The launch day of the MacBook Neo has arrived, and supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is sharing interesting information about Apple's first $599 laptop. Kuo also provides a timeline for when Apple's first OLED MacBook Air will be released.
First of all, Kuo has some reliable information about the MacBook Neo; he claimed last June that Apple would release a model "with approximately a 13-inch display and powered by the A18 Pro processor." Technically, we are currently at the end of 1Q26, but the chip and display size are right on target. Kuo also mentioned colors like "silver, blue, pink, and yellow," which actually came as silver, indigo, peach, and citrus.
At that time, Kuo predicted that 5-7 million MacBook Neo units would be sold in 2026. Adjusting for a later-than-expected release, he is lowering this figure to 4.5-5 million units (predicting that 2-2.5 million will be sold in the first half of the year). This now seems to be a general consensus. The supply chain analyst notes that Quanta is currently the sole assembler of the MacBook Neo, but Foxconn may join in the "near future."
Looking further ahead, Kuo says that Luxshare may be interested in Apple's MacBook Neo assembly business.
Touchscreen MacBook Neo
More interestingly, Kuo talks about the touchscreen:
Neo 2 was expected to include a touchscreen to compete with Chromebooks (over 50% of which support touch), but my latest industry checks indicate that Neo 2 may not adopt this.
Considering that the primary goal of the MacBook Neo is to bring the MacBook experience to the $600 market, it is not surprising that it does not support touch. Instead, Apple's first touchscreen MacBook is expected to be ultra-premium.
Still, the touchscreen does not have to be high-end, so this is not an impossible scenario. However, for now, Kuo is tempering expectations for a touchscreen upgrade in the second-generation hardware of the MacBook Neo.
OLED MacBook Pro and Air
Finally, Kuo confirms Mark Gurman's report from Bloomberg and states that a major MacBook Pro update will come with OLED touch panels. Kuo expects this machine to arrive "in late 4Q26 or early 1Q27," but as we've seen before, predicting timing can be tricky.
Speaking of timing, Kuo reiterates Gurman's claims that Apple is on the roadmap for a MacBook Air revision with OLED panels. The bad news? Kuo predicts this will happen "around 2028 or 2029."
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