If you wanted a cheap machine for school, light office work, or general browsing, you went to a Chromebook or a Windows notebook because the MacBook Air sat too high above the average budget. But the MacBook Neo can appeal to you with its low pricing.

Apple is reportedly preparing a low-cost MacBook designed to compete directly with Chromebooks and budget Windows laptops, a move that could reshape the entry-level notebook market. The device, which would use an iPhone-class A-series chip instead of Apple’s higher-end M-series silicon,