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

MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

macrumors.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

331–340 of 524 posts

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#331

Post by tim333 »

jmyeet wrote: post #309
juancn wrote: post #24

I 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…

It's very different to an ipad and keyboard because of the software being a proper OS rather than a phone one. I was a bit torn on Neo vs Air though - the Air's a bit cooler looking.

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#332

Post by noir_lord »

protocolture wrote: post #329
brandon272 wrote: post #321

I have always had this notion that buying a Mac is the "premium" option, not just in quality, but maybe in price too. I am in the process of trying to find a business notebook for my spouse who is a Windows user. The goal is to have something that is as close to a Macbook Air as possible in terms of price, weight, performance and durability. What I am learning is that nothing that like that exists in the PC world. It…

Yeah I was an X1 Carbon True Believer for a while but I cant justify their current prices. It used to be 1200 bucks or so cheaper than the equivalent macbook (probably saying as much will piss off the "Thinkpads were never cheap weridos but thats fine)

There was a time the T series where the go-to if you wanted a good Linux laptop as well.

I'm typing this on an old T470P (7700HQ/32GB/2560x1440) that is running my TV - it's uptime is measured in months (usually for a kernel upgrade).

Just a stellar machine but the new ones don't seem to be worth the price.

It is somewhat remarkable that no one has managed to get close to Apple quality by now.

I think the major manufacturers just have too many SKU's with too much differentiation instead of focussing on making 4-5 good SKU's.

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#333

Post by _kulang »

brandon272 wrote: post #321

I have always had this notion that buying a Mac is the "premium" option, not just in quality, but maybe in price too. I am in the process of trying to find a business notebook for my spouse who is a Windows user. The goal is to have something that is as close to a Macbook Air as possible in terms of price, weight, performance and durability. What I am learning is that nothing that like that exists in the PC world. It…

“Choice” is funny because consumers never choose what the products are, only from the existing products. People harp on choice as a boon for windows laptops but you cannot choose an affordable laptop with great build quality and speed and battery unless you buy a Mac. Framework is the closest company to providing real choice to consumers but you have to be technically minded to approach that product (and I’m glad it exists).

I think consumers’ expectations regarding what they can get is coloured by ages-old reddit opinions which have circulated into household knowledge. The answer is so clearly whatever apple is making at the moment yet no other company (except maybe Microsoft with the surface line) can string together direct competition

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#334

Post by davnicwil »

adgjlsfhk1 wrote: post #85
2001zhaozhao wrote: post #74

I think Apple's cost efficiency advantages are really compounding now and it'll get increasingly hard for competitors to catch up. Everything they put in the product is either in-house or benefit from their scale and negotiating power. In the MacBook Neo's case, everything from the in-house chipset and scale (for stuff like aluminum body) and the more RAM-efficient software is working in its favor. I'd bet that a dif…

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.

I agree and I think the most concrete demonstration of this for me is actually the current air.

It's basically the idea of the pro of 10 years ago but realised flawlessly, and improved upon actually in most ways, for significantly cheaper.

To do this they had to become an execution machine at huge scale to own and solve every piece that held them back in that pro design, and they did, and it's honestly amazing how it all came together.

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#335

Post by ptmcc »

m463 wrote: post #219
nikcub wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and an iPhone 17e for $599

well, also apple has been inflating the price for phones since forever. the iphone launched at $499 EDIT: hmm.. I guess iphone 1 was $499 or $599 and that required a 2-year AT&T contract. Don't know what the actual price was. I do know the top iphone 17 pro max is $1,999. but it does have 2tb of storage, which is amazing in a different way.

$499 2007 dollars when the first iPhone launched is about $820 in 2026 dollars

The basic iPhone 17 starts at $799

The 17e is only $599

If anything the iPhone is getting cheaper in real terms, not more expensive

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#336

Post by static_motion »

cromka wrote: post #316
static_motion wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You're right, I skimmed over the latter part of your comment. I don't know about your claim that M1/M2 will outperform Wildcat Lake in performance and battery life though, do we know specific figures to be able to say that for sure?

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#337

Post by naikrovek »

Telaneo wrote: post #323
adgjlsfhk1 wrote: post #85

Earlier 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.

> It really seems like the PC makers don't understand the benefits of low power chips sufficiently. I'm sure they would understand, if you could show them the equivalent 25 watt x86 part. If you find one at 25 watts or lower, it'll be too slow to really bother with. And if it uses much more power than that, then a fan quickly becomes mandatory. It's easier to excuse having a fan than having a processor that's just do…

There are 15W intel CPUs and .. they suck. Idle, windows and corporate “stuff” will put that at 75% utilization with no input from the user other than simply logging on. And the fan starts about 30s in and never stops. It’s embarrassing for intel.

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#338

Post by gyomu »

GeekyBear wrote: post #96
everdrive wrote: post #25

It's always surprising when companies don't understand that people what inexpensive, quality goods. The original Ford Maverick retailed for $19,995, Ford absolutely could not keep up with production. Ultimately, they raised prices both because they could and in order to reduce demand because they could not actually product enough units.

Dell has just announced an 8 Gig of RAM version of their XPS laptop and the PR surrounding the launch is pretty funny. > "Apple's MacBook Neo is a capable machine, and its arrival confirms that there's real appetite for premium quality at accessible prices," said Dell. Who could have known that people wanted quality AND affordability?

> Who could have known that people wanted quality AND affordability?

If you have spent any time in those gigantic corporations, you know that there is effectively no one there who can actually speak sense and effect change.

No one can say "our laptops are too crappy and too expensive, let's fix it" and actually make it happen.

The people in the marketing department who wrote "Apple's MacBook Neo is a capable machine, and its arrival confirms that there's real appetite for premium quality at accessible prices" probably don't give much of a shit about Dell and its products, other than the fact that they get a paycheck from the company every 2 weeks; many of them probably have MacBooks at home, and many of them won't even be at Dell 18 months from now as they chase the next step in their career.

It's kind of shocking to many people too that even the C-suite execs don't have the power to change much there either. Remember that email from Bill Gates where he suddenly realized that the Windows install experience was shit and asked his underlings to fix it? Of course, nothing got better, and Windows is still a giant turd many years later.

What is a real miracle is that a company the size of Apple has managed to still give a shit after all these years and insane growth. There's plenty of missteps in Cupertino for sure, but compared to the competition it's night and day. Who knows how much longer it'll last.

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#339

Post by drnick1 »

bdamm wrote: post #319
drnick1 wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 count…

> But at this point, every provider is compromised

Yes, and its probably fair to assume that Apple and/or the government can access any of your files on your devices or in the cloud. My suggestion is not to use any "provider." Use free software, and keep your data locally on encrypted drives.

Re: MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production

#340

Post by tim333 »

r0m4n0 wrote: post #308

I wonder if this will cannibalize their other more expensive product lines. I know some people and have recommended this to folks that would have purchased more expensive laptops otherwise. My grandpa never needed the macbook air he has continually repurchased over the years. I am planning on purchasing one of these for my oldest, would have opted for a more expensive macbook air as well otherwise. Others that though…

It probably will a bit with the Air. But I think it's good for Apple overall.
Post reply on HN