Crossword Genius

When born, Patrick had no mac, obviously (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nee

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'when born' is the definition.
'nee' can be an answer for 'born' ('nee' is 'born' in French). I'm not certain of the 'when' bit.

'patrick had no mac obviously' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'no' could be 'n' (common abbreviation) and 'n' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ee' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nee that I've seen before include "Name originally" , "Used to show a married woman's single name" , "(Of married woman) born (with name)" , "Born as (French)" , "Born (indicating a woman's maiden name)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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