Hyderabad, March 4 -- Apple has a habit of making things expensive. The MacBook Neo, unveiled on Wednesday, March 4, is a deliberate step in the opposite direction. And, it might be the most interesting Mac the company has launched in years.

Starting at Rs 69,900, it is the cheapest MacBook Apple has ever made. For a market like India, where price has long been the single biggest barrier to switching to a Mac, that matters.

No corners cut

But, Apple has not cut corners in the usual ways. The Neo gets the A18 Pro that powers the iPhone 16 Pro, the most powerful chip Apple has put into a laptop at this price, and not a watered-down processor developed for a budget product. That means it is up to 50 per cent faster at everyday tasks than ...