[Digital Today intern reporter Kyoungmin Hong] Apple has officially launched a new MacBook Neo priced at $599 (Korea launch price 990,000 won). Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed detailed projections for the product’s sales outlook and a roadmap for future MacBook lineups featuring touchscreen and OLED.

On March 11 (local time), IT outlet 9to5Mac reported that Kuo analyzed Apple as securing price competitiveness by taking advantage of supply-demand imbalances in the memory market. He said Apple is using that to aggressively expand its share of the entry-level laptop market centered on the MacBook Neo. The strategy is seen as laying groundwork not only for hardware sales but also for Apple to become a unique beneficiary of its ecosystem when the on-device AI era fully takes off.

MacBook Neo, the core of the strategy, is expected to sell a total of 4.5 million to 5.0 million units, including about 2.0 million to 2.5 million units in the first half of this year. Mass production was delayed by about 3 months from the initial estimate, lowering the shipment outlook slightly. Even so, the value push featuring a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro processor remains strong. With Quanta currently holding exclusive assembly production, manufacturing is expected to diversify to Foxconn and Luxshare, which is expected to strengthen market penetration alongside supply stabilization.

Despite high market expectations, a skeptical view dominates on the possibility of adding a touchscreen to the next MacBook Neo. A touch panel had been seen as likely to compete with Chromebooks, but a recent industry survey suggests the plan is likely to be scrapped. The decision is aimed at preserving the product’s core purpose of bringing the MacBook experience to the sub-$600 market. Higher-priced specifications such as touch functions are expected to be implemented first in ultra-premium lineups rather than entry-level models.

The premium-first strategy was also reflected in the display roadmap. Kuo expected a major MacBook Pro upgrade model with an OLED touch panel to appear in late 2026 fourth quarter or early 2027 first quarter. By contrast, the entry-level MacBook Air lineup is expected to take considerable time to switch to OLED, likely around 2028 or 2029. This is Apple’s typical step-by-step hardware strategy of first applying high-spec technologies to higher-end models to differentiate them and then expanding sequentially.

Kuo particularly emphasized that Apple is aggressively expanding market share by leveraging not only its hardware capabilities but also the recent turmoil in the memory market. He predicted that when competitors run down low-priced memory inventories accumulated last year and face pressure to raise prices from 2026 second quarter, Apple will maintain pricing based on resources it secured in advance and its capital strength, putting pressure on the Windows camp. Due to this strategic advantage, MacBook shipments this year are expected to grow 20 to 25 percent from a year earlier to about 25,000,000 units, contrasting with the Windows notebook market, which is expected to fall more than 10 percent.

Ultimately, Apple’s push to strengthen its value lineup, spanning from iPhone 17e to MacBook Neo, is a major strategic groundwork for securing the on-device AI market. The aim is to maximize hardware penetration to expand the base for its high-margin services business while building an ecosystem that can benefit immediately as AI functions take hold. Kuo predicted that as long as Apple solidifies its market dominance in this way, prices for the new iPhone set for release in the second half of this year are also likely to remain unchanged.

https://t.co/mCmcBPf6xJ