For years, owning a MacBook in India has been a bit like a status symbol for a lot of people—sleek, powerful, and… painfully expensive. However, some recent events have begun causing a bit of stir in the marketplace.
I’m talking about Apple launching a ₹69,900 laptop—MacBook Neo—and stepping into a territory they’d mostly veered off of until now: the mid-range laptop market (aka poor people territory).
Why is this a pretty big deal? Let’s break it down.
Until now, if you wanted a MacBook, you were looking at a payout of ₹1 lakh or more. That automatically ruled out a huge chunk of buyers, especially students and young professionals and broke people. But now with the MacBook Neo, Apple has managed to expand their laptop-buying demographic.
It’s like they woke up one day and decided to choose violence—rising from their premium corner and walking straight into the ring with the mid-range Windows laptops from brands like HP, Dell, and more.
Now here’s the interesting part: Apple isn’t trying to win the usual spec war. They are not waxing poetics about the highest RAM or the biggest storage. Instead, they are sticking to what they do best—marketing normal stuff as the best thing that can ever happen to you, or in their language: offering a smooth, polished experience, and great design.
Now, here’s the thing: the ₹69,900 isn’t exactly cheap, but it is definitely cheap by Apple standards and that’s what makes it so attractive.
There are much sturdier, better performing, higher quality laptops available in the market at a cheaper price, however, there’s also a massive group of “aspirational buyers” who go for brand over value, especially in India. People who’ve always wanted a MacBook but settled for something else because of the price. Apple’s MacBook Neo suddenly makes that dream a lot more realistic.
Have you heard of that proverb, “Ghar ki murgi daal barabar” ? Well, that’s how we treat the poor Windows laptops. We have somehow managed to make them our “ghar ki murgi”. They can try and try and bring us a whole assortment of specifications, features, designs, and what–nots and we overlook them all. They might as well clean our house, cook our food, and even do our laundry, and we won’t notice but all Apple has to do is wave a slightly cheaper laptop in our face and suddenly we are locked in. Pretty privilege is so real!
Apple’s MacBook Neo isn’t trying to be the most powerful laptop in its segment. It’s trying to be the most desirable one—with its pretty, colourful shades and sleek design. That said, it’s not just about looks; there are some solid features under the hood too, but none of it is groundbreaking. If the Neo had come from any other laptop brand, it probably wouldn’t have sparked much conversation. But it is Apple, so here we are!
It almost feels like a case of nepotism—every review video I see or blog I read is basically saying, “give this new kid a chance,” even if it’s not quite the best the market has to offer but there’s a lot of potential. You get the idea, right?
The greatest laptop in the mid-range market, Apple’s MacBook Neo may not be (in fact, in all honesty, it is not), but market experts are inclined to believe that its impact could be monumental. India’s mid-range laptop market might never look the same again if Apple decides to actually dabble in this segment further. Competitors could be forced into a “they go low, we go lower” pricing war just to keep up.
I’m, personally, very excited to see how it all plays out in the longer run. Someone bring the popcorn!
