Apple’s new MacBook Neo has taken off faster than the company appears to have anticipated. Demand for the $599 laptop has surged so sharply that Apple is now struggling to keep pace, with its online store showing extended shipping delays that push many orders into May.
A big part of the slowdown appears tied to supply constraints around the A18 Pro chipset, creating a bottleneck even as Apple leans on its typically well-tuned supply chain. While Apple hasn’t shared exact shipment numbers, the current delivery estimates tell the story: many buyers are seeing waits of two to three weeks. In practical terms, that means anyone ordering directly from Apple should plan for their MacBook Neo to arrive no earlier than May 1 in many cases.
If you’re trying to get a MacBook Neo sooner, shopping beyond Apple’s store may improve your odds. Some retailers are still taking orders for both storage configurations (256GB and 512GB), and in certain listings the pricing is even slightly lower than Apple’s standard rates—around $589.99 for the base model and about $689.99 for the higher-capacity version. Availability can vary by configuration and color, but Silver appears to be among the quickest to ship in current estimates, with delivery windows that may land in late April depending on the specific model.
All signs point to the MacBook Neo becoming one of Apple’s most successful recent launches, helped by its aggressive pricing and the appeal of a more affordable entry point into the Mac lineup—so these delays may continue until supply catches up.
And if you’re not ready to switch to macOS and want to stay with a Windows 11 laptop instead, a comparable alternative in this price range is Lenovo’s IdeaPad Slim 3X. It’s a 15.3-inch notebook that includes an 8-core Snapdragon X chipset, 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a 512GB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 SSD, positioning it as another value-focused option for buyers who simply need a capable machine without the wait.
