Microsoft, Intel, and AMD are preparing a competitor to the MacBook Neo—Apple has shaken up the PC market

Brief summary of news about the MacBook Neo and PC market reactions

What happened and how market participants reacted
ASUSTeK presented its Q4 2025 results – in the report it mentioned Apple’s new laptop, the *MacBook Neo*, which was launched at a price of $599. The company’s CFO Nick Wu noted that “almost the entire PC ecosystem” has noticed Neo’s arrival and called it a “shock to the market,” but emphasized that competitors are already developing responses.
Issues with specifications – Neo comes only with 8 GB of RAM (non‑expandable) and is geared toward content consumption. It was stated that such limitations could become a barrier for users who normally run more demanding tasks on laptops.

Reaction from key players – Microsoft, Intel, AMD and other PC suppliers “took the new product very seriously” and are discussing possible competitive strategies.
Despite a strong initial impulse, most manufacturers believe that a mass shift from Windows to macOS is unlikely; they plan to release their own models in a similar price range (from $600 to $800).

Current market data – according to Gartner, about 270 million PCs were sold in 2025. Leaders: Lenovo (27.2 %), HP (21.3 %), Dell (15.3 %) and Apple (9.2 %). Despite Apple’s move to its own M‑processors, its share remains below 10 %.

Overall market condition – supply grew by 9 % compared with the previous year thanks to post‑pandemic recovery. Growth drivers: corporate hardware refreshes, Windows releases, popularity of AI devices and gaming models. However, rising component prices (memory up 100 %) create additional challenges for manufacturers.

Apple’s influence – many of Apple’s new features (high‑resolution displays, precise touchpads, shift to ARM processors) are already becoming the standard and push Windows developers toward similar solutions.

Thus, even if Neo does not displace Windows laptops, it could spur the emergence of more competitive budget models with attractive specifications.

Conclusions

1. The MacBook Neo has attracted market attention, but its limited technical parameters and focus on content consumption do not make it a direct threat to most PC users.

2. Major suppliers are already developing response strategies, planning to launch their own budget laptops with competitive specs.

3. The PC market is in a stabilization phase: demand growth is supported by corporate refreshes and AI technologies, but price pressure on components remains a serious challenge for manufacturers.

4. Apple continues to shape trends, introducing features that quickly become the standard even within the Windows ecosystem.