[DigitalToday intern reporter Seung-a Yoo (유승아)] Apple has raised the education starting price of its entry-level laptop, the MacBook Neo, to $649. The student price was $499 at launch, but two increases have lifted it by $150, or about 200,000 won, reducing the device's key appeal of easing the price burden.

On Oct. 28 (local time), IT outlet The Verge reported that Apple in recent days raised the starting price of the MacBook Neo sold in its education store by $50 to $649 from $599. It follows a $100 increase in June. The price is based on the U.S. education store.

The adjustment also reduced the size of the discount available to students. The regular starting price of the MacBook Neo is $699, leaving a difference of just $50 from the education-store price. A $100 education discount was typically applied, but the discount has now been cut in half.

The base configuration sold at $649 comes with 256 gigabytes of storage and 8GB of RAM and does not support Touch ID. The price rose but the base specifications stayed the same.

Apple highlighted the $499 education starting price as a key selling point when it launched the MacBook Neo in March. The education price rose to $599 in June and was raised again to $649 this time, making it $150 more expensive than at launch. The starting price for general consumers was also increased from $599 in June to $699.

A shortage of component supplies, including RAM, is cited as a reason behind the price increases. Apple previously explained that higher costs for RAM and storage chips due to a shortage of memory chips were behind product price hikes. In June it also raised prices for several products, including the iPad.

The increase is expected to weigh on the MacBook Neo's price competitiveness, which has targeted students and budget-conscious consumers with a low price. As the gap between the general selling price and the education price narrowed to $50, the discount benefit students can receive also shrank from before.

Separately, there is also speculation that Apple is developing a next MacBook Neo with increased RAM capacity. The new model could be released as early as early next year. With the education price of the current model rising repeatedly, attention is on what changes a follow-up product might show in specifications and price.