Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The MacBook Neo

daringfireball.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 1001 posts

Re: The MacBook Neo

#231

Post by adolph »

starkparker wrote: post #162
foldr wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s far less capable of running intensive tasks than any of Apple’s M‑series chips or any moderately powered Intel or AMD processor.” This is false. The A18 Pro has much better single core performance than the M1 and slightly better multi core performance. Most people would see no noticeable benefit to a faster CPU. Especially with a fanless design, the additional cores of a comparable M-series chip would give you…

> The A18 Pro has much better single core performance than the M1 and slightly better multi core performance. For the first few minutes of sustained use. Then it drops like a rock: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/apple-macbook-neo-re... > In extended single-core benchmarks, performance drops to the 3.7-to-3.5 GHz range within a minute or so, and they drop to the 2.9-to-3.2 GHz range after about five minutes.…

I wonder if the new displays with A19 processors have better heat dissipation. (and if they can be modified to run full iOS instead of the displayOS variant)

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-apple-studio-displa...

Re: The MacBook Neo

#232

Post by keeda »

pier25 wrote: post #206
whycome wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a Microsoft surface book 2. The provided charger could not provide enough power to the device when it was under heavy load and there was no higher charger option either. That shit should be illegal. And if the battery for the base/GPU died? You can't use the computer w the gpu even with a charger attached. The device itself could have been a dream and something i could have seen Apple doing : a touchscreen moni…

For a couple of days I had a Surface Book 1 before returning it. The keyboard was really good but otherwise just a terrible device and experience. The touch screen was completely useless. Super laggy and sometimes the pen would still believe it was touching the screen even at like 1cm away. Windows 10 had almost no features for touch based interaction. It was just regular Windows with the same microscopic buttons for…

I still have a Surface Book 1 that I occasionaly use and I never encountered any of those issues. I even used it for some sketching and there was no lag or spurious touching from the pen. In fact, sketching was why I was "drawn" to it (heheh), largely influenced by this review: https://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2015/11/16/surface-bo...

My big problem with it is that the battery got swollen a few years ago, pushing out the bottom panel, and the device is way our of warranty to get it replaced. I'm waiting to find time to get that replaced.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#233

Post by ryandvm »

drcongo wrote: post #146
hutattedonmyarm wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently helped a friend picking a new laptop. Just going through the options at the websites of manufacturers was a nightmare. Huge amount of choices, shitty filtering, separated into multiple product lines were I often enough had no idea what separated the lines from each other

If they're your friend, why didn't you just tell them to get a Mac?

Cute, and while I will agree that Apple hardware is generally superior or at least an excellent value, and OS X is miles beyond Windows in usability, I can't in good conscience recommend a Mac on principle.

They impose obsessive control over their walled garden, constant pressure to use Apple ecosystem products, and they are staunchly opposed to interoperability regardless of it being an obviously anti-consumer tactical moat.

Buying a Mac in spite of such anti-consumer behavior reminds me of voting for a bad person because you like their policies.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#234

Post by cmxch »

hu3 wrote: post #222
Kostic wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For now. These will be pretty cool Linux machines if Asahi starts supporting them at some point.

It's going to take 3 years+ and it will be a 8GB RAM linux machine.

Still would be a good ssh terminal or presentation laptop.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#235

Post by justsomehnguy »

dagmx wrote: post #129
justsomehnguy wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still remember how Apple fans run around singing praises what their 8GB M1 absolutely kicked ass of Intel Macs with 16GB (and even more). Only to quietly replace them with a model with more RAM next year or some even way earlier than that. I can open even 500 apps on any laptop. This is what swap for. But with only 8GB you are getting into the swap territory very fast because you need almost half of it for the OS a…

More RAM is better. But doesn’t negate that it’s still very usable. Did you even bother to watch the video for responsiveness before commenting? Also it was a couple years after the transition to arm that Apple bumped the minimum RAM they shipped their laptops with.

> But doesn’t negate that it’s still very usable.

As a glorified terminal? Sure.

> Did you even bother to watch the video for responsiveness before commenting?

I did, now what?

> Also it was a couple years after the transition to arm t

Hello, we are talking about Neo with the same 8GB.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#236

Post by schaefer »

VerifiedReports wrote: post #44

Windows is such an offensive, defect-ridden pile of shit now that every PC maker should be blaming Microsoft for their inability to compete with the Neo. I bought my parents Asus laptops years ago, and can't wait to replace them with a Neo. Microsoft has spurned and scorned users. Now it's time for computer makers to push back and reject its shit. I'd love to see a consortium of computer makers come together to refin…

>I'd love to see a consortium of computer makers come together to refine a Linux distro that's consumer-friendly enough to oust Windows and compete with Mac OS.

System 76 already has Pop!_OS. Lenovo.com/linux will redirect you to a list of linux compatible lenovo laptops that's a mile long.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#237

Post by scottyah »

lostmsu wrote: post #99
akagr wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go beyond the specs, though. Which windows laptops have similar combination of all metal build with tight tolerances, a display hinge that doesn’t wobble, a nice keyboard and even close to similar feeling trackpad at this 600 dollar price point? Most non haptic trackpads are dive board designs where you can only press the lower part of it because they hinge from the top, whereas as Neo’s trackpad is completely floati…

As I said in another thread $650 HP OmniBook 5 on Ryzen is faster, more RAM, feels great to use, and I don't have to deal with MacOS!

Not liking interacting with an OS is a fair choice to make, but don't be fooled by the bolted-on specs like "more RAM" when less of it is available to the user due to the built-in software and driver compatability issues. It's almost always slower, older, and less quality. They do Product Binning and give the worst quality leftovers to the built-in machines where people are less likely to notice and because it won't change the brand's reputation. The difference between i9, i7, etc are just how many defects there are- they're printed identically on the same wafers.

Even IF the processor and RAM combined with Windows and bloatware is faster, you know they're going to have to cut corners on things like keyboard, trackpad, monitor, battery, webcams, heatsinks, etc.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#238

Post by mhurron »

pjmlp wrote: post #93
kingstnap wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1996 is not now. This comparision makes little to no sense. I'm sure if Apple provided support for installing your own OS on their M series laptops it would be incredibly popular. And I don't need to guess at this using weird 1996 research on microkernels because Asahi Linux exists and clearly there is interest in it.

Indeed, Apple from 1996 would not released Tahoe, most likely. We don't need research because QNX, L4 and many others on embedded space do exist as well.

Do you forget what Apple in '96 was? Or are you saying that Tahoe is too polished for the Apple of '96?

Apple was not a bastion of quality in the 90's. They couldn't modernize the Mac OS, and that continued with little more than window dressing over what was released in the 80's. The Mac line up was a horrible mess of barely different models that needed a Ph.D to figure out what was different. The company was bleeding money and seriously close to bankruptcy.

The Apple of the mid 90's wishes it could release something like Tahoe.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#239

Post by orbital-decay »

timcobb wrote: post #151
KingMachiavelli wrote: post #31

IMO the consumer PC industry is near an existential crisis. The big players are just awful at marketing; too many SKUs and models - it takes a paragraph to figure out how 2 Dell laptops from the same release year differ. The exact same specs will be in two different chassis designs. Additionally, you can’t count on the basic being correct. It takes a hour of research to know if the trackpad is not-awful, keyboard doe…

> The big players are just awful at marketing; too many SKUs and models and as far as I know, they do this on purpose!

What's the purpose?

Re: The MacBook Neo

#240

Post by jclardy »

KingMachiavelli wrote: post #31

IMO the consumer PC industry is near an existential crisis. The big players are just awful at marketing; too many SKUs and models - it takes a paragraph to figure out how 2 Dell laptops from the same release year differ. The exact same specs will be in two different chassis designs. Additionally, you can’t count on the basic being correct. It takes a hour of research to know if the trackpad is not-awful, keyboard doe…

In addition to your research categories - is the fan going to sound like a jet engine when just opening slack? Is the case going to wobble and creak after a few weeks? Is it going to tank performance when unplugged? And if not - is battery life going to be a concern?
Post reply on HN