The Department of Education is deploying 170,000 MacBook Neo laptops to teaching and non-teaching personnel in more than 16,400 K–12 public schools, under the DepEd Computerization Program. Apple disclosed the order on its Q4 2026 earnings call, where CEO John Ternus called it the company’s biggest education deal involving the Mac. It is the cheapest laptop Apple sells, starting at PHP 49,990 in the Philippines.
What the deployment covers
The rollout reaches schools across the country and covers both teachers and non-teaching staff, aimed at lesson preparation, administrative work, and classroom use. Apple reported 170,000 units sold to teachers and students in the Philippines. The DepEd deployment covers teaching and non-teaching personnel, and Ternus called it the company’s largest Mac education deal with the department.
The announcement came during Apple’s quarterly results, in which revenue reached $114.5 billion, up from $102.5 billion a year earlier.
“Investing in our teachers is investing in the future of our learners,” said DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara. He said data-backed tech deployments are central to President Marcos’s priority of keeping frontline educators future-ready.
“We recently secured our biggest education deal ever for Mac with the Department of Education in the Philippines. They’re going to deploy 170,000 MacBook Neos to teachers and staff. Opportunities like this bring more users into our ecosystem and help fuel growth across our business.” said Apple CEO John Ternus.
What teachers get
The MacBook Neo is Apple’s entry-level notebook, announced in March 2026 as the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip: the A18 Pro, with a six-core CPU and five-core GPU. The device has a durable aluminum unibody enclosure and a silent, fanless design built to withstand daily classroom wear and tear, and it is designed for long school days without constant charging.
Apple’s education case rests on software. Educators get Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and Freeform without extra licensing fees or subscription costs, keeping the total cost of ownership low for a public school system buying in volume. Teachers also get access to the Apple Education Community, which carries foundational training and more than 70 lesson plans developed by Filipino educators for the K–12 curriculum.
MacBook Neo Key Specs
| Display | 13.0-inch Liquid Retina, 2408 × 1506 at 219ppi, 500 nits, 1 billion colors |
| Processor | A18 Pro — 6-core CPU (2 performance + 4 efficiency), 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine |
| RAM | 8GB unified |
| Storage | 256GB or 512GB SSD |
| Battery | up to 16 hours video, up to 11 hours wireless web, 36.5Wh |
| Charger | 20W USB-C adapter, 1.5m cable |
| Ports | USB 3, 10Gb/s, DisplayPort), USB-C (USB 2, 480Mb/s), 3.5mm jack |
| External Display | one up to 4K at 60Hz |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 6 |
| Camera/Audio | 1080p FaceTime HD, dual speakers with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos, beamforming mics |
| Keyboard | Magic Keyboard, Touch ID on 512GB model |
| Size/Weight | 1.27 × 29.75 × 20.64cm, 1.23kg |
| OS | macOS |
Price and availability
In the Philippines, the MacBook Neo is sold in 256GB and 512GB storage versions at PHP 49,990 and PHP 56,990, in blush, citrus, indigo, and silver. The department’s unit price was not disclosed.
For more information, visit Apple’s MacBook Neo page. You may also check out our long-term review of the MacBook Neo.
Sources: AppleInsider and Manila Bulletin
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
170,000 units, to more than 16,400 K–12 public schools nationwide.
Teaching and non-teaching personnel under the DepEd Computerization Program.
PHP 49,990 for 256GB and PHP 56,990 for 512GB on Apple’s Philippine store. The DepEd unit price was not disclosed.
The A18 Pro, an iPhone chip, paired with a six-core CPU and five-core GPU in the local configuration.
No. Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and Freeform are available without extra licensing fees or subscription costs, and teachers get Apple Education Community training plus more than 70 locally developed lesson plans.
Emman Tortoza
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
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