Apple Gave Us the Neo, Now It Might Be Planning a High-End MacBook Ultra

Apple went budget with the MacBook Neo. Now reportedly the company is preparing to go high end, and high price.

Apple is gearing up to launch a MacBook “Ultra” in the fall, outfitted with the first OLED display in MacBook history, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

Gurman says the new laptop will have a touchscreen and new M6 chips. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Apple could be launching its first touchscreen MacBook — with a Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island is a feature on more recent iPhone models — iPhone 14 and later — that’s shaped like a long horizontal pill atop the screen and shows alerts, notifications, timers and music.

It if happens, the Ultra would be at the opposite end of the cost spectrum from the Neo, which Apple launched earlier this month for $599 as a rival to Chromebooks and Windows laptops in the same price range. Gurman says the MacBook Ultra could cost 20 percent more than the new MacBook Pro (M5 series), which Apple lists at $1,699.

If you want to read more about the new Neo, CNET has been all over it: Here’s why students might love it, the colors we liked and didn’t like and why the Neo is a really is a game-changer.

Gurman suggested that Apple might keep selling the M5 series MacBook Pro even after the Ultra launches. That would give the company a wider range of MacBooks at various costs — the Neo ($599), the Air (starting at $1,099), the Pro ($1,699) and the Ultra. 

Tech analyst Paolo Pescatore said adding the premium MacBook Ultra would “signal a clear shift in strategy” for Apple.

“If this turns out to be the case, then Apple appears to be stretching the Mac further upmarket,” Pescatore told CNET. “The opportunity is to drive higher spending and keep premium users firmly within Apple’s ecosystem. The challenge will be avoiding confusion, especially if the lines between MacBook Pro and iPad Pro become even more blurred.”

Gurman also said that Apple’s first foldable iPhone, rumored to be launched later this year, might be called the “iPhone Ultra.”