The MacBook Neo Is, in Fact, Somewhat Repairable.
MacBooks used to be largely repairable and upgradable devices. If too many tabs were slowing down macOS, you could add more RAM; if you ran out of storage, you could install a larger hard drive; if the battery was old, it was easily replaced. But as Apple—and the industry as a whole—moved toward thinner and sleeker designs, laptops became more difficult to repair. Companies began soldering all components together onto a circuit board, which allowed for thinner and lighter devices, but made them impossible to upgrade and extremely impractical to repair.
In the era of Apple Silicon processors, the situation hasn’t changed much. While modern Apple MacBooks are highly durable and offer excellent value for money, they aren’t easy to repair. In fact, it’s much more complicated. Take, for example, the MacBook Pro with the M5 processor: when iFixit examined this laptop , they discovered that Apple requires removing all components from the MacBook to replace the battery—at least according to Apple’s official instructions.
The MacBook Neo is Apple’s most repairable laptop in years.
But there’s hope for those of us who want Apple to make its devices more repairable, and it involves a product I never expected Apple to make so repairable: the MacBook Neo . Apple’s new, affordable MacBook has been all the rage for the past week and a half, thanks in large part to its starting price of $599 ( $499 with the education discount ). While that suggested retail price makes the Neo a great choice for students, parents, and essentially anyone who wants an affordable Mac, I assumed it would also make it more of a consumer product. Would Apple really put so much effort into making a $500 MacBook last that long?
As it turns out, in some ways, this is true. In addition to using higher-quality parts than other products in this price range (for example, aluminum versus plastic), the MacBook Neo simplifies the repair process and makes replacing key components easier. Ars Technica reviewed the Neo’s documentation and found that repairing most components takes fewer steps and requires fewer tools than the MacBook Air M5. This is good news for those who have had their MacBook Neo for several years and are facing the problem of an aging battery: when it’s time to replace the battery, you simply need to remove screws, release latches, and disconnect flex cables. This may seem a bit complicated, but it’s much easier than with other MacBooks, where the batteries are held in place with adhesive. In those models, you need to pull on finicky latches to break the adhesive, after first removing even more screws.
The YouTube channel TECH RE-NU reached similar conclusions in their “quick” teardown. They managed to disassemble the Neo in under 10 minutes, “which is simply incredible for an Apple laptop.” They praised the lack of glue and tape, as well as the modular components (including modular USB-C ports, speakers, and a headphone jack), while maintaining the low price:
Another important point? The keyboard can be replaced separately . For years, if something was wrong with your MacBook’s keyboard, Apple forced you to replace the entire top case, or the top half of the bottom case. This included the battery, making the repair unreasonably expensive. Now, the keyboard and top case are separate repair parts. You’ll have to fiddle with a few screws to get to the keyboard, but it’s much easier (and cheaper) than replacing a significant portion of the MacBook itself.
However, the Neo remains non- upgradeable . It notoriously ships with only 8GB of RAM, and it will run on that 8GB until you decide to part with it. You’re also limited to the amount of storage you choose at purchase, so if you think you’ll need more than 256GB, you should opt for the 512GB model (which, fortunately, features Touch ID in the keyboard). If you run out of space on your device, you’ll need to purchase an external drive to save files locally.
Why is the MacBook Neo considered Apple’s most repairable Mac?
So why is the MacBook Neo, Apple’s cheapest MacBook, also the most repairable? Apple doesn’t explain, but given that the MacBook Neo is aimed at students—especially younger ones—it would make repairs easier and cheaper. If parents and schools start buying MacBook Neos for elementary school students, these devices will be exposed to drops, spills, and other abuse. Making them non-repairable would quickly add up to significant costs and could discourage parents and schools from further investing in them in favor of, say, Chromebooks.
If true, this would only benefit consumers as a whole. Anyone who buys a MacBook Neo benefits from a device that’s less expensive to repair when the time comes. And while the A18 Pro processor may wear out sooner than the brand-new M5 chip, this policy could extend the life of your MacBook Neo even further.