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The MacBook Neo

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Re: The MacBook Neo

#901

Post by stetrain »

jackhalford wrote: post #2

> Given Apple's historically very premium pricing, launching such an affordable product is certainly a shock to the entire market No? Apple has been delivering way cheaper laptops ever since M1, this one is just even cheaper. I thought PC execs were asleep at the wheel but not this bad.

This product effectively cuts the entry price for a new model Mac laptop in half. The cheapest current-generation MacBook has been $999 or above for a very long time, even back to the iBook days.

Yes, Apple has offered discounted prices by continuing to sell older models or offer straight discount sales via third party retailers. But I expect that will continue here too. This is $599 MSRP at Apple but will probably be $499 via the usual retailers by the end of 2026.

That's a bit different than continuing to sell a 5-year-old model at a discount.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#902

Post by p_ing »

chongli wrote: post #720
p_ing wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Been using macOS for years, even main it for both personal and work. It has a LOT of UX issues and requires many 3rd party tools to "fix" it. macOS has plenty of it's own OS adverts.

What 3rd party tools would those be? I've been using Macs since ~1994 and my 3rd party tool use has fluctuated wildly over that time. I have a lot of 3rd party software installed but I can't think of anything that I'd call a "requirement" to "fix" the OS.

Rectangle (Apple's implementation is not as good), Balance Lock, Mos, Ice, Monitor Control.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#903

Post by p_ing »

timothyduong wrote: post #692
p_ing wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Been using macOS for years, even main it for both personal and work. It has a LOT of UX issues and requires many 3rd party tools to "fix" it. macOS has plenty of it's own OS adverts.

'Plenty' vs an atrocious amount that constantly nags. MacOS's ads whilst I still detest, is a one-off prompt. Window's ads can sometimes only be removed with registry key configs OR deployment of management policies...

I don't see any ads on my retail Pro install.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#904

Post by ryandvm »

Kirby64 wrote: post #252
ryandvm wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 tacti…

As opposed to Microsoft, the good guys right now? I don’t see how incessant privacy violations, selling your data, and general shovelware behavior of Windows 11 is better. In many ways, it’s much worse in my view.

Nah, as opposed to Linux (for me).

Re: The MacBook Neo

#905

Post by ndr42 »

bdbdbdb wrote: post #851
ndr42 wrote: post #514

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's even more painful for me to do the remote tech support for my (80+ years old) parents so paying the difference is a kind of preservation of my mental health...

You need to think about the tech support you do for your parents and decide if it would really be less by moving them to another platform, where "there's no start button" and "where did the top of the window go" and "how do I install this obscure app Ive used for twenty years" Most of the support questions I field from my folks and in-laws are actually phone things these days. 90% of what I have to deal with is "this…

Good point!

At least the build-in remote desktop on Macs makes it very easy to provide help. I don't know if Windows has something similar build in.

Phones are more of a problem as I can't have a look at their screen remotely.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#906

Post by kllrnohj »

tuetuopay wrote: post #846
kllrnohj wrote: post #722

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CPU is capable. The 8GB of RAM not so much. If this had even just the 12GB of the A19 Pro that'd be a huge upgrade. Unless the RAM shortage gets developers to actually start giving a shit about RAM efficiency, but that seems unlikely to happen honestly. Especially not when a certified macbook air refurb straight from Apple isn't that much more if you're not able to get the $500 EDU pricing on the Neo. $850 gets y…

Honestly the 8GB is not really an issue. As opposed to basically every other computer on this price range, Apple puts real storage in their machines, making a well-tuned swap simply transparent. I'd also bet they have very performant hardware engines for memory (de)compression. A few years ago, my parents asked me for a laptop for my sisters, for university use. We targeted this price range. It's shocking but pretty…

The SSD in the Neo only manages around 1,500 MB/s in sequential benchmarks, it's not an impressive drive.

> It's shocking but pretty much all laptops from Dell, HP, etc come with some form of eMMC storage.

I just went to Dell's website and picked a random $400 laptop and it had an NVME SSD. The $650 Dell 14 Essential also is NVME. Both of which are M.2 so easily upgraded, replaced, or have data recovery done on them. The only eMMC options I'm seeing are the $300 Chromebooks? Which is no where close to "pretty much all laptops." In fact it'd be "pretty much none of the laptops"

Re: The MacBook Neo

#907

Post by WillAdams »

wmwragg wrote: post #868
WillAdams wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only person who manually rotates a laptop screen to portrait, then holds it like a book to use thus?

That sounds interesting, I might give it a go, but how do you rotate the screen, I can't see an option for it for the built in MacBook screen?

It's a setting in Settings:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/rotate-the-image-on...

Re: The MacBook Neo

#908

Post by nirava »

bigyabai wrote: post #510
nirava wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While that's true, I also think these things tend to happen as a gradual build up to the tipping-point effect where the zeitgeist shifts so suddenly that a massive player is suddenly irrelevant. Microsoft is structurally incapable of making Windows better. Intel is intrinsically incapable of making x86 better (enough to matter). x86 hardware manufacturers are in a price race to the bottom, and there's no way around t…

I swear that I read this comment in 2019, and it's still wrong today. Young people want iPhones, go look at Apple's revenue breakdown. iPhones and iPhone accessories dwarf Mac sales, the only comparable product in terms of revenue is the iPad. There is no evidence that Apple Silicon has changed that B2C story. In the broader B2B sense, Apple lost pole-position to Nvidia. They're not the ecosystem kingmaker they once…

I think it's truer now than it was in 2019. Don't you think? This doesn't have to be a binary thing.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#909

Post by pdimitar »

drcongo wrote: post #160
FeloniousHam wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use it everyday, I love it. Native unix, great apps and ecosystem.

It's amazing how often people who post on here about hating macOS have only just got a Mac for the first time and simply can't be bothered to learn, or hate that the keyboard shortcuts are different, or desperately want their OS level adverts back or something. It's lazy.

It's also quite amazing how macOS doesn't support containerization which is hugely important for a hefty chunk of all devs out there. So, Docker Desktop, Colima, OrbStack. VMs. Deal with it.

Not to mention the amazing amount of services running in the background, at least 80% of which I haven't needed in the 6.5 years I have my Mac, but can't stop / remove / disable.

My Linux laptop is supposedly 40% weaker than my desktop Mac, so the online sheets say at least. It runs my work's integration test suite 15% faster.

A lot of us have given Macs a very honest chance. It's okay and it's very workable, that much is a fact -- but if one is willing to pimp their machine and OS -- nowadays made even easier by LLMs -- then the experience and everyday ergonomics and actual dev-enhancing abilities quickly outpace a Mac.

And I wish that wasn't true because I wasn't looking forward to changing my main machine. But the annoyances and slowness and closeness just compound until they start literally reducing your everyday productivity.

Re: The MacBook Neo

#910

Post by pdimitar »

chongli wrote: post #720
p_ing wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Been using macOS for years, even main it for both personal and work. It has a LOT of UX issues and requires many 3rd party tools to "fix" it. macOS has plenty of it's own OS adverts.

What 3rd party tools would those be? I've been using Macs since ~1994 and my 3rd party tool use has fluctuated wildly over that time. I have a lot of 3rd party software installed but I can't think of anything that I'd call a "requirement" to "fix" the OS.

Different sound device output for different apps. Apple still hasn't fixed this. In 2026. Still requires 3rd party apps. It's embarrassing.
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