Apple MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e and iPad Air M4

Apple’s new MacBook Neo has just landed in South Africa today, 11 March.

At a media briefing held at the iStore, the retail arm of Apple’s distributor in South Africa, the Core Group, I got a hands-on preview of the new “Windows-killer” laptop, priced at R11 999 for the base model.

What’s unique about this 13-inch aluminium laptop is that it is powered by an iPhone chip, the A18 Pro, and comes in two storage options, 256GB and 512GB, but with a standard 8GB of RAM.

The A18 Pro chip has a 6-core CPU with 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, a 5-core GPU, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and a 16-core Neural Engine. It supports Apple Intelligence.

It’s always been said that the iPhone is a powerful PC in your pocket, and now, this very chipset is powering the base model Neo.

It can handle H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW formats, has a video encode and decode engine, a ProRes encode and decode engine, and AV1 decode, which means it is suitable for editing videos shot on iPhone.

Ports include 1x USB-C 3 and 1x USB-C 2 and a 3.5mm audio jack. There is no MagSafe charging support, however it supports one external display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz.

And for R2000 more for the 512GB model, you get the TouchID feature on the keyboard, whereas the base model does not have it, hardly a dealbreaker if you’ve never used it on a laptop.

Another distinguishing feature about the Neo is that it comes in new colours: citrus yellow, indigo blue, blush pink and the standard silver.

Other features to expect is a Liquid Retina Display with a 2408×1506 screen resolution from its LED-backlit display and 500 nits of brightness. It has a 1080p HD camera, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 6, dual speakers, and dual mics.

The MacBook Neo promises up to 16 hours of battery life from its 36.5Wh battery, which comes with a 20W USB-C power adaptor and a 1.5m USB-C charging cable.

On the topic of Macbooks, there are also new models from its top-of-the-line range: the Macbook Pro M5 and Macbook Pro M5 Max.

For power users, the line-up starts with a 14-inch Macbook Pro M5 Pro at R42 999 and for the Macbook Pro M5 Pro Max at R72 499.

The 16-inch variants are R54 499 for the M5 Pro and R78 499 for the M5 Pro Max.

Both offer options for storage, RAM and processor, which increases the price substantially. Example, the most expensive variant, the M5 Pro Max, can be specced to 48GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and an 18-core CPU and 40-core GPU for R88 499.

Apple iPhone 17e

Apple also introduced a new iPhone 17e in a new soft pink shade, alongside black and white. The successor to the iPhone 16e introduces MagSafe and now has double the storage at 256GB.

It has a 6.1-inch display has Ceramic Shield 2, which is more scratch resistant, and promises reduced glare. The 17e is powered by an A19 chip, has a 48MP Fusion camera and 12MP selfie-cam, and of course eSIM support.

It is currently available on pre-order starting at R14 599 for the 256GB version and R19 499 for the 512GB version.

iPad Air M4

There’s also a new iPad Air, powered by the M4 chip and 12GB of RAM. Apple says its 30 percent faster than M3 version. Storage options are 128/256/512GB and 1TB. It supports Apple Intelligence.

The M4 Air still comes in 11-inch and 13-inch variants, in four shades: space grey, starlight, blue and purple.

It has Apple’s connectivity chips, the N1 and C1X for faster wireless and cellular connectivity, with support for WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6. The LTE versions support 5G and eSIM connectivity.

There’s a 12MP Centre Stage camera and rear camera with 4K video support, and optional accessories include the Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard.

It is currently on pre-order starting at R11 999 for the 11-inch base WiFi model, all the way up to R25 199 for the Cellular 1TB version. The 13-inch starts at R16 099 for the base WiFi model and goes up to R29 499 for the Cellular 1TB version.

Visit the iStore South Africa website for more.