Apple has released a new holiday film called “The Dreamer” on YouTube, which shows parents giving their son a MacBook Neo. The gift helps him rediscover his creativity, and the laptop now starts at $699, which is $100 above its launch price.
Melina Matsoukas directed the film, and the music is “Give Me A Dream” by Strawberry Guy, the title track of his album released on October 23.
The Dreamer Holiday Film Follows an Artist
The film follows one boy as he grows into a young man. It opens on him painting at an easel in a blue bedroom and finger-painting on a window, then shows him sketching on the grass, sitting in a classroom and riding a subway train as a teenager.
As a young man he sculpts a clay bust, and his mother appears in the doorway of his room at night. The family gathers around a Christmas tree with wrapped gifts, and the closing scenes show him at a desk under a lamp, working on an animation of a boy in a red cape on his MacBook Neo while his mother smiles from the doorway.
Apple calls the film a celebration of creativity and the people who inspire it. Its message is that a person who believes in you can help you remember what makes you special.
The 256GB MacBook Neo costs $699 on Apple’s standard store, up from $599 at launch in March, after Apple raised Mac prices in June. The 512GB model with Touch ID costs $100 more, and students and teachers pay $649 for the 256GB model on the education store. The standard price sits $600 below the $1,299 MacBook Air.
Both storage sizes come in Silver, Blush, Citrus and Indigo, each with a keyboard that matches the body color. The 13-inch Liquid Retina display reaches 500 nits of brightness, and Apple rates the battery at up to 16 hours depending on use and configuration.
Apple ties the A18 Pro chip to creative work and lists three Apple Intelligence tools on the MacBook Neo. Clean Up, which is in beta, removes distractions from photos, Genmoji makes custom emoji, and Writing Tools proofreads and rewrites text.
If you plan to wrap one, Satechi has added four MacBook Neo accessories that start at $29.99, including a charger, a keyboard and a desk mat.
MacBook Neo 2 Is Reportedly Next
The MacBook Neo 2 is reportedly planned for the first half of 2027 with an A19 Pro chip and 12GB of unified memory, up from the A18 Pro chip and 8GB in the current model. Apple has not announced it or set a price, so a MacBook Neo bought this holiday season is the A18 Pro model.
The current MacBook Neo keeps the same A18 Pro chip, 8GB of unified memory and 13-inch display on every configuration, so the 512GB model adds only storage and Touch ID.
