Apple's newly introduced MacBook Neo, a low-cost laptop priced from US$599, uses the A18 Pro chip instead of the newer A19 Pro, according to a report from Wccftech, which attributed the decision partly to supply constraints affecting advanced semiconductor manufacturing nodes.

Foxconn chairman Young Liu said on March 6 that 2026 is expected to be "a very good year" for the company, with full-year revenue projected to grow at a double-digit rate from approximately NT$8.1 trillion (approx. US$253 billion) in 2025, provided there are no major uncertainties.

Apple this week unveiled a series of new products, including the latest MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models, but the launch drawing the most attention has been the new entry-level MacBook Neo lineup. Unlike other MacBook models powered by Apple's M-series Apple Silicon processors, the new product line uses A-series chips typically designed for mobile devices, with pricing set at around NT$20,000 (approx. US$631).

While thousands of tech executives gathered this week in the cavernous halls of Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress (MWC), showcasing motorized cameras and ultra-thin folding screens that few will ever buy, Apple executed a far more consequential maneuver from the quiet of its California headquarters.

Amid a deepening structural decoupling between the US and China and the full-scale launch of the artificial intelligence (AI) investment cycle, the map of American imports is undergoing one of its most consequential shifts in decades.