Just a few days after Apple unveiled the MacBook Neo, the computer designed to change the rules of the game in the mid-range market, the news is reaching Israel. The official retail chains iStore and iDigital announced the opening of preorders for the new device, which marks Apple’s most ambitious attempt to offer a truly accessible laptop for students and educational institutions.
In terms of pricing, the iStore chain is offering the computer at a starting price of NIS 2,379, while at the iDigital chain the price starts at NIS 2,499 (NIS 2,118 in Eilat). The official sale has begun on the websites and in the branches of the chains across the country, with supply carried out according to purchase order and inventory availability.
To reach the target price, the computer includes several engineering changes compared to the more expensive MacBook models. The 13-inch LCD display offers brightness of 500 nits, but does not include True Tone technology or support for the wide color gamut (P3). In addition, the trackpad has returned to a physical mechanical mechanism that moves when pressed, and charging is carried out through one of the two USB-C ports, without the magnetic MagSafe connection.
The base model comes with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, and it does not include a Touch ID sensor in the keyboard. An upgraded version will offer 512GB of storage and add the fingerprint sensor to the keyboard. Despite the technological cutbacks, the computer maintains a rigid aluminum body weighing only 1.2 kilograms, and is offered in four colors: Silver, Blue (Indigo), Pink (Blush) and Lemon-Orange (Citrus).
Sales have begun, with supply carried out according to the order of buyers. iDigital offers buyers a package that includes three years of warranty, a 30-day trial period and the option for trade-in, while students are eligible for an additional 6% discount as part of the chain’s benefits program.