MacBook Neo sells out for April as demand for Apple's $599 laptop outpaces supply
Posted by -protonsandneutrons-@reddit | hardware | View on Reddit | 320 comments
Only Apple has sold out of its supply.
Walmart has great supply, delivers in 2 days.
Best Buy has great supply, delivers in 2 days.
Amazon US has decent supply, delivers within 5-6 days.
Target has decent supply, delivers within 5-6 days.
However, some colors / NAND combinations are in higher demand and may take longer (e.g,. the 256GB pink model seems to be slowest, but still available).
lukejon2325@reddit
I’m loving this. Should drive other brands to provide higher build quality for lower cost. Also putting the squeeze on Microsoft to debloat windows 11. I can honestly say that I still have a MacBook Pro from 2010 with a core 2 duo that is still usable to scroll emails and the internet…had to drop in more ram and an SSD but still impressive.
Bderken@reddit
I don’t think I have ever seen a laptop this popular. I’m seeing it IN PERSON in people’s hands… it’s crazy.
I’m also seeing it in YouTubers videos on the side that have nothing to do with tech….
myloteller@reddit
In a sea of e-waste plastic frame budget laptops preloaded with bloatware. The neo is actually pretty good specs with an aluminum frame.
GHz-Man@reddit
Why? Sounds irrational.
NoPriorThreat@reddit
No copy on select.
Strange shortcut combinations. e.g. terminal use cmd+shift+T to open new tab, and other stuff instead of ctrl + keys but then to cancel a process, search in shell requires ctrl again.
Highlight does not respect whitespaces.
GHz-Man@reddit
People actually use Terminal? lol
theQuandary@reddit
As a programmer, I LIVE in the terminal. Even if I'm using something like VS Code, I always have at least a couple terminals open per VS Code window.
GHz-Man@reddit
Weird. What is this, 1985?
theQuandary@reddit
You can't even deploy most server (or frontend) code without using the command line either directly or with a thin, leaky CI abstraction over the top that requires you to understand it anyway.
You should spend some time learning to code in something like C. Even if you don't like it, the process will open your eyes to how both hardware and software really work.
GHz-Man@reddit
Seems like we're far behind the times, then.
Core-i7-4790k@reddit
What's wrong with using terminal or command line?
NoPriorThreat@reddit
ofc, how else do you want to use vim?
127-0-0-1_1@reddit
This is one of macOS's best features, at least if you use the terminal a lot.
Every terminal escape code? CTRL. Every UI short cut? CMD. That is not only easier to remember, it means you don't have to worry about sending SIG_KILL with CTRL+C when you meant to copy.
Copy is always CMD+C, and SIG_KILL is always CTRL+C. Terminals open new tabs with CMD because that's not a escape code, that's just a UI element.
myloteller@reddit
100% irrational. Im just too lazy to learn it
GHz-Man@reddit
So you "hate" it because you don't want to learn it? lol
Brilliant_Run8542@reddit
FR, even the most ardent hater would learn it by helping their less than adept with tech family members.
Bderken@reddit
As an engineer. Im genuinely curious what applications you use for work.
We have a lot of windows apps working on our Mac’s really well.
tmchn@reddit
Excel on macOs is gimped and they don't have ms access, just thinking of two of my most frequently used apps at work
Core-i7-4790k@reddit
I'm sorry that you have to use Access.
hanotak@reddit
VisualStudio.exe
somoneone@reddit
It's really nice of microsoft to block the software if you missed out on a major update (2026 Version)
trololololo2137@reddit
for c# rider is way better than VS except if you need some crazy stuff like mixed mode debugging
hanotak@reddit
This is C++ for DX12- I could probably move to something else by this point, since I'm on CMake anyway, but I've gotten used to it. With ReSharper, it's not too bad.
trololololo2137@reddit
yeah directx is not a great idea on macOS (not impossible though).
I'm developing vulkan stuff via moltenvk and it actually works perfectly fine with good perf but I'm also using vs code for C/C++ stuff
System0verlord@reddit
F.
Beg them for a jetbrains license?
Bderken@reddit
Oh god I do not miss the days of using that heap
Lenoxx97@reddit
It's honestly not too bad nowadays. Or maybe I'm just telling myself that to not feel bad about having to use it every day.
JortsForSale@reddit
It still is that bad once you get used to something else
hanotak@reddit
It's somewhat better than it used to be, at least if you use CMake instead of MSbuild. It still does freeze sometimes, though, and the debug views are super laggy.
myloteller@reddit
Im in construction. Everyone uses Bluebeam Revu, they discontinued macOS support a few years ago. Im sure theres a work around but i have zero interest in fucking around with it. Revu already sucks ass as it is, freezes or crashes with every other windows update. Dont want to add fuel to the fire by trying to make it work on macOS
seatux@reddit
Revu any better than ACAD tho? If I recall ACAD maintained Apple Silicon compatibility and I see them on folks issued Macs for work.
frumply@reddit
Bluebeam is primarily for marking up PDF drawing sets. Designers may use acad/solidworks but as an engineer most likely you’ll be using bluebeam when reviewing their work and making redlines.
seatux@reddit
Thanks, the crowd in my country is extreme. Most only know how to comment on paper or willing to draw comment bubbles manually on ACAD. Some might figure out simple lines on normal PDF software like Foxit.
Bderken@reddit
Ah yeah that makes sense. I’ve never heard of that software but cool to learn about it!
Panzer22@reddit
Whats your method? I’ve tries running stuff on Parallels on M1 Pro, Windows itself runs fine but Altium Designer runs like dogshit. Not that it runs great on Windows either, but on Parallels was unusably slow
Strazdas1@reddit
Why are some people obsessed with aluminium? Plastic frame is totally fine and in some cases superior.
myloteller@reddit
Tough books or other $1,000+ laptops sure. But 99% of $600 plastic frame laptops have the durability of a saltine cracker
Strazdas1@reddit
Sure there are some really bad plastic designs, but thats the fault of designer, not of plastic.
lol no, it doesnt.
JamStan1978@reddit
Im the opposite. I dont like windows. Mac just feels smoother and is more consistent and cohesive. I really wish Microsoft would fix windows.
GHz-Man@reddit
Why? Is there something specific you like about Windows?
Choices exist for a reason.
Kyanche@reddit
Please don't take this as a personal attack, you can say it's due to the greatness of Windows, its superior compatibility, its enterprise-driven success. Whatever.
Compared to MacOS and modern Linux (Wayland) GUIs like KDE plasma and Gnome 50, The Windows 11 UI feels very choppy and laggy. I say that across a few different Windows machines, a few different Macs, and my gaming computer where I have windows 11 and fedora 43 and have run both gnome and kde extensively.
Strazdas1@reddit
To each his own i guess. To me MacOS is the choppy one with unintuitive options and forcing you into settings you could change in windows. That being said, Microsoft is really trying to destroy what good will it has left.
wankthisway@reddit
I mean, competition is always good. And as much as I really enjoy MacOS, I'd like to be able to use a Windows based machine without feeling like a pig being fattened for slaughter. But there's a lot of older games and apps I like to mess with that never had a MacOS equivalent.
GHz-Man@reddit
You can run Windows on a Mac in a VM with pretty much native performance.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Adverts on the start menu, I paid for the OS why is it showing me adverts?
JJ3qnkpK@reddit
I wish they'd pick something and refine it. Feels like every big update brings some paradigm shifting change.
Meanwhile, with Apple, I could pluck an Apple user out of time from the early 90s, hand them modern MacOS, and they'd navigate it no problem. It's remarkable how long they've effectively kept the same UI.
theQuandary@reddit
OSX was a pretty big UI shift from OS9, but it's mostly been the same ever since.
I just wish they'd continued to support Snow Leopard forever. Everything a normal user would want, worked in a gig or two of RAM, and it was the ONLY version of OSX where bugfixes were the main selling point (along with 64-bit support) and as a result, it was incredibly stable too. I also miss 2D window layouts instead of the current 1D stuff.
TRKlausss@reddit
I would’ve personally preferred an iPad with MacOS instead of this, form factor is much better, costs the same with almost same hardware+touchscreen…
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
I recently found out I can do all my hobby stuff on a steam deck, FreeCAD, EasyEDA and OrcaSlicer all work just as well as they do on my desktop.
DeliciousPangolin@reddit
If you put the Neo next to a current MBP and told someone that the Neo was last year's model of MBP, they'd probably believe you. Other laptops in that price bracket feel like they were built to a price. The Neo feels like a high-end laptop from a few years ago.
liaminwales@reddit
Looks cool, good display, audio, battery life and build quality with a low price.
For 90% of people it's all they need & better than most PC options or chrome books, it's what id get my parents next time.
KillerDemonic83@reddit
i wouldve 100% bought my mom one if she wasn't so adamantly against learning a new operating system
liaminwales@reddit
Chrome is chrome, my mum will be asking the same things what ever device it is. I have to help with the TV remote some times, I suspect she just wants to chat relay.
Xpander6@reddit
What does that mean? ESL
Ok_Sand7630@reddit
They meant to say " I suspect she just wants to chat, really".
You relay (send) a message, or you run a relay race (a race where you pass off a baton/stick between multiple runners).
I think they were saying that your mother's true intention is to talk to you. The need for help is just an excuse to talk to you. "Really" (in all reality).
liaminwales@reddit
It's not a real 'problem', it's a conversation starter 'hay can you fix this for me' etc.
YourVelourFog@reddit
If you have a Mac it’s trivially easy to remote into her device to help them fix whatever issues they’re having - even from halfway around the world. It’s even smarter that it immediately starts up a voice chat for when doing it, all you need is their iCloud email and they have to press yes when you try to connect.
I’ve saved my mom about 3 trips to the Apple Store with this.
Synap-6@reddit
plus you have the easy integration between that and other devices. Price and ease of use makes total sense, especially security-wise, for the older generation
Actually-Yo-Momma@reddit
I supported chromebooks for so long. Every year they got more expensive with terrible longevity
Strazdas1@reddit
Chromebook is for people who hate themselves because of ChromeOS. Neo has a proper OS.
an_angry_Moose@reddit
If Neo has even remotely the longevity of their first gen M1 silicon laptops, it's going to be an incredibly good investment for a personal laptop.
tmanred@reddit
Still use my 8GB M1 Air to this day as a nice basic web browsing and other light task device with stupid gif battery life. Even to this day there doesn't seem to be any direct competition on the x86 side.
Nachtwolfe@reddit
I have a M1 8GB MacBook Pro that I daily drive and I still don’t feel a need to upgrade
an_angry_Moose@reddit
I’ve got a 16gb m1 air, and I just don’t see a need to replace it. It’s just SO GOOD for what it is.
Even “light tasks” is underselling it. I’ve been too busy with real life, but I distinctly remember being able to edit 4K video on it without a hitch. That is pretty impressive for such a low product in the stack.
Vodkanadian@reddit
Maybe by that time that Asahi Linux project will be far enough that it'll be supported.
b_86@reddit
We can only hope, as the M3 and M4 (which the A18 Pro is based on) are still a tough nut to crack, and even M1 and M2 Macs are still missing stuff like Thunderbolt, proper power management or all the extra display modes like high refresh rate and VRR.
chrkv@reddit
I’ve heard from a friend tinkering with asahi on M1 Max that 120Hz has been added a couple weeks ago
TradeSurplus@reddit
As a scholl tech I wanted to like Chromebooks so much. But just like netbooks of times gone by, they too seemed *mostly* to be made of parts bin components, min specs and awful build quality.
seatux@reddit
The Neo I can easily get, Chrome OS devices are rare in my country for some reason.
TRKlausss@reddit
Now if they packed the same features from this laptop in an iPad, they wouldn’t need to sell this. Because oh well, it has the same chip.
Sometimes Apple doesn’t make sense.
gokarrt@reddit
turns out making a good product at a fair price is a successful strategy.
the absolute irony that this is an apple product is not lost on me.
Justicia-Gai@reddit
This might remove the stigma of being overpriced.
Turns out that the only thing they needed is to control all the manufacturing of every single component, with diversity of suppliers (mostly).
Without NVIDIA giving them bad cards, Intel giving them bad chips, and Qualcomm giving them overpriced chips… seems they can cut a lot.
Stingray88@reddit
There are several YouTubers I know that hate Macs, and yet they’re gushing over the Neo.
The funny thing to me as a Mac user is that IMO the latest version of macOS is one of the worst we’ve ever gotten. I wish all these new converts had something better as their entry point.
GHz-Man@reddit
What's bad about MacOS?
Stingray88@reddit
Specifically with Tahoe, some of the design changes are really sloppy and inconsistent. It’s a big departure from previous versions which have been much more meticulously designed. Likewise it’s one of the buggiest versions I’ve seen in decades, although a lot of that has been fixed.
GHz-Man@reddit
Such as?
itsabearcannon@reddit
Visibility is a real issue. Too many inconsistently implemented layers of transparency can cause readability issues with things like app icons, menus, etc.
Also, all the transparency reduced UI smoothness. What used to be smooth 120FPS animations on my MacBook Pro on Sequoia became 50-70 FPS on Tahoe because of the sheer volume of transparency that has to be navigated every time a menu item moves.
And a lot of the really nagging bugs from previous macOS versions (like SMB shares refusing to stay mounted without third party apps like AutoMounter) still weren’t fixed in Tahoe.
So it came across as a very shiny update without a lot of thought put into the UI, and that UI dev time clearly came at the expense of performance optimization and bug fixes.
GHz-Man@reddit
You can turn all of that off if it bothers you.
itsabearcannon@reddit
Okay, it’s pretty clear you’re just blindly fanboying based on your comments throughout this thread.
People can have valid criticism of macOS and the answer doesn’t have to be “just ignore it”. Apple can and does make mistakes. This is a fact. Pretending they don’t makes this entire sub look stupid to the rest of Reddit.
GHz-Man@reddit
They added a slider to control the transparency level. I don't get the issue. It can be turned off if you don't like it.
turtlelover05@reddit
This is the same shit people say defending the dumb choices Windows keeps making. You can turn it off till you can't.
GHz-Man@reddit
I'm not defending it, but that's your option. Neither of us write the software, so I don't think complaining on Reddit is going to accomplish much.
turtlelover05@reddit
You literally asked what was bad about macOS and got an answer.
GHz-Man@reddit
That's an opinion.
turtlelover05@reddit
Obviously?
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
None of this seems to be worse than adverts on the start menu.
Strazdas1@reddit
When you compare it to a fake issue, then yes its worse.
VenditatioDelendaEst@reddit
Obviously, but it's not like anyone credible is considering Windows.
itsabearcannon@reddit
Huh?
I never said it was worse than Windows.
I think it’s objectively bad UI and I think things would be better UI and performance wise if they just straight reverted back to Sequioa.
Just because I think the old UI was a 9/10 and this one is a 6/10, doesn’t mean I want to go use a 2/10 instead.
schu2470@reddit
I'm a new MacOS user after 25+ years of Windows. Been using MacOS 26 Tahoe for a couple of months now and it's perfectly fine and, coming from the clusterfuck of Windows, is a breath of fresh air. A lot of the complaints I've seen are either issues I haven't experienced even when trying to set it up to fail OR are things that have been fixed with updates. I think the long time MacOS users who are complaining are just mad that things look different. Liquid Glass is fine and easy to turn down with accessibility tools if you don't like it, window management and Stage Manager are great, Spotlight actually works unlike the Start menu search on Windows post Windows 7, and the only stylistic inconsistency I've actually seen is from 3rd party apps. Actually picked up an M5 Pro MacBook Pro today after my introductory time on an M2 Mini and am thrilled with it.
Bderken@reddit
Every single thing someone has said it just parroted dumb stuff lol
FuckFuckingKarma@reddit
If you don't do things the way Tim Apple intended and stay within the ecosystem, it will be a battle.
Which I guess is fair enough. That workflow just doesn't work for me personally.
GHz-Man@reddit
That's true of Microsoft and Google too.
Skellicious@reddit
It's very form over function.
Having used windows and Linux I was surprised how I needed a lot of third party software for what should be OS functionalities.
Some examples:
GHz-Man@reddit
What about it?
How?
chartriceratops@reddit
Built in display scaling options and display settings are quite limited. BetterDisplay exists for a reason.
I primarily use BetterDisplay to get my desk setup working with hiDPI on 1440p monitors or to have the internal display turn off when connecting to an external display.
There's a lot more settings in Betterdisplay which I've not needed to use yet.
Similarly I want natural scrolling (reverse scrolling) on the trackpad but regular scrolling on a mouse with a scroll wheel. MacOS links the two for some reason. LinearMouse fixes the issue along with adding better customisation for additional mouse buttons.
TBH, found the screenshot tool acceptable though I would have liked a markup option immediately after taking a screenshot.
GHz-Man@reddit
I haven't had any issues with resolution scaling, but I'm using an LG 5K UltraFine
1440p seems like it wouldn't be great to look at lol
IguassuIronman@reddit
You can natively set it to open the screenshot in preview instead of saving to clipboard/a file
kuddlesworth9419@reddit
I always found MacOS incredibly frustrating to use. I
InevitableSherbert36@reddit
r/redditsniper
an_angry_Moose@reddit
What's wrong with the built in screenshot tool? I use it pretty often, and combined with the fact that your iphone works seamlessly with the message app, I find it incredibly handy to take snippets off the net and message them to clients/friends.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Gushing over the Mac Neo gets you views, need to check bias all the time.
Saneless@reddit
I mean, the iPhone is incredibly popular and most people probably never wanted a Mac because of the price. Now the price isn't as big a deal
Price might be the only reason these days people even buy consumer windows laptops at all. No one wants a Microsoft machine, for good reasons
GHz-Man@reddit
Apple's had a $499 desktop since 2005, and the MacBook Air has been $999 for a while.
Not sure that's really "expensive" given the specs and design, but a lot of people are fine with a $500 Windows laptop or Chromebook with a plastic shell and plastic screen, I guess.
Saneless@reddit
Most people don't want desktops, though, and $999 is about 2-2 1/2x the price of laptops people were buying
Strazdas1@reddit
Most people are irrational. They buy a laptop and use it as a desktop.
GHz-Man@reddit
What people? The Air has always been pretty popular.
Saneless@reddit
You think an extra $400 doesn't make a difference?
GHz-Man@reddit
It does, but my point is that price isn't the only factor.
If it was, the $499 Mac mini in 2005 would've been selling by the millions also, but it didn't.
Saneless@reddit
Again, as I and others have pointed out, people want laptops, not desktops
GHz-Man@reddit
They do now, they didn't as much in 2005. Desktops were still very popular then.
Saneless@reddit
And in 2005 people didn't hate windows, didn't love Macs much, and Apple wasn't a powerhouse since they were years away from the iPhone. Completely different era
GHz-Man@reddit
Plenty of people did lol
Windows didn't get high market share because people "love it" lol
It was just well-marketed with a lot of money behind it, and they signed a ton of OEM deals to make it the default OS.
Apple could've licensed MacOS if they wanted to (and they considered it several times) but decided not to. That's the only reason their market share is much lower.
tmchn@reddit
Yeah but the mac mini isn't portable and the 999$ air is still double the price of and edu discount neo
Most people i know bought windows laptops just because of the price and they always complained about the os, the subpar build quality and screen
The neo gives them a cheap option with good build and screen
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Yes and its incredibly popular proving the point, its also terrible value if you start increasing it from base spec.
seatux@reddit
Its only slightly more money than a M4 Mini but includes everything needed to run it from the get go.
Strazdas1@reddit
nowhere near as people make it out to be. Also its market share outside of US is single digit or less.
jjbugman2468@reddit
I thought it was cool and all but didn’t really care that much for it. Then I played with one while casually passing by an Apple Store one day and I’ve been looking for an excuse to pick up a citrus 512GB Neo ever since.
chandleya@reddit
It’s just a “cheap” gadget with moderate utility. It’s being used as an instrument of cool - great outcomes for the marketing department but lousy for r/hardware and I suspect even worse for demand on higher margin units.
996forever@reddit
Aka the vast majority of the client computing market and even the corporate market which consists largely of base model office laptops that only need to use web apps.
pmjm@reddit
I bought both the maxed out M5 Max for about $8K and the Neo at the same time. Believe it or not, I'm dailying the Neo.
Spez_is-a-nazi@reddit
Is it the weight?
pmjm@reddit
I'm a lot less worried about it getting stolen. Sure, it would still suck to lose, but you're a lot less of a target with a Neo than with a Pro.
I will still take my Macbook Pro out to professional jobs that need the power, but the Neo is a great daily driver.
total_cynic@reddit
This is going through my mind as well. As a casual travel laptop the Neo is physically nice to use, but not a disaster if it ends up submerged in salt water or similar (I do a decent amount of small boat travel).
pmjm@reddit
Get one while there's still inventory available. If you order from the edu store you'll save $100. You won't be disappointed with it.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Thieves don't know the difference lol.
Shadow647@reddit
Having a $500 laptop stolen is much less of an issue for yourself though – even with insurance there's usually a deductible, and getting coverage for theft is quite difficult in some places.
pmjm@reddit
They don't, but I'm less paranoid about losing it and the peace of mind is worth it.
alabasterskim@reddit
Tbf, I don't think we have much knowledge of how much they had of these so selling out of these is hard to put into perspective. That said, looks incredible and I really wanna pick one up myself (Windows/Linux guy myself, but have recently wanted a simple Mac for iPhone app deployment).
Bderken@reddit
I use windows/linux/Mac every day for development. But I have to for work.
I would recommend a beefier Mac for work tho. At least most my development, I use about 68GB of ram on average throughout my dev cycle (lots of tabs open, remote SSH sessions into Linux to make sure our API’s are working for our apps etc).
ProfessionalPrincipa@reddit
I can't believe the word Microsl*p is auto-blocked on this sub as if this were a Windows fan sub.
Remote-Combination28@reddit
Some tech YouTubers that I watch, that aren’t usually Apple fans at all are all saying it’s a game changing laptop.
theother1there@reddit
Not sure how Apple could scale production while keeping cost down though.
The Neo was basically built as a spare parts laptop using A18 Pro chips that didn't meet standards (5 cores vs 6 cores normally).
Zealousideal_One2249@reddit
Tim Cook will be remembered for Air Pods and supply line efficiency. He is going to be in every microeconmics books for the next 20 years.
Advanced_Concern7910@reddit
The chip cost for apple isn't significant. They could just switch to A19/A19 Pro chips.
It might cost them $50 in profit margin per computer, but I'm sure they can afford that.
hackenclaw@reddit
why would you need that, I am doing fine with a 2020 Ryzen 6 core APU on my work laptop.
my old gaming PC is a i7-2600K quadcore that age all the way back in 2012. Most people dont need more powerful CPU that they already need in this price range.
Infact I think the biggest bottleneck of this laptop is their RAM size. So going forward for next generation I would prefer Apple increase the RAM to 12-16GB. This thing will smash even more when they upgrade the RAM foe next generation.
Strazdas1@reddit
becaues they literally do not have A18 chips left?
Stilgar314@reddit
Bold to assume they don't want that $50 for themselves.
sussy_ball@reddit
A19 Pro seems to be the chip for next year's model according to reports
CVGPi@reddit
Apple still makes A18 for new iPhone 16s. It's possible that they fit A18s and A18 Pros onto the same wafer to maximize usage of space (as is common for other OEMs like Qualcomm)
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
There's no actual evidence that it was built using spare A18 pro chips the internet seems to have just made that up. They still have fabs manufacturing these CPU's for them today.
-protonsandneutrons-@reddit (OP)
Apple makes around ~100 million A18 Pro SoCs a year. Even 5% - 10% of defective GPU dies seems possible, judging by current estimates of 5-10 million total Neo sales.
https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/1ro70ly/comment/o9e4ycs/
Spez_is-a-nazi@reddit
It’s still last years chip. Yes new units will cost them more than the CPUs they were going to have to dispose of anyhow but it’s not like they have to design and tape out a new chip, they can order more(assuming TSMC has the spare capacity to make them…)
GHz-Man@reddit
They could just eat the extra cost and not raise prices, like they've been doing so far with tariffs and RAM prices.
avboden@reddit
And it’ll only get better with a chip upgrade every year or two. Once it gets up to 12Gb memory on the next chip there will be almost nothing for even the hardest haters to complain about. Apple has created the best gateway drug to the Apple ecosystem possible. All those kids with these will want an iPad and iPhone soon enough and the adults will start thinking about the various subscription services
b_vitamin@reddit
Hardware sounds great but I can’t stand iOS on a non-cell phone.
SOSpammy@reddit
It's running MacOS, not iOS.
Narishma@reddit
What does iOS have to do with anything?
Interdimension@reddit
Precisely this for me. From experience, the 8GB M1 MacBook Air that I had worked fine, but I’d prefer 12GB of RAM in 2026. If the 2nd generation Neo comes with a binned A19 Pro with 12GB of RAM? Man, that’s gonna be a solid laptop with minimal issues to complain about (assuming they don’t raise the price point, given the memory shortages).
GHz-Man@reddit
It's already nothing to complain about.
The people complaining about 8GB of RAM aren't in the target market for the Neo in the first place.
If you need more, that's what the MacBook Air and Pro are for.
8GB is perfectly fine for web browsing, email, Google Docs, etc.
It's really meant for students, seniors, etc.
theQuandary@reddit
I remember when Snow Leopard minimum requirement was 1gb of RAM and used 400 MB to 700 MB.
Modern OSX takes 3-5gb of RAM and even Linux is getting chonky now.
We need to put these operating systems on a diet again. What they do shouldn't take more RAM and processing power than the programs you run on top of them.
GHz-Man@reddit
As RAM gets cheaper, the OS can use more. That's not a surprise.
MacOS runs fine at 8GB as long as you're not doing 4K video editing or have 20 browser tabs open.
But most people aren't doing that on a system with 8GB in the first place.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
People really struggle with the idea that apple have more than one laptop model lol.
crshbndct@reddit
Yeah modern operating systems don’t just grind to a halt and bluescreen when memory gets low, like windows does. It’s far more usable than people think
wimpires@reddit
If a TSMC 3nm wafer costs Apple $15-20k then it's somewhere in the region of $30-40 per chip. A comparable Snapdragon or Intel/AMD chips is going to be $200-300. Just the vertical integration of the SOC alone gives Apple some $200+ headroom to outprice the competition.
Theoretically the only companies even capable of doing something similar are Huawei (banned) or Samsung (Exynos not good enough at those power level)
justice_for_lachesis@reddit
I believe they use binned versions, so these are basically free
Interdimension@reddit
And I believe the reports suggest that the reason why the Neo is in short supply is because Apple had to spin up production of the A18 Pro as they ran out of their stockpile of binned A18 Pro chips. What a good problem to have, lmao.
(The Neo’s A18 Pro has one less GPU core than the full A18 Pro that was in the iPhone 16 Pro lineup, so the Neo’s chip is the same as the one that was in the standard iPhone 16 and 16 Plus.)
Just_Maintenance@reddit
They will definitely just disable a core in firmware or software.
That’s not uncommon at all. AMD commonly does that with their cut down variants, and at least once they fucked up and left the extra hardware enabled on some samples (8 core Ryzen 1600s)
Now if Apple completely runs out of A18 Pro silicon in general, good and bad. They will either need to fire up production again or change the Neo.
theQuandary@reddit
I expect that extra GPU core to make a re-appearance in Neo 2 with the cheaper one being binned and the more expensive one offering an extra core as just one more reason to hand Apple another $100.
theQuandary@reddit
Running another order of a18 chips doesn't make too much sense. It'll be 6 months before those chips are ready. Meanwhile, sales of expensive pro phones with A19 Pro should be dropping off as we're more than 7 months past release and they can just wait for the next model meaning they are probably starting to see an increase in available chips.
Financially, it doesn't matter to Apple. N3P (A19 Pro) is 10% more expensive than N3E (A18 Pro), but A19 pro chips are 10% smaller, so it's basically a wash cost-wise.
At the same time, reviewers have setup a few complaints about the Neo -- too little RAM, slow SSD, memory bandwidth in some apps, battery life, USB 2 port, etc.
Neo 2 with A19 Pro crushes these. 12gb of RAM fixes the single-biggest issue. SSD speeds for iPhone 17 pro are around double that of iPhone 16 pro from what I've seen. A19 Pro has 20% more bandwidth (and 32gb SLC to increase that even more). N3p means it uses 10-20% less power at ISO frequency. A19 Pro even seems to have Thunderbolt 5 based on the inclusion in the new Pro displays which means we should at least see two USB3 ports.
But not only would they address the critics, but they'd give 10-15% more CPU, but also 40-60% better GPU performance, faster neural processor, etc.
LexualDesire@reddit
The A18 and A18 Pro are completely different chips. It’s not true to say that the MacBook Neo has the same chip as the standard iPhone 16. There are more differences than just the GPU cores.
The A18 Pro has larger caches, a more advanced media engine and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 controller, for example.
https://static.tweaktown.com/news/1/0/100836_601_apple-a18-pro-soc-die-sizes-compared-bit-bigger-than-a17-built-on-tsmc-n3e-node.jpg
seatux@reddit
Would be funny to see some come with fully OK SOC but lobbed off in software. Would be cool to unlock the extra cores like the old Athlon 64 X3.
jigsaw1024@reddit
They could sell it as a higher tier model. Just add $50 or so. Do a fall refresh with the new top end model.
I'm sure they could also find some other products to put full chips in: maybe a budget iPad? New iPhone SE?
The SoC isn't that old, and still has a large base of deployed products, so the only real impact would likely be having to support the SoC in their OS for maybe a few extra years.
I'm actually surprised Apple hasn't released more binned budget products as vector to get more people into their ecosystem.
Shadow647@reddit
They could also bundle the better chip with 512 GB versions as a 'free extra' as they already did on some MacBook Airs previously
itsabearcannon@reddit
I believe that was the Phenom II line, and I only remember that because I did it myself on my X3 720.
seatux@reddit
I stand corrected.
Or things could end up like those Intel Upgrade cards, that would be so on brand for Apple to offer tho.
GHz-Man@reddit
They're already absorbing the cost of tariffs and RAM prices, probably will do the same.
Ok_Fix3639@reddit
It probably will eat into margins but they are just going to bin everything to keep the spec the same I think.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Its not free, Apple costed in all yields into the budgets, they still want a tidy profit back on these CPU's, and will be getting them as these devices are no where near as expensive to make as people think they are.
Just_Maintenance@reddit
They still pay for the wafer regardless of how many good or bad chips there are in it
They just get to sell some of the bad ones now.
justice_for_lachesis@reddit
you get them for free with the iphone chips
Just_Maintenance@reddit
Apple did pay for the entire wafers though. TSMC doesn't give them a discount for the flawed chips or anything.
The flawed chips are "free now" in the sense that they are a sunk cost. But that doesn't mean they were free, it just means Apple already paid and has them sitting around unsold.
With the Neo, Apple got to sell the some of the unsold samples they had, and thus got more value out of the same wafers they already paid for.
If Apple has to fire A18 Pro production back up then the new chips wont even be a sunk cost, they will just be cost.
justice_for_lachesis@reddit
As long as they make the iphone with that chip it's a sunk cost so it's always free. I assume they will just upgrade the chip instead of running an old design.
doscomputer@reddit
41 upvotes on a guy making the argument that OEMs pay consumer pricing for a chip, yeesh
Apple advertisers rule the internet.
raulgzz@reddit
It seems to be that way, the galaxy book pro cost a shit ton of money and it comes with a disgraceful 4 core intel graphics chip.
Front_Expression_367@reddit
I mean if you think the price problem comes from Intel and not from the fact that the laptop has "Pro" in its name then I don't know what to tell you. A Macbook Pro is pricier than the Macbook Air even if they sport the same Apple M5 because it is a Pro model. Similarly a Dell XPS 9315 having the same Core i7-1250U as the HP Envy x360 and still be $1500 rather than $1000 or $500 pricier because it is a Dell XPS.
raulgzz@reddit
I mean, the galaxy book pro is more expensive than a macbook pro, and the macbook has a more powerful chip.
Front_Expression_367@reddit
My point was that the device is overpriced because Samsung felt like they can price it that way as a "Pro" model since "Pro" model is inherently pricier than non-"Pro" model in the same lineup, not necessarily because Intel charged exhorbitant price for their chip. I didn't meant to say that the Samsung was at a good price compared to Apple or anything.
raulgzz@reddit
That would be true if not for the fact thah the galaxy book (not pro) is also overpriced at $1250 and it comes with an anemic core ultra 5 325. So yes, intel chips are overpriced. Same deal with the HP Omnibook X with the same core ultra 5 325 at $1250.
The m5 wipes the floor with those chips
https://www.samsung.com/us/computers/galaxy-book/galaxy-book6-series/buy/galaxy-book6-16-intel-core-ultra-5-512gb-gray-sku-np740vjg-ka1us/
https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-omnibook-x-laptop-next-gen-ai-14t-ka000-14-c63grav-1#techSpecs
Front_Expression_367@reddit
My point still stands that the "Pro" version of Galaxy Book6 is still much pricier than the normal version even with a not dissimilar chipset. Anyway, the bigger factor is likely RAM price rather than the chip itself. Samsung just hike the price of their Book5 series in April 8th (source is on notebookcheck) and that was one that was already a few months in retail with an older Intel chip, along with their tablets and phones. Panther Lake was just released during the midst of AI creating RAM shortage and thus price hike, it is highly unlikely that the chip itself costs that much though.
"Same deal with the HP Omnibook X with the same core ultra 5 325 at $1250."
If it helps then the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 version featured in the same HP laptop which is just a rebadged model from the previous generation also retail at the same price. Should be enough evidence that it isn't Intel or AMD that is charging exhorbitantly but rather RAM price. Apple is partially immune to it because of superior supply chain control.
raulgzz@reddit
I disagree because even if they were at the same price point of $1099, those intel core ultra 5 325 chips are still disgraceful hence massively overpriced.
Front_Expression_367@reddit
I don't disagree that the machines are overpriced. What I disagree with is attributing it to the chip specifically.
raulgzz@reddit
Intel is the common denominator between HP, DELL and Samsung even if you cut those extra $150 attributed to RAM.
dfv157@reddit
Sure, guy might be exaggerating a little bit, but you better believe QComm and Intel is going to want their margins. A chip of the same size and process will cost Apple less than Dell, no matter what.
avboden@reddit
Apple also doesn’t care about making money from the Neo itself. Its purpose is market share to get people into subscriptions or further Apple devices.
Some-Dog5000@reddit
Apple never, ever sells things at a loss. The reason why the Neo is so cheap is vertical integration and ridiculous supply chain optimization. It's the Tim Cook-iest product there is.
avboden@reddit
I never said at a loss. Just that the margins on it are likely pretty small and they're fine with that vs other products.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
They are still making margins that other companies would envy, this stuff does not costs as much to make as people thinks it does.
IgnoranceIndicatorMa@reddit
We don't know the margins or at what margin point it is not fine with them.
oddsnsodds@reddit
No, Apple never does that. You better believe that they are making Apple Margins™ on the Neo.
avboden@reddit
I'm sure they have margins on it, but a lot less margins than their other products is the point
oddsnsodds@reddit
In absolute terms, sure, a $600 product is going to make less than a $2400 product. In relative terms, no, Apple isn't going to bend on their percentage. Selling one product at 2400 or four at 600, they expect to net the same amount.
avboden@reddit
You really shouldn't speak in absolutes
raulgzz@reddit
If they drop their hardware profit margins, their stock price receives a big hit.
avboden@reddit
Not when service revenue skyrockets
oddsnsodds@reddit
True enough, but you could do better than vague notions of less and small. Neither of us is getting invited to Stratechery.
GHz-Man@reddit
I mean it's being reported that they aren't even manufacturing chips for these any more.
They're just re-using binned chips from the older iPhones that they would've normally thrown out, so the SoCs essentially cost them nothing.
shpongolian@reddit
They definitely have higher percentage margins some products, especially with upgrades. Someone buying a maxed out 512GB 8TB Mac Studio is less worried about budget vs somebody fretting over whether to get the $700 Neo or the $600 Neo, and they take advantage of that by having insane margins on the RAM & SSD upgrades which will bring the overall margin percentage way up.
But regardless their only other options here are to either raise the price, stop selling it until the next model, or release the next model right away with the A19 chips. I really don’t see them choosing one of those rather than taking the small hit on margins.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
At least 3 big companies are all trying to make a profit out of a Windows laptop, there is simply no way for them to compete at this price point I actually expect them to just abandon this tier to Apple and focus on eWaste $400 laptops and > $1000 laptops.
NeroClaudius199907@reddit
Other companies will improve their build qualities.
clicky_fingers@reddit
Yup. If they release an A19 model next year in an orange colorway, I'm 100% buying it just so I can leave my regular laptop docked at home. Next year I'm planning to get a new phone, and possibly my first smartwatch; was planning on Android since I don't have any Apple devices, but if I'll be in the ecosystem anyway...
A $500 laptop suddenly turns into spending more than twice that.
GHz-Man@reddit
The iPhone 17e is $600 and has the same chip as their flagship phones, and camera aside from the different optical zooms.
kaden-99@reddit
17e's camera sensor is significantly smaller than the regular 17's and even older iPhones.
GHz-Man@reddit
It has the same 48MP resolution as the other cameras.
kaden-99@reddit
Only the resolution is the same. 16e / 17e has 1/2.55" sensor. No other iPhone has a main sensor that small.
GHz-Man@reddit
Where are you reading that?
Either way, I haven't noticed any difference personally.
kaden-99@reddit
GSMarena or any detailed spec list includes sensor size. You might not recognize it but its a considerable difference.
GHz-Man@reddit
Who's forcing you to buy the phone? lol
kaden-99@reddit
My brother in Christ, I am just correcting a minor mistake, calm your tits. I have no opinion here.
GHz-Man@reddit
https://i.giphy.com/QQLPmhB3JbEiGMKxoN.webp
GHz-Man@reddit
Your source is GSMarena? lol
How do you know that's even accurate?
Did they take the phone apart and measure the sensor?
Everything I've seen is that it's the exact same camera system as the other phones.
clicky_fingers@reddit
I was including the price of the Neo when I said 'more than twice'. The prices I was looking at were $200 for a refurbished iPhone SE 3rd gen, $250 for an Apple Watch SE 3, and $130 for Airpods 4. With the Neo (assuming the price stays the same for next year's model, which is a big assumption), that's $1,080.
I really wish they still made iPhone SE, it's hard to find a good compact phone.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Dump the watch and the airpods and get the 17e its way way better than the SE 3.
You don't have to buy all of this stuff at the same time.
clicky_fingers@reddit
Oh it won't be all at once, this would be spread out over 2027.
I'm looking for a small phone (<5" screen), so my choices aren't a used SE 3 vs 7e, they're a used SE 3 vs a Unihertz Jelly Star or some other niche Android phone.
herbert181@reddit
bro bought a laptop to keep it docked
clicky_fingers@reddit
lol four years of it knocking around in my backpack have me worried enough to baby it, and recently the hinge makes a weird noise.
It'd be nice to pull it from the field and put it on desk duty, and hopefully last long enough to outlive the bubble so I can build a real desktop PC at less-inflated prices 2-4 years from now.
total_cynic@reddit
I think they'll have to nudge the price up if they offer it with 12 GB, or it will eat into MacBook Air sales to an extent Apple will be unhappy with.
TradeSurplus@reddit
Needing a new laptop for uni, I was considering buying a used business class laptop from HP or Lenovo. And then Neo was released.
Yeah, sure - it's a bit lower specced but it still has awesome screen, better speakers than HP "Bang&Olufsen" stickers and battery life is amazing.
I'm now thinking about replacing my workstation PC with Mini but I still need to think about it some - Adobe Lightroom Classic manages to get slower with every update that claims they made it faster ... And after my phone dies, next one will be iPhone probably.
So the gateway drug is working well I guess.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Do you really need a new laptop for Uni? If you have a laptop already it will for sure do anything you need.
Lol I went to Uni in the mid 1990's the CS undergrads didn't even have their own computers. Taking notes is a long solved problem.
TradeSurplus@reddit
For me uni means one week sessions every month living in another town in some rental flat so that laptop is my only work and entertainment device.
I was offered laptop from work, a new HP Elitebook. Unfortunately all those have 'privacy screens' - meaning the viewing angle is like 5 degrees and really crap even with that feature turned off. Trying to live with that was awful.
Alive_Internet@reddit
“Lower-specced” is misleading. The Neo achieves higher single core performance than any Intel or AMD laptop, so it’s going to feel faster than even the most expensive Windows laptop for day-to-day tasks.
TradeSurplus@reddit
Yes, you are correct. I was mostly thinking how many people are stuck on the 'only 8 GB RAM' part.
dustarma@reddit
I feel like by the time they start releasing Neos with 12GB RAM then that's already going to be the absolute bare minimum for usability, much like 8GB is nowadays.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
RAM prices mean that in 3 months time the NEO will be competing with 6Gb windows eWaste.
8Gb is actually fine today, people crying about it never used their PC to do anything other than consume anyway.
avboden@reddit
I mean, it's expected next year. Won't take long to be released
512165381@reddit
Pardon my ignorance but is this CPU/RAM/graphics on a single chip?
avboden@reddit
yep
randomkidlol@reddit
the only reason why its cheap is because its a repurposed ipad motherboard on a repurposed macbook air chassis. the only upgrades its ever getting is whatever excess inventory they have from ipads and macbook airs.
avboden@reddit
Wow, literally everything you just said was wrong. Impressive!
randomkidlol@reddit
feel free to explain to me how apple spent 10s of millions engineering everything from scratch for the cheapest laptop in their lineup instead of putting that money into their other machines that sell for 3x as much.
77ilham77@reddit
Well, for starter, no iPad has ever use A18 Pro to begin with. Second, no Macbook Air has ever use that chassis, not to mention that it's thicker than Macbook Air and has different battery placement than the Air.
I think you're misunderstanding which part of the laptop that is "binned"
avboden@reddit
The ONLY thing parts-bin is the processor. It uses iphone chips. Everything else is new. Heck it even has a new, never used before track pad.
doscomputer@reddit
it would be a good product if it actually was a repurposed macbook air, 2 ports is still wack but not as bad as the 12 inch macbook with only 1
also if the sales are really this high all it means is the previous apple laptops were all selling bad lol
randomkidlol@reddit
yeah the IO is absolute garbage and its stuck on 8gb of ram because the base iphones and ipads were never engineered for any more than that.
apple's made it to 15% ish market share for personal computers after being stuck at like 5% for 20+ years, so theres something to be proud of i guess.
GHz-Man@reddit
You are correct they're using leftover binned chips (that they otherwise would have thrown out) from the iPhone (not iPad), but it's not a MacBook Air chassis, it's a completely new design.
Aside from the CPU itself, nothing else is re-used or a leftover from something else.
itx_atx@reddit
You genuinely have no idea what you're talking about
superkickstart@reddit
"apple ecosystem" is plenty of reasons to keep hating.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
RAM prices mean the current NEO will be competing against 6GB windows laptops in a couple of months.
Strazdas1@reddit
The pink model is most popular? Or i think its probably they just manufactured less of that. I dont see many pink macs in the wild.
bhop_monsterjam@reddit
Windows on ARM: $1200 best I can do
amb9800@reddit
Not really - you can get an Asus Zenbook A14 for $749 with Snapdragon X Plus, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and 14" OLED (and a metal body and reasonable design):
ASUS Zenbook A14 14" 2K OLED Laptop Snapdragon X Plus 2025 16GB Memory 512GB Storage Copilot+ PC Zabriskie Beige UX3407QA-X1P512 - Best Buy
That's $50 more than the 512 GB MacBook Neo ($699), but the Asus has an OLED screen (and twice the RAM), so at least on par.
There's nothing at the base Neo's $599 price point, but that's in part because Microsoft set 16 GB RAM as a minimum requirement for Copilot+ branding, so OEMs aren't shipping Snapdragon X devices with 8 GB RAM (yet).
Shrimptanks@reddit
This is what I'm getting next.
Also I've been burned by apple so much in the past im good not converting back into that ecosystem.
fmmmlee@reddit
pretty good used, but new is a bloodbath for sure
(got a used - lightly, 17 cycles on the battery - Lenovo with a 90hz 3K OLED touchscreen for the same price as the Neo. But for 100 more I could've gotten a used M4 air that matches X2 elite performance for half the price...I just wish any of these arm machines could actually run Linux natively though)
trololololo2137@reddit
there are some nasty plasticky snapdragon X Plus laptops in neo price range but it's no contest tbh
holt2ic2@reddit
Yeah it’s essentially over for budget laptops. I think Neo 2 will be the laptop that solidifies Apple as a budget, mid tier, and high end laptop. macOS is going to be more widely accepted. As someone who builds PCs regularly, I’d honestly just recommend a Neo for anyone who wants a laptop to buy and forget afterwards. It will get all you need down while not feeling cheap as hell. It’s wild because most buyers of the Neo are people switching from windows or people who otherwise wouldn’t have bought one had it been more expensive. I think MacBook Air and pro buyers still are going to buy those like myself.
ProZoid_10@reddit
If windows oems improve build quality for higher models due to MacBook Air nd pro why wouldn’t they improve for lower? We can see they’re still shipping a lot of units
trololololo2137@reddit
where are these improved laptops from windows OEM's? It's been 10 years since macbook 12" and there are almost zero laptops with haptic touchpads and $3k thinkpads still come with 1200p plastic matte screens that barely do sRGB
ProZoid_10@reddit
Good to know Redditors think over past 10 years oems havent magnesium and aluminum in a lot premium models. How do you think they managed to retain marketshare all this time? https://www.lenovo.com/ke/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadz/thinkpad-z16-16-inch-amd/len101t0037?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F&srsltid=AfmBOorA7NCAyHNUXTJ_ESG9eHp3vfkInog062n6sS1dZcs8uApa0vJn
Heptic trackpad isn’t really a big concern for consumers
trololololo2137@reddit
dim matte plastic 60hz screen and it's somehow more expensive than a way faster macbook pro lol
ProZoid_10@reddit
Whats wrong with 60hz, consumers are buying them It’s expensive because it sales. Or you expect apple to only be the one with apple tax? Plus look at Lenovo share they continue selling and asp increasing
wankthisway@reddit
They can't possibly make enough margin. Unlike Apple, laptop OEMs have to pay other companies for each part. And those suppliers need to make margin as well. Apple owns nearly the whole supply chain, sans chip manufacturing and the few remaining wireless chip sets. The only people they have to worry about margin is themselves.
ProZoid_10@reddit
They can improve and have improved their build quality https://www.lenovo.com/ke/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadz/thinkpad-z16-16-inch-amd/len101t0037?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F&srsltid=AfmBOorA7NCAyHNUXTJ_ESG9eHp3vfkInog062n6sS1dZcs8uApa0vJn
wankthisway@reddit
I only keep a custom PC for gaming and occasional hobby game engine work. Otherwise my daily workflow has completely moved to my Macbook: regular browsing, music production, heavy coding, video editing. Windows has lost a never-Apple customer, and I'm sure many more will follow.
Roldolor@reddit
I honestly wonder if apple will keep releasing more neos
As they keep using newer and more powerful and more capable iphone chips wouldn’t that kinda eat into the casual macbook air audience? Typically a macbook air buyer just wants something that can browse the web, watch movies, process documents and maybe do some light gaming or photoshop.
As time goes on the macbook air will feel like a strange middle child in the laptop lineup.
I guess apple can just lock out certain features for the air like OLED, bigger storage, future face ID etc..
Life_Menu_4094@reddit
I think the iPad lineup is instructive. The iPad Air has been "pointless" for several years now. Apple still updates it regularly because it plays an important function for product segmentation and upselling.
JustSomebody56@reddit
The Air, for a long time, was for those who wanted a base but no lightning
Stilgar314@reddit
Yeah, this Neo seems a way to get rid of those A18 that couldn't sell anywhere else. Also I'm sure Apple knows there would be hungry for an affordable Apple laptop, but going the affordable way would undermine their decades old strategy of high "prestige" pricing to position Apple as a premium brand. So, makes perfect sense for them to simply ditch the Neo once its mission if selling all those A18 surplus is accomplished, and maybe, come up with a more expensive Neo 2.
Xelanders@reddit
The Air will probably be redesigned to be thinner and lighter, rather then simply being the entry level machine.
-protonsandneutrons-@reddit (OP)
The Air is in the middle Goldilocks zone. The gap between $600 and $1700 is too big to ignore.
I agree some would-be MacBook Air owners will move down to the Neo, but that is still likely much more revenue for Apple because it brings in so many other buyers, some likely that would be never bought a Mac before.
Bureaucromancer@reddit
My guess is that they just keep going the way they have the last couple years... Airs get more pro like, Pro moves upmarket.
eugene00825@reddit
Yeah which is essentially who the neo is targeted for; The casual users where the macbook air would be overkill. I imagine they'll keep the air series as a middle ground between the neo and the pro, and if the demand isn't there they'll probably just discontinue it like they usually do.
joe1134206@reddit
Windows side has been so stubbornly piss poor that I wonder if even this can affect meaningful software and hardware change in such a stagnant group of products.
Swoly_Deadlift@reddit
This could be similar to what the launch of Ryzen did to the CPU market and force Microsoft to actually improve their software.
Or it could just cause software developers to port more stuff over to MacOS. Really can't lose either way.
wankthisway@reddit
This last product cycle seems to have been a wake up call for Windows and Microsoft, and they had been needing one badly.
Lackluster ARM launch, the slow death of Xbox, Windows 11 and Copilot being clowned on by every living being, terrible update after terrible update, Game Pass losing its value...and now we have the Neo and Apple upping their software and enterprise suites.
It's not a coincidence that a month ago they sent out an email / blog post reaffirming their commitment to Windows 11 quality and native apps. They are feeling the heat HARD, and on all fronts.
seattlemusiclover@reddit
The problem is the software, not so much with the hardware. Power users either buy a windows laptop and install Linux or else they bite the bullet and pay the premium for a MacBook Pro
didnotsub@reddit
What? You’re certainly not in industry if you say this. I’m an electrical engineer using very resource-intensive software every day (cadence, simulink, etc), and almost everybody I know uses windows. It’s like this at every job. Some use macbook pros, but NOBODY uses linux in industry.
JerkyDryer@reddit
I don't really know what you mean by "industry". Mechanical engineers use windows, but aerospace & fluid dynamicists use a mix of windows and Linux. Devs use either mac or Linux. Physicists use almost exclusively Linux. Data scientists use mac and Linux. The creative industry uses almost exclusively Mac. Architects use windows. Every engineering discipline that needs a lot of compute will use some Linux, either on their machines or on some compute cluster / ec2 instance. I don't know about OPs comment, but it's definitely much more complex than "NOBODY uses Linux in industry for desktop use".
didnotsub@reddit
I wouldn’t exactly say using compute clusters counts as desktop use.
Also, I worked in aerospace for 6 years. Nobody uses linux, lol. Have you worked in the industries? Software is likely the only one who actually does use it. And yeah, almost no IC design is done on Linux. Cadence doesn’t work properly (tho, it doesn’t on windows either).
JerkyDryer@reddit
I guess so, but does it count when the only interaction with your actual desktop is ssh-ing into your compute cluster? And like I said, it's a mix of what OS you use depending on your role. For instance, end users will just SSH using their windows machine or whatever, but our engineers writing the in-house code have Linux workstations.
I guess it probably depends on your area of aerospace. Design engineers use exclusively windows because that's what all of the cad software runs on. R&d and simulation engineers use mostly Linux since fluent and star become useless on windows after a certain point and you have to turn to openfoam or something along those lines. At least from my experience, it feels like the more specialised your role and the more compute you need on a daily basis, the more likely you are to be using a Linux workstation. The last time I had to boot into windows for work was almost a year ago, because ppt online doesn't support equations. Linux wasn't as widespread in my last role, but it was slowly spreading even then, so I assume I'm not alone.
dagmx@reddit
I disagree with you le characterization of using Linux on desktop. The CG film industry is largely Linux based.
But I also disagree with the person you responded to that significant number of people will buy a windows laptop and install Linux.
bobj33@reddit
We must use very different Cadence tools.
I run Innovus, Genus, Tempus, and their Synopsys equivalents every day.
Every Cadence and Synopsys integrated circuit design tool ONLY runs on Linux.
For 15 years I had a Sun or Linux workstation on my desk running programs directly. For the last 15 years everyone has a Linux desktop session running in our huge compute cluster with over 100K machines and submit jobs into the cluster. We connect to that Linux desktop session using Exceed or NX from a windows or mac laptop which also runs email / zoom / browser but no actual design work is done in windows.
Endless_Circle_Jerk@reddit
Totally opposite for developing firmware/software which interacts with hardware directly, which is a much better experience on Linux. Vivado is probably just as resource intensive, if not more resource intensive, than any of the software you listed and runs fine on Linux. Some people claim it's more performant, though I haven't tested it myself.
ActuallyItsSumnus@reddit
This isn't even close to reality.
seattlemusiclover@reddit
Oh really? Just check the idle resource usage in Mac and Windows respectively.
ActuallyItsSumnus@reddit
I didn't reply to a post about the hardware performance. I replied to your post about market share. Very few power users are "switching to Linux". The vast majority of linux installations are for servers, not personal workstations. You're way off in your sense of what humans are using for computers.
ProZoid_10@reddit
Whats a power user? Also doesn’t Linux have like 3% share
seattlemusiclover@reddit
People who actually need powerful laptops.
So here's the deal. Macbook Air is amazing and better than windows laptops at its range. BUT, power users or users who will be using resource intensive applications for prolonged periods of time, they need Macbook Pros as Air has a fanless design which leads to throttling (ie laptop slowing down to the heat generated in resource intensive workloads)
erikdisab@reddit
I’ll wait for the teardowns and the real world reviews.
oddsnsodds@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k7Lv7f-5CQ
ar311krypton@reddit
how have you not heard about the teardown for this thing? its the most repair friendly macbook that apple has ever made in the modern era (repair friendly in comparison to other apple products)
tverbeure@reddit
They've been out for a couple of weeks now. I bought 2... They work like any other MacBook.
Spirited-Director891@reddit
Man its like sheep to the slaughter
wankthisway@reddit
Being stupidly, dogmatically anti-Apple is sheep behavior too, braniaic.
Xelanders@reddit
It’s just a laptop.
StupidBeQuite@reddit
I think apple will lower it's iphones prices to produce more mobile chips profitability.
SuperSaiyanBlue@reddit
Laptop makers have been fearing this type of product for as long as I can remember. Laptop makers might have had a fighting chance if it weren’t for the windows 11, hardware components shortage and co-pilot debacle. Now they are going to feel the pain hard.
scuffling@reddit
Can't wait to run Linux on it
zopiac@reddit
I would have bought one already if I thought there was any good chance of that happening within five years or so. Here's to hoping, though!
GHz-Man@reddit
It runs VMs fine.
Frexxia@reddit
Fine is doing some heavy lifting here. You'll be pretty resource constrained in a VM on a device that only has 8 GB memory in the first place
GHz-Man@reddit
If you're complaining about 8GB, it's not the laptop for you...
That's exactly why they offer a range of laptops at different prices.
Frexxia@reddit
I'm not complaining. Just saying it's not well suited for running VMs.
GHz-Man@reddit
No one's buying this laptop to run VMs in the first place lol
zopiac@reddit
Ah, never thought about that. Just native installations/bare metal.
GHz-Man@reddit
Why is that needed?
zopiac@reddit
Needed? It isn't, and I never claimed it was. It's what I'd want though, ideally. Especially with 8GB RAM I'd rather not be running another OS in the background.
GHz-Man@reddit
Who is buying this laptop to run VMs? lol
Frexxia@reddit
You're literally the one who brought VMs up
GHz-Man@reddit
Because that's how you run Linux or Windows on Macs.
QuadraKev_@reddit
Not surprising. It might be the best bang-for-buck laptop ever released.
Deep90@reddit
People kept telling me these are meant for schools, but I have no idea why/how they are selling them to schools at education pricing when there is no reason these would not fly off the shelves with retail buyers.
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
Apple has not made any attempt to sell them into schools, people just making shit up.
solonofathens@reddit
every laptop in this new add for their education suite is a neo
randomkidlol@reddit
because macos is the biggest crutch. apple's never been able to maintain binary backwards compatibility for more than 7ish years so any older software is guaranteed to not work.
trackdaybruh@reddit
Really is
A Chromebook that is used in K-12 school now costs around $350
GHz-Man@reddit
Yeah, but those will probably be broken within a year, if not less.
Gloomy_Necesary@reddit
Landfill material
VideogamerDisliker@reddit
Guarantee a good chunk of these were scalpers
Plank_With_A_Nail_In@reddit
There's plenty available outside of Apple, the Apples store is still taking orders just telling you they will ship late, scalpers will be doing real bad right now if they did buy a ton lol.
Dreamerlax@reddit
This has gotten two usually Windows users in my circles interested.
Cubanitto@reddit
It's for a change when Apple does something good for people
Griffolion@reddit
Hardly surprising. Apple quality at an actually affordable price. Battery life said to be good, and performance is passable for basic use cases. They really did just step into a price point that nobody thought they'd ever touch and show everyone how it's done.
JackhorseBowman@reddit
I was gonna get one but then I realized I found a barely used 16/512/m4 Air for 750, macos has been...interesting.
Yupyupyup79@reddit
My local Apple store got a restock last night. I have a pickup appointment for today. Yellow 256gb base model.
sharkeymcsharkface@reddit
Maybe Samsung will copy them with Qualcomm ARM chips
ProZoid_10@reddit
Low margins, samsung should try to use their own cpus
Marble_Wraith@reddit
People want something budget range, but doesn't feel like it'll break if you drop it, that enables day to day stuff (news, videos, banking, shopping, word processing, email, etc.).
Apple releases a product addressing that market segment and... wow! It sells like hot cakes. Go figure 😑
And to state it explicitly. Nobody is buying it because it has some magical AI capabilities that other machines don't, since AI dogshit is mostly service oriented anyway.
NeroClaudius199907@reddit
If apple ships \~6m silicon units quarterly. How many neo are they shipping?
BillySlang@reddit
They upped their projections from 5M to 10M this year alone. It’ll probably never stop selling well. In its own way, it’s as impressive as their top of the line offerings.
NeroClaudius199907@reddit
Crazy the neo will be 37% of Apple's mobile units this year already.