Apple has announced the MacBook Neo - its take on an affordable laptop. Pricing starts at $599.
RAM is limited to 8 GB rather than the 16 GB standard on other - more expensive - Macs. The real news, however, is the MacBook Neo is powered by an A series Apple Silicon chip as opposed to the M series Apple Silicon chips in other current Macs.
Up to now, A series chips have been used for iPad and iPhone while, generally, M series chips were used for Macs. I’ll be sticking with my M4 MacBook Air acquired last year but - for most - I expect a MacBook Neo would be all the Mac one would require.