). Despite the price increase from its initial launch, its relatively affordable positioning remains attractive to students, teachers, and educational institutions with limited budgets.
Apple CEO John Ternus stated during the earnings call that such opportunities can attract more users to the Apple ecosystem and drive business growth. For Apple, educating the market is not only a source of hardware sales but also a crucial entry point for cultivating long-term user habits and expanding its services and app ecosystem.