The MacBook Neo has been a hit for Apple, but it seems the tech giant was caught flat-footed with how popular the laptop has been.
In the latest edition of his Culpium newsletter, Taiwan-based columnist and former Bloomberg report Tim Culpan said Apple is running out of its supply of binned A18 Pro processors for the MacBook Neo. Oops.
During the manufacturing process, there can be what’s called “binned” processors. These are chips that do not perform as well as the quality chips for a variety of reasons. Binning is simply the process separating these different chips into different groups, known as “bins.”
The MacBook Neo uses binned A18 Pro processors, which allows Apple to save some money on the manufacturing process. Unfortunately for Apple, it seems to be running out of these processors.
According to the newsletter, Apple originally had suppliers build around five million to six million MacBook Neo units. Demand for the laptop has been so strong, however, that Apple might run out A18 Pro chips before the second-generation MacBook Neo becomes available.
As a result, Apple might have to take drastic measures and restart production of the A18 Pro. This would eat away at Apple’s profit margins for the MacBook Neo, but the company is unlikely to mark a new product as “sold out” so quickly.
Apple could also discontinue the base 256GB version of the MacBook Neo. Then again, the marketing campaign has revolved around the laptop’s affordability.
MacBook Neo stock seems to be all over the place. All configurations of the laptop currently have a 2-3 week delivery estimate, while those on Amazon have varying delivery estimates.
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