If Apple is truly learning from the MacBook Neo, it should return the iPhone to its $199 roots

Apple is selling an insane number of MacBook Neos, so much so that it's now trying to adjust production to meet demand. People want the MacBook Neo in ways they have never wanted a MacBook before. It's a near-perfect blend of Apple quality and affordability, and it's opened the floodgates to consumers who thought they could never afford a MacBook. I expect this to be one of Apple's most popular products of the decade, and I hope that it teaches the tech giant a valuable lesson:

Make the iPhone more affordable.

As of this moment, the cheapest iPhone you can buy is the $599 iPhone 17e. Despite being a "budget" phone, we described it in our review thusly: "the 17e feels like a more complete and modern member of the iPhone lineup."

Does that price sound familiar? It should. This budget smartphone costs as much as Apple's most affordable laptop: the aforementioned MacBook Neo. Sure, the iPhone 17e has a slightly better chip (the A19 as opposed to the Neo's A18 Pro), but that performance difference is probably nominal, at best. They do match each other on 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, by the way.

We pay quite a premium for pocketability, but does it make sense for them to be priced the same? Maybe. On the other hand, the MacBook Neo reminds us that the first thing most consumers consider in a purchase decision is price.

Let's bring the iPhone back to that magic price

When the iPhone launched almost 20 years ago, it was priced at $499 for the base 8GB (storage) model. A year later, the iPhone 3G landed for $199. Granted, this price was achieved through carrier subsidies, but it was also what Steve Jobs liked to call the "magic" price point, a term he coined when launching the iPod mini.

Once carriers figured out how to shoulder the full cost of the phone and let you pay off monthly, price became a construct. It was something that only existed as the thing Apple announced on launch, and that was quickly subsumed into years of monthly payments to your carrier.

Basically, we're paying anywhere from $600 to well over $1,000 for the iPhone we want. We do so happily, it seems, because no one is without a smartphone (iPhone or otherwise). But Apple doesn't own the global market.

According to Counterpoint, Apple has roughly 25% of the global smartphone market, which beats Samsung's 18% but falls below "Others" 30%. If you ask me, Apple has a huge opportunity here because that "Others" is probably made up of a bunch of affordable handset makers, companies offering smartphones for $300 or less, and often with features that compare favorably to what Apple's offering in its mid-tier iPhone 17.

Tecno, which does not sell in the US, offers the Tecno Spark 50 5G with a 50MP camera, a 64000mAh battery, and military-grade shock resistance for roughly $200. For around $380, you could get the Tecno Camon 50 Pro, which features a three-camera array, a 6.7-inch display, and...okay, it tops out at 4G coverage. Still, you get the idea. There are many companies like this that sell highly affordable phones to emerging markets.

What the market can bear is changing

It's understandable that Apple (and its competitors like Samsung and Google) charge more in the affluent US market. People know these phones are expensive, but they hide the pain in those monthly payments.

The MacBook Neo, though, is proving that consumers are desperate for a deal, especially one that marries affordability to quality. As experiment after experiment I've run has proven, the MacBook Neo is that mix. Somehow, without cutting visible corners, Apple delivered a tiny, ready-for-work-and-play system that outshines all the rest of the budget competition.

This is a system that's as well-built as something costing hundreds more and is an absolute pleasure to look at and use. And you never have to tell yourself, "It cost a fortune, but then look at how it works, look at the design." Instead, you can boast about how you got more than your money's worth.

I'm not calling for all iPhones to be $599 or less. Instead, I'm suggesting that the most affordable new iPhone could start at $199 or, if that's asking too much, $299 (even $399 would be a win).

Can you imagine how many iPhones Apple would sell around the world if the doorway to one of the best smartphone brands on the market opened at under $300? Apple would rocket to the top of the global market share list, eating into "Other" and surely taking a slice or two from Samsung (though Samsung has long had the Galaxy A series, which can, in some cases, start for as little as $199.99).

The MacBook Neo will continue to outsell the budget PC competition and make waves. Let's see what Apple does about them and how it affects the prices of other Apple product lines.

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