Apple faces MacBook Neo supply crisis as budget-friendly chip stock runs dry

Strong demand for the MacBook Neo has created a supply chain problem for Apple, with analysts reporting that stocks of the A18 Pro chips powering the laptop are running low.

The shortage stems directly from how Apple engineered the Neo‘s pricing: the laptop is built around A18 Pro chips originally produced for the iPhone 16 Pro but set aside due to slightly defective GPUs, giving the Neo five working GPU cores rather than the six found in the iPhone 16 Pro’s chip, News.Az reports, citing TrustedReviews.

The binned chip strategy that created the supply problem was itself a deliberate move to bring the MacBook Neo’s entry price down to $599/£599, a threshold that opened the laptop to a significantly broader audience than Apple’s standard MacBook lineup and likely contributed directly to the demand levels now straining the available chip supply.

Analyst Tim Culpan reports Apple initially planned to produce around six million MacBook Neos using that existing stock of binned chips, but demand has now tracked above that figure, leaving Apple without a straightforward path to fulfilling orders without revisiting its cost structure.

One option under discussion involves paying TSMC a premium to restart A18 Pro fabrication, though the additional per-unit cost could squeeze margins enough to force Apple to remove the base configuration from sale, leaving only the $699.£699 model available to preserve profitability.

A second route would see Apple accelerate the second-generation MacBook Neo, originally planned for mid-2027, which is set to use A19 Pro chips sourced from iPhone 17 Pro production runs, though bringing that timeline forward presents its own manufacturing challenges.

The least desirable outcome, which Culpan also raises, would see Apple allow MacBook Neo availability to gradually dwindle while waiting for the next-generation model, a scenario that risks leaving significant present demand unmet at a moment when the product’s commercial momentum is at its peak.Apple is expected to address the Neo’s strong sales performance at its next quarterly earnings call, where executives will likely frame the supply constraints as a demand problem rather than a structural manufacturing failure.

News.Az 

By Leyla Şirinova