MacBook Neo launches Apple into a cooler era (with a mascot?)

Seven new products arrived at Apple stores this week, but all the attention is on the $600 price tag MacBook Neo. The 13-inch device, which comes in yellow, blue and pink, is the cheapest laptop the company has made, and reviews around the web rave about its performance.

At 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning, I bought a new Neo at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. Pink was also the model of choice for other customers I met early on (who got the discounted student rate, which starts at $500).

In this week’s episode of One More Thing, which you can watch embedded above, I’ll take you back to Neo’s launch day. Along with my first impressions, I dive into why this laptop is so annoying. (One of the executives is named Neo A “shock” for the computer industry.)

But something else seems different. There is a new trend in Apple’s marketing on social media. The company began publishing Cheeky short clips for TikTok A. was released New Instagram account. One of the videos included a cute little cartoon A character with a Mac “Finder” face. And now there is already Fan art It’s being made around as a squishy mascot for Apple. (But no official word from Apple about the future of this little Finder yet.)

Apple this week too It published a note to kick off its 50th anniversary celebrations. It’s refreshing to see this new energy and excitement on social media around the Neo, because it aligns with something I felt from Apple in the early 2000s. It was a time when silhouettes danced with iPods, a reminder that technology, sometimes, is just about fun.

For more Another thingSubscribe to our YouTube page to watch Bridget Carey break down the latest Apple news and releases every Friday.