In the iPhone 16 Pro models, the A18 Pro chip has a 6-core GPU. During the chip manufacturing process, however, sometimes a CPU or GPU core can turn out to be faulty. Rather than discarding the leftover A18 Pro chips with only a 5-core GPU, Apple opted to use them in the MacBook Neo, as a way of optimizing its supply chain and costs.
These so-called “binned” chips with a 5-core GPU are effectively “free” to Apple, given that they otherwise would have been discarded.
Herein lies the dilemma.
In the latest edition of his Culpium newsletter today, Culpan said the MacBook Neo is selling so well that Apple’s supply of the binned A18 Pro chips with a 5-core GPU will “run out” before the company is able to fully satisfy demand for the laptop.
The Neo is the gateway drug into the ecosystem. For people who have only ever known Windows, MacOS will probably blow a lot of minds with how superior it is. Then Apple has a new customer who will want everything Apple from now on. Maybe not every time, but I would wager the majority of times, they’ll have new converts.
This used to be the logic behind the iPod. In fact, it was referred to as the “iPod halo effect”. So I would not be surprised if that is a key reason for the pricing.