Overview
- Reports Tuesday from Culpium, echoed by MacRumors and AppleInsider, say Apple’s pool of binned A18 Pro chips for the $599 MacBook Neo is running out against an original plan of 5–6 million units.
- Those chips are repurposed A18 Pro dies from iPhone 16 Pro production with one GPU core disabled, a cost saver that helped Apple reach the low entry price.
- TSMC’s N3E 3‑nanometer lines are fully booked, so any extra A18 Pro supply would come at a premium and Apple would likely buy full‑price chips and disable a core to match current Neo specs.
- Culpium outlined options under discussion, including reallocating chips from other devices, dropping the 256GB base model for the $699 512GB version, accelerating a switch to an A19 Pro, or accepting thinner margins.
- Apple has not announced changes, and delivery estimates on its store remain about 2–3 weeks as strong demand from first‑time Mac buyers strains supply.