DepEd to Equip Teachers and Staff With 170,000 MacBook Neo Laptops Under Apple’s Biggest-Ever Education Deal

DepEd is set to equip public school teachers and personnel with 170,000 Apple MacBook Neo laptops under the technology giant’s largest-ever Mac education deal, marking a significant technological upgrade under Secretary Sonny Angara.

Apple CEO John Ternus announced the agreement during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Monday, Nov. 2, highlighting the Philippines as a major market for its expanding education business. The agreement also marks a major shift from DepEd’s controversial 2021 procurement of costly laptops powered by outdated Intel Celeron processors.

“We recently secured our biggest education deal ever for Mac with the Department of Education in the Philippines,” Ternus said.

“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,” he added.

The agreement marks a significant step forward in technology access for public school personnel, particularly as it comes four years after the Commission on Audit (COA) questioned DepEd’s controversial ₱2.4-billion laptop procurement in 2021, which involved computers powered by outdated Intel Celeron processors.

COA’s 2021 audit report showed that the approved budget per laptop rose from ₱35,046.50 to ₱58,300, resulting in a reduction in the number of intended teacher-beneficiaries from 68,500 to 39,583.

Auditors likewise raised concerns over complaints about the laptops’ poor performance, questioning whether the government had received sufficient value for public funds spent on the procurement.

In contrast to the previously acquired Celeron-powered units, Apple’s MacBook Neo comes with a newer A18 Pro chip, a 13-inch Liquid Retina display and productivity applications intended for everyday computing needs.