Everyone Has Their Targets Set on the MacBook Neo

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The MacBook Neo was like throwing a giant boulder into a still, peaceful pond—and we’re still feeling the ripple effects. Thanks to its dramatic $599 price, it tossed Apple into a brand-new laptop demographic. The response from the Windows side has been soft—until now.

Cheaper laptops with only 8 GB of RAM are coming—most notably, the new Dell XPS 13 and Microsoft Surface Laptop 8. Following suit with the MacBook Neo, Dell is making its brand more accessible than ever, using many of the same tricks as Apple. Microsoft? Not so much.

Going Backward

The MacBook Neo was rightly criticized for having only 8 GB of RAM in the base model, as it limits what this otherwise great laptop could do. Then again, this is a $599 laptop. It’s not meant for demanding workloads, and even though I think 16 GB should be the new established baseline, I don’t want laptops to get more expensive than they already are. The memory shortage that’s swept through the entire industry’s supply chain is taking effect—and not even Apple has been able to move forward without making some necessary changes.

Either way, there should be room in the market for a device for people who don’t have heavy computing needs but want something that looks and feels premium. That’s the MacBook Neo to a T. The new Dell XPS 13 takes a nearly identical approach. It's made entirely of aluminum; it's half an inch thick and every bit as premium-looking as XPS laptops always have. It even uses a high-end IPS screen with a higher resolution (2560 x 1600) and refresh rate (120 Hz). Dell even says it goes up to 500 nits of brightness. This is deliberate. It matches the Neo's sharpness and max brightness exactly, and has a faster refresh rate to boot.

Yet it's only $699 (or $599 for students). The XPS 13 makes similar trade-offs as the MacBook Neo. First, it starts with only 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. It also starts with a slower Intel Core 5 processor (note: not Intel Core Ultra). I'll be interested to find how the performance and battery life stack up against the MacBook Neo, but Dell is clearly taking notes from Apple, which used a slower iPhone chip in the Neo instead of an M-series laptop-grade processor.

What's nice about the Dell XPS 13, though, is that you can scale it up appropriately. The MacBook Neo is capped in both storage and memory, but the XPS 13 can be configured up to 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage.

I've been testing a lot of $500 to $600 laptops recently from companies like Acer, Lenovo, and HP, many of which take a more conventional Windows approach to rivaling the MacBook Neo by offering better specs at lower prices. They all have 16 GB of RAM and use more powerful chips, too. But none challenge the MacBook Neo in display quality and chassis materials. That doesn't mean there isn't a place for something like the HP OmniBook 3, but it doesn't play for the same audience as the Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Neo.

The Wrong Direction

Inevitably there would be a company that thinks it can ride on the success of the MacBook Neo without understanding what makes it tick. Last week, Microsoft announced two versions of its Surface Laptop for Business PCs: a higher-end 13.8-inch model and a cheaper 13-inch device. The 13.8-inch model is a more standard refresh, implementing Intel’s new Core Ultra X7 368H Panther Lake chip—and most notably, it still starts with 16 GB of RAM.

The smaller 13-inch model is where things get problematic. Despite its starting price of $1,200, that configuration only comes with 8 GB of RAM. Don’t get too caught up in the price, since business PCs always come with an up charge. The starting RAM is the eyebrow-raising spec. Unlike the new Dell XPS 13, Microsoft isn't tricking this out with a thinner chassis and an upgraded screen—it's just giving you less computing power and calling it good.

And to be fair, this “optional” 8 GB model is coming later this year, separate from the 16 GB and 24 GB versions. But it's hard to imagine Microsoft being willing to sell an 8 GB laptop in 2026 if Apple hadn't paved the way. While there’s no 2025 Surface Laptop 13 for Business for direct comparison, the consumer version of the Surface Laptop 13 started with 16 GB of RAM. This feels like a straight generational downgrade.

We’ll know for sure once Microsoft announces its new consumer Surface Laptop 8th Edition—possibly sometime in June, around its Build developers conference. If the company announces a Surface Laptop 13 with only 8 GB of RAM, that’ll be the final proof that Microsoft is taking the wrong cues from Apple. Even if Microsoft lowers the price to $600 to match Apple, it will be gleefully taking the bait of dropping to 8 GB without realizing what makes the MacBook Neo work.

You can still buy the 2024 Surface Laptop 7th Edition with 16 GB of RAM for under $800, and that remains a really good deal. I really like this laptop and still find myself recommending it. Unfortunately, Microsoft will almost certainly not be selling its next-gen refresh at prices that low. We've already seen many Snapdragon X2 laptops being sold at a premium, while keeping the previous-gen model available at retailers on discount, such as the Asus Zenbook A16.

All of these companies will have to deal with the memory shortage and the challenge of Apple's attack in their own ways. Some companies will be forced to pivot and follow Apple's lead, like the Dell XPS 13, while others will be able to slash prices and stick to their guns. Either way, diversity is one of the greatest strengths of the Windows ecosystem, and the range of responses will give laptop buyers lots more options at this price. And this is only the beginning. On Thursday, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon C, an even lower-priced chip designed for Windows laptops starting at $300. Strap in, because the competition is really about to heat up.