Pre-orders of Apple’s colorful MacBook Neo come with a $25 gift card

the The upcoming MacBook Neo It’s certainly compelling — at least to the right person. One could argue for buying a last-gen MacBook Air is a better bet In most cases; However, if you’re still convinced to pick up Apple’s budget laptop ahead of its March 11 launch, Best Buy is offering you a $25 e-gift card when you pre-order either device. 256 GB model For $599 or upgrade 512 GB version For $699.

At its core, Apple’s cheapest laptop is all about trade-offs. For $599, you get a 13-inch aluminum device with a fairly large bezel around the screen, a color-matched Magic Keyboard, a physical trackpad (!), and a 1080p camera that lacks some of Apple’s newer tricks (ahem, Center Stage). On the side, you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, side speakers with spatial audio support, and a pair of USB-C ports (one USB 3 and one USB 2), both of which can be used for charging. There are no MagSafe or Thunderbolt ports, although the top 512GB model includes a TouchID sensor for added convenience.

Inside, the MacBook Neo has 8GB of RAM — its biggest drawback of all — and Apple’s A18 Pro chip, the same mobile processor first introduced with the iPhone 16. However, the A18 Pro is relatively fast despite being two years old, and should be able to handle any task that doesn’t require a huge amount of processing power. This makes it well-suited for streaming, browsing, and checking emails — you know, the kind of things you don’t need Ultra-fast M5 series chip to.