MANILA — The Department of Education has purchased 172,654 Apple MacBook Neo laptops for public school teachers and administrative staff across the country, in what Apple's chief executive has called the company's biggest education deal ever for the Mac.
DepEd announced on Tuesday, November 3, that it had completed competitive bidding for the order. Each unit was priced at approximately ₱43,000, and distribution is scheduled to run from November 2026 through March 2027.
Who Gets the Laptops
Of the 172,654 units, 169,008 will go to teachers and 3,646 to administrative officers, according to DepEd. At the stated unit price, news reports have placed the total order at approximately ₱7.4 billion. DepEd has not publicly named the winning bidder or reseller.
Apple CEO Discloses Deal on Earnings Call
Apple CEO John Ternus first disclosed the transaction during the company's quarterly earnings call on November 2 in the United States — which fell on early Tuesday morning in Manila.
"We recently secured our biggest education deal ever for Mac with the Department of Education in the Philippines," Ternus told analysts. "They're going to deploy 170,000 MacBook Neos to teachers and staff."
Ternus assumed the role of Apple chief executive on September 1, succeeding Tim Cook.
Five-Year Warranty and GuroXL Training Program
DepEd said the ₱43,000 unit price is approximately ₱6,900 below the MacBook Neo's Philippine suggested retail price of ₱49,900, which the agency used as its reference figure. The purchase package includes a five-year warranty — the longest coverage in any of DepEd's laptop procurements to date, compared with the standard one-year retail warranty.
Delivery, logistics, and professional development for recipients are also included in the deal, DepEd said. The agency and Apple will jointly launch GuroXL, a teacher training framework administered through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines, designed to guide teachers toward Apple Teacher certifications.
Distribution will begin with cluster launches across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao this month, DepEd said.
Angara: Teachers Have Long Borne the Burden
Education Secretary Sonny Angara cited the financial strain on teachers as a driving reason for the purchase.
"For the longest time, our teachers have carried the heavy personal burden of buying their own laptops or maintaining outdated equipment just to keep up with lesson plans," Angara said in a statement.
Retail Price History of the MacBook Neo
When the MacBook Neo launched in the Philippines in March 2026, Philippine technology outlets reported a starting price of ₱39,990 for the 256GB model, with a launch education price of ₱33,990 for students and teachers.
Tech publication GizGuide reported in June that Apple had raised the 256GB model's local price to ₱49,990 due to a global memory shortage. DepEd's statement did not specify which configuration was procured or how it arrived at its reference retail price.
ACT: Order "Grossly Insufficient" for 900,000 Teachers
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said the order falls far short of what the country's public school workforce requires. ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo described the 172,654 units as "grossly insufficient" for nearly 900,000 public school teachers and warned against presenting the purchase as fulfillment of the government's promise of a laptop for every teacher.
"Our educators are subsidizing the government's failure to provide even the most basic tools for their work," Bernardo said.
ACT called for laptops that are reasonably priced, durable, and suited to teachers' actual work requirements, as well as adequate training, technical support, and maintenance provisions.
MacBook Order Part of Broader Computerization Program
The MacBook Neo purchase is part of the DepEd Computerization Program. Under the program, DepEd has awarded contracts for a total of 231,725 teacher laptops so far, which includes 62,717 Windows-based units procured separately. The program received ₱10 billion in funding, according to available reports, though the source material does not detail the full budget breakdown.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of DepEd Philippines