Current RAM prices make the Mac Neo a steal
MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
311–320 of 524 posts
Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
#312Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are so right, and I blame some of the thinking on this very website. People are adamant that they need to upgrade the RAM, change the storage, and replace the battery on their laptops. Adamant . All that means that you need a separate memory controller, a separate this and that. It adds up, and PC makers are forced to put in a fan. On its face, it doesn't sound stupid at all. The thinking that you need to be able…
What I'm adamant about being able to upgrade is my software. The big problem with the apple ecosystem is that, while they've been pretty good about it, you are still at their mercy to receive regular software and operating system updates. Once apple is done with your hardware, that's it, you own an insecure brick. It's not the upgradable ram, cpu, or storage which is eat into the power consumption budget. Instead, it…
What are you even talking about. Every M1 Mac and earlier runs Linux. Even all the way back to PowerPC.
Granted, the M1 and up are not 100% covered yet (driver-wise), but they aren't EOL either. And if they were, Linux would still run anyway. Take a 20 year old Mac and you'll run Linux just fine. 10 year old Mac, Linux still runs fine. Take an M1 and it's a joy to use with Linux. Taken an M2 and it will boot and you can be pretty sure it will run very well long before it's EOL too. And even if it's EOL, it's not going to prevent you from running Linux later.
As for the PC example: definitely EOL problems there. Try getting your EDK2-based UEFI stack patched on an old computer. At some point you won't be getting certificate updates and if you either forget to install a local override or if the vendor didn't add it, you're SOL, especially on laptops where you can't disable secure boot.
Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
#313I bought one: I was hesitant about the 8 GB of memory at first. But I'm happily running Chrome with like 20 tabs and some other apps, and performance isn't an issue. It's mostly a couch laptop. I run Obsidean, messaging apps, writing tools. I use some CLI toolings... I really wanted a Framework 12, but I got $180 credit on a ipad AIR 4, and sold a 2017 Macbook Pro for $150 (US), so that effectively made this a 280 up…
I think it's a damn shame we finally have the technology to make really good small computers but the consumer demand for small computers is gone.
are you sure the demand is gone? The whole point of this article is that Apple had to double production because demand was so high.
EDIT: i just looked up how many ipads apple shipped in 2025: 60M, so yeah, no shortage of demand in iPads. Most people are consumptioners, though, so that kind of makes sense.
Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
#314The Neo's value prop is great for many people. I keep needing to remind myself that most computer users can get by fine with 8GB or RAM, and that the I'm not the target market for products like the Neo. I do get nervous with how future proof 8GB of RAM will be in terms of total usable lifespan for the Neo. Maybe the idea is shortened timeline to obsolescence means more sales. Not digging on the build quality, but jus…
> Maybe the idea is shortened timeline to obsolescence means more sales. Not digging on the build quality, but just if 8GB or RAM will still be fine 5 years from now. It’s products like this that mean 8GB will remain fine for longer. If every base model had 16GB then sites like linkedin would just add more bullshit to use it. Let’s keep the bar at 8GB please - we’re not really doing anything different than I was doin…
While I worked at Apple a directive came out forbidding developers from adding more RAM to their systems without express upper-management permission. The reason was that the experience on stock-ram supported systems was getting really bad and management wanted the developers to feel the pain (so they would fix it). Note: dedicated compiler boxes were exempted from this (but still required management sign-off).
A similar directive came out about that same time forcing all managers to use the baseline phones, and limiting the upgraded models to only testing fleets, for about the same reason.
Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
There’s nothing baffling to it. Windows PCs are upgradable. Apple won’t even give you a PCie slot on its $10k mac studio ultra to install a better network card or whatever.
I haven't worked with TOO many different companies, but I have worked at a few of various sizes (from small startup to huge Fortune 100), and none of them ever provided upgrades for machines. It was always full replacements. Sometimes you would get a used machine, but they were from someone else who left, not an upgraded machine. Are other IT shops really doing a lot of piece by piece upgrades for employee machines?
> "Are other IT shops really doing a lot of piece by piece upgrades for employee machines?"
My experiences cover only Europe, mostly in sasec (safety and security, not infosec) shops, including sasec-related engineering and product development. The only Macs I see in any pro capacity are those of clients and rent-a-lecturer/instructor-types, the latter seldomly part of the industry. In my neck of the woods we run mostly on machines from Panasonic and Lenovo; in-house repair labs are a thing (some of them with expertise and equipment that makes the Rechenzentren at the local universities bow their heads in shame).
What a lot Apple people don't seem to get into their heads is that there's user segments to whom the virtues of Apple's "silicon" is utterly irrelevant; the small benefits you'd get out of it are completely negated by a litany of cons that makes their products completely undesirable.
Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well if you're looking at XPS13 then a comparable machine is a MacBook Air M1 or M2, not a Neo. You can get an M1 refurb for 600 USD, AFAIK Costco sells them at that price in the US. Or buy used for even less. It will still match or surpass that XPS13's performance and battery life.
I think they were talking about the upcoming XPS 13 that's based on the new Intel Wildcat Lake platform and will be priced very close to the MB Neo, so it's pretty comparable. It wouldn't be fair to compare it to something that starts at $1000.
> It wouldn't be fair to compare it to something that starts at $1000.
But that's my point: first-gen M1 Air is still available and costs 600 USD.
Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
#317I ended up getting two (one for each of my daughters). The thing about Apple is that as the "IT" guy for my family, its ecosystem is the one which needs the least attention from me. It really just works. They have used Windows and Linux before (my kids and wife, that is), but something is always not quite right and needs my involvement. These days gone 100% Mac, my interventions are usually initial setup and whenever…
As a fellow family IT specialist, about a decade ago I took the stance that if it's not Apple, I'm not fixing it. I'm not dealing with some bullshit issue with weird proprietary drivers or crapware. The straw that broke the camel's back was a Dell laptop that wasn't working with the Wifi until I turned off IPv6. It's also why I don't use Linux for a desktop unless I have to. I've had years of debugging weird issues w…
> Like is it that different to a (cheaper) iPad, which you can also get a keyboard for? I guess it's just not for me.
For anything that's not pure consumption, that's a massive upgrade. A proper keyboard makes a world of difference. You don't need it if all you do is browse and view, and you can manage if you only need to send an email here and there, but I'd never want to program or write longer texts (emails, essays, spreadsheets for that matter) on an iPad, even if I hooked up a keyboard, unless I'm desperate and have no other options.
Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
#318I ended up getting two (one for each of my daughters). The thing about Apple is that as the "IT" guy for my family, its ecosystem is the one which needs the least attention from me. It really just works. They have used Windows and Linux before (my kids and wife, that is), but something is always not quite right and needs my involvement. These days gone 100% Mac, my interventions are usually initial setup and whenever…
My greatest concern about Mac hardware is that they are perfectly operational by the time software-driven programmed obsolescence comes its way, even when it is a nice problem to have. I have 3 iMacs 27 (2019) which have a gorgeous display, but the lack of software updates to the OS effectively bricks them via enterprise conditional access rules or with the ongoing drop of legacy OS support by key apps. This programm…
Linux has pretty good support for Macs, since they're so common (the T2 chip made it more annoying, but it's still very possible). That said, it's still Linux, for better or worse.
If nothing else, it'd be nice if those iMacs could be reused as external displays, but nope. No display-in on them, so no dice (at least not without a lot of dicking about).
Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are you saying, that you think Windows or Linux are better platforms for evading covert government oversight? Let's be totally clear here; if the government is interested in you, your choice of computer platform matters very little in terms of hiding information about your life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM
What is your point? If anything, PRISM argues that Apple users are more secure; it took the NSA a solid five years longer to work their way into Apple. But at this point, every provider is compromised, every country is compromised, so again - what is your point? The government knows a lot about everyone, it has nothing to do with choice of computing platform.
It is also worth noting that the USA is not the only country collecting data on US persons (and everyone else.)
The question is not, does the USA know about you, the question is really, how many governments know all about you and how does that information manifest in your life?
Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the clear demonstration of this is how small Apple's motherboard is for the neo (and other M series) compared to everyone else). It really seems like the PC makers don't understand the benefits of low power chips sufficiently. If you cap your chips TDP such that it can be cooled passively, you save money on heatsink, fan, vents, power circuitry (e.g. fewer capacitors), battery size, etc.
You are so right, and I blame some of the thinking on this very website. People are adamant that they need to upgrade the RAM, change the storage, and replace the battery on their laptops. Adamant . All that means that you need a separate memory controller, a separate this and that. It adds up, and PC makers are forced to put in a fan. On its face, it doesn't sound stupid at all. The thinking that you need to be able…
> Because technology caught up with them..... a good CPU is good enough for a very long time
This is an excellent point but surely it lampshades that the exact opposite case is true for RAM. How many of apple's laptops become unusable when we know they would be fine for years more with the single addition of increasing the ram? Aside from those ruined by physical damage, it feels to me that this is the way the majority of those devices end their productive life years earlier than they would with a single change.
My opinion regarding RAM is meant to in no way dispute your excellent points about CPU soldering.