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Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

macrumors.com

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Re: Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

#131

Post by ndr42 »

simonh wrote: post #48
longislandguido wrote: post #8

Tahoe/iOS26 are still the most godawful buggy pieces of software Apple ever created. I counted 0 net improvements and countless new bugs. Apple is having their Windows ME moment. It doesn't matter how much cheap hardware you throw at the unwashed masses. It's all about the software they would say. The chickens have come home to roost.

To a new customer it doesn’t matter how Tahoe compares to previous MacOS, it matters how it compares to current Windows.

I think the target demographic is also young people raised with iPhones. So for them the new interface design is good for similarity (not for older Mac-people). As if apple planed that all along...

Re: Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

#132

Post by illiac786 »

tonymet wrote: post #13
ndr42 wrote: post #6

Cook: "Mac just had its best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers." I don't doubt that it will sell well (I ordered one myself) but I really dislike this kind of marketing. I would like to get some numbers not "best launch on a Tuesday in a year that ends on 6..." Edit: (Apple stopped reporting sales numbers in late 2018)

The reporting and headline are even worse. “Best launch week ever” says nothing about sales.

From your point of view it is, but the headline is what Apple is giving them, and it works perfectly well for them: Lots of attention for Apple, zero interesting data.

Re: Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

#133

Post by ProllyInfamous »

jeremie_strand wrote: post #128

[flagged]

I worked at a Dell repair facility as Apple adopted x86 architecture — and watched as all my bosses gawked at my plastic 13" MacBook Core2Duo [what the Neo most-closely reminds me of, physically and metaphorically]. They'd transition themselves onto larger desktop iMacs within just a few months.

IIRC, 2006's 13" MacBooks started at ~$1000... with a conservative inflation metric this new Neo's pricepoint is absolutely incredible. The last time I remember something like this was 2023 M2Pro Mac Mini, but the above 2006 example was the previous... and so many new Mac users are minted with such brilliant hardware introduction.

Wishing I owned AAPL right now =D

Re: Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

#134

Post by nickjj »

newdee wrote: post #129
nickjj wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The competition at this price point is weak. Is it though? 6 months ago for $575, I picked up a 15" 1080p IPS display laptop with an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (8 cores / 16 threads), 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, Radeon 680M iGPU that can use up to 8 GB VRAM and a 1 TB NVME SSD with a backlight keyboard, a bunch of USB ports and HDMI port. It weighs the same as a MBP and comes with a 2 year manufacturer warranty. It's upgradable to 6…

Very neat looking device for the price you paid, but you do not mention how (and I have doubts that) it competes in the areas of: Fit and finish (not being made of creaky plastic) Display brightness & colour representation Battery life Trackpad Keyboard For a portable these are just as important as “the numbers”for most people and definitely more noticeable. Perhaps not the case for you though!

It's made of metal and is sturdy. I've taken it on 2 trips (including international), it's all good and still feels like new but to be fair I don't abuse it. For traveling I put it into a regular backpack that has a laptop sleeve, I don't use extra packing.

The track pad is of course not as good as Apple's but it's good enough where it's not in the way and feels ok to use.

The brightness and battery life both fall into the same category of they haven't negatively impacted me in my day to day. For example a few hours of dev work in the park with the sun out hasn't been a problem for both battery life or visibility.

You are right in that I don't value battery life as a top tier feature. ~5 hours of "real work" is enough because if you need extended battery life for doing intensive tasks away from human civilization you can always keep a power bank on hand for extended usage. If you're not out in the middle of no where, access to a power outlet is readily available.

Re: Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

#135

Post by nickjj »

kube-system wrote: post #126
nickjj wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A much larger laptop with less than half the number of display pixels is not really the same market. And how's that battery life? Yes, the display isn't as good but the Neo with 512 GB of storage is already $700 and has half the storage of the other laptop. The Neo also has 8 GB of RAM vs 32 GB. Big differences IMO. Battery life is "good enough" but not great. It really depends on what you're using it for. If you'r…

What you’re missing is that the target market for this devices — the casual laptop user — DGAF about memory or storage if it is at the expense of the directly observable user experience. Few people want or need 32gb of RAM, nor give a shit about what it even means. Most people just want to run MS Word and Google Chrome and maybe TurboTax.

Sure but if people want a device for only casual browsing and are ok with 256 GB of storage and 8 GB of memory they can get a Chromebook for half the price of the Neo. Not all of them are bad, there's tons in the $300 range with good enough specs for casual usage.

If you want to spend ~$600-700, the laptop I mentioned fits the bill for casual use, a development workstation, media editing and casual gaming at a directly comparable price to the Neo. I replied initially because you wrote nothing good exists in the $600-700 range.

Re: Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

#136

Post by fragmede »

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #133
jeremie_strand wrote: post #128

[flagged]

I worked at a Dell repair facility as Apple adopted x86 architecture — and watched as all my bosses gawked at my plastic 13" MacBook Core2Duo [what the Neo most-closely reminds me of, physically and metaphorically]. They'd transition themselves onto larger desktop iMacs within just a few months. IIRC, 2006's 13" MacBooks started at ~$1000... with a conservative inflation metric this new Neo's pricepoint is absolutely…

[dead]

Re: Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

#138

Post by commandersaki »

isjdiwjxiwj wrote: post #107
hammock wrote: post #58

Who knew, people just wanted Apple to make cheaper products. People have been asking for iPhone SE to come back for what feels like decades, maybe they will do that next.

The iPhone SE was merely rebranded to iPhone (n)e. Exact same thing. Exact same product category.

No Touch ID though.

Re: Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

#139

Post by tonymet »

illiac786 wrote: post #132
tonymet wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reporting and headline are even worse. “Best launch week ever” says nothing about sales.

From your point of view it is, but the headline is what Apple is giving them, and it works perfectly well for them: Lots of attention for Apple, zero interesting data.

from the point of view of a high school journalist.

Re: Apple announces new Mac sales record following MacBook Neo launch

#140

Post by kube-system »

nickjj wrote: post #135
kube-system wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you’re missing is that the target market for this devices — the casual laptop user — DGAF about memory or storage if it is at the expense of the directly observable user experience. Few people want or need 32gb of RAM, nor give a shit about what it even means. Most people just want to run MS Word and Google Chrome and maybe TurboTax.

Sure but if people want a device for only casual browsing and are ok with 256 GB of storage and 8 GB of memory they can get a Chromebook for half the price of the Neo. Not all of them are bad, there's tons in the $300 range with good enough specs for casual usage. If you want to spend ~$600-700, the laptop I mentioned fits the bill for casual use, a development workstation, media editing and casual gaming at a direct…

Again, this device isn’t someone who’s buying based on specs. Nor is it for somebody who’s buying based on price.

It’s for somebody who goes to the store, puts their hands on the keyboard, uses the touchpad, looks at the screen, and feels the chassis, and then makes their decision. This is how regular people purchase these commodity items. Most people have no clue what the difference between storage and memory is. They just want to know: will it run [software]? That’s all the specs they need to know. Maybe the battery life as well

If you haven’t already go put your hands on one of these at the store. There’s no $600 laptop that feels like it.

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