The MacBook Neo's Wallpaper Is Hiding A Clever Apple Easter Egg

In addition to its build quality, performance, battery life, and repairability, the MacBook Neo also has a fun side. It comes in colors that are not available on other MacBooks, like Blush and Citrus, which are currently sold out for the 512 GB variant. In typical Apple fashion, the macOS Tahoe operating system comes with accent colors that match the MacBook Neo's color. The default wallpaper also uses the laptop's color as a theme, but it also includes a clever Apple Easter egg that some fans may expect: the product's name.

Look closely at the wallpaper and you'll see a word appear. It's not "Neo," which is the product name element that gives this MacBook a unique identity. It's "Mac," the usual term for an Apple computer. If you're having trouble seeing the word "Mac," try focusing on each letter before seeing the whole word, as two of the three letters share a vertical lines: The "M" and "A."

Unveiled less than two weeks ago, the MacBook Neo is available for purchase online and in Apple stores starting at $599, though you might need to wait longer for the more expensive $699 model. As of this writing, some colors of the 512 GB MacBook Neo are sold out online in the U.S., showing delivery estimates of up to 3 weeks. The laptop has received strong reviews in the past few days, including BGR's MacBook Neo review. We found the entry-level MacBook to be a much better option than any Windows-based notebook with a similar price.

Whether it's a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, or Mac mini, they're all part of the Mac family and run a version of macOS. The Mac identity is even more important for the MacBook Neo, the first laptop in Apple history to feature a chip that was first used for mobile devices: the A18 Pro chip first seen in iPhone 16 Pro models. But it's a Mac, ready to offer a full Mac experience, as reviews have shown. 

The MacBook Neo may be the perfect laptop for a brand-new computer user, like a teenager or young adult who will use the device for studying. But it can also be a great laptop for anyone doing light activities, including browsing the web, working on documents, and streaming movies. Experienced Mac users may have already expected an Easter egg on Neo's wallpaper, given Apple has done something similar on other iPad, Mac, and iPhone wallpapers.

The 2021 iPad mini 6 featured the word "mini" on the wallpaper. It delivered a big redesign over the mini 5, replacing the home button with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and offering users a larger display with uniform bezels. Apple continued the trend with the M2 MacBook Air and M3 MacBook Pro laptops that featured similar Easter eggs in their wallpapers, with the words "Pro" and "Air" being barely visible. The M2 iPad Air and the M4 iPad Pro followed the same wallpaper pattern as their MacBook counterparts in 2024. Though, the word "Pro" is more obvious than "Air." Apple kept using these wallpapers in other models released under the same generation.

Apple's M3 MacBook Pro wallpaper spells "PRO" just like how their M2 MacBook Air wallpaper spells "AiR". pic.twitter.com/R0OiULLiWL

— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) October 31, 2023

Interestingly, the company adopted the same wallpaper Easter egg strategy for three of the four iPhones launched in September 2025. The iPhone Air has the word "Air" on the default wallpaper, while the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max have the word "Pro" spelled out. We believe Apple will likely continue releasing similar background images for future iPhone and MacBook models, considering what it did with previous products.