Math rock is a thing? Quick search tells me that unfortunately it’s not actually about (aboot) mathematics, darn. Pretty neat music though!

coming from a school-issue Chromebook could get a great upgrade moving to these.

Good point, it looks to be way better than any Chromebook in terms of performance, build quality, etc.

This will certainly sell and will net Apple a lot of market share!

I would expect Apple to stop supporting those sooner than the Neo

Hopefully not! If Apple does cut off support, there’s always the option for Asahi Linux!

The amount of repairability is unheard of for Apple

It’s awesome! Due in part by EU legislation, as well as the Neo targeting the education segment, which values being able to replace parts that wear out over time easily, Apple didn’t secure the battery with glue, and the ports can be replaced too!

Oh wait, I think I misread. You have a Thunderbolt to HDMI, I read that as you suggesting to get a (pretty expensive) Thunderbolt adapter for somebody shopping for a Neo. Yes, any USB 3 adapter would work, not only TB.

The display of the Neo seems very similar to the one in the Air M1 (no notch, similar resolution), but with worse colour accuracy according to reviews. The M2 Air onwards had better displays (but with the notch)

As for battery life, real-world performance (not benchmarks, not “I used it for a day and it seems smooth”), and security updates, I’m not sure. The older M series Macbooks are still getting the latest MacOS updates, but I wonder how many the Neo will get given that it’s an iPhone chip…

10 out of 10 repairability rating by ifixit.

Note that it wasn’t a 10/10, it was 6/10. Still much better than previous Macs, and overall quite good :D

iFixit state that the main complaints are pentalobe screws, soldered RAM and storage, and it’s difficult to repair the keyboard.

https://www.ifixit.com/News/116152/macbook-neo-is-the-most-repairable-macbook-in-14-years

3. And the choice is either windows or Mac

I’m choosing the neo

Yeah, Windows is pretty bad these days.

Thankfully I’m only limited by budget and have no desire to let fine refurbished laptops languish. And I’m all onboard with Linux so I’ll be getting a refurb thinkpad instead.

Nice! Hope you have a good time with one of those :)

I will not disagree, the Neo does look to have much better build quality than most laptops in its price range, as well as many outside of it.

As for the chipset, there will be tradeoffs. You can definitely get an older Ryzen 7000 series or Intel 13th gen for cheap. These will be quite a bit less efficient and have worse battery life, and the performance won’t be as good. But they don’t suffer from the limitations of being an iPhone chip, some will be better cooled, some have upgradeable memory/16GB ram option, and most will have better port selection (like HDMI, USB-A ports). The Neo’s A18 Pro is much better in some ways, but also a bit worse in many others.

Yes, it is true that Windows is pretty garbage now. I wouldn’t say 16GB is not enough for it though, even with all its bloat. But it is terrible, really bad indeed, hence why I happily run Linux and encourage others to do the same :D

Apple Silicon really is crazy though, no doubt about that.

A little off-topic, note that “i7”, “i5”, etc. aren’t too helpful when comparing CPUs, only between the specific generation.

It certainly will, and I have already heard that it was the best launch for Apple in a while!

if you care about the 8gb of RAM, the Neo isn’t for you

Fair point. The average consumer probably doesn’t know what that means. But I do think that it should be a concern for the people who do purchase it (like students), since it really will be limiting, especially in the future as software becomes heavier, MacOS gets additional updates, and when needs change (e.g. more multi-tasking)

Not a deal-breaker, but something to note, especially as it’s non-upgradeable. Similarly priced laptops have 16GB/the option for it with upgradeable memory, but may have other downsides like worse display or plastic build. Tradeoffs.

It seems like you covered all the basics and you’re just looking for people to agree with you?

I would like others to share their opinions as well, have a good debate and such. I think your comment seems pretty well thought out, draws from your own experiences, quite good. I like (respectfully) arguing with people

If you care about the 8GB limit, the Neo isn’t the one for you, you want the Air.

I believe that normal people, although it’s not a problem right now, the limitation of 8GB ram will become more evident soon. The new Macbook Air wouldn’t be in consideration if you are shopping for a Neo, given that it’s around about twice as expensive, but I do think that a refurbished Air (like M2 or something) that is closer in price, in some regions dipping below it, could be a really good option for some people!

Note that I am not shopping for a new laptop anytime soon, I’m perfectly happy with my Intel 13th gen laptop running EndeavourOS!

And as for this fantasy of the Neo suddenly being unable to run on its 8GB of RAM, I expect to get a decade out of my 16 Pro Max

But the Macbook Neo is a laptop running desktop programs. Pretty different circumstances I would say. When the needs of the user changes (e.g. they do more work outside of the browser, run heavier programs, start to multitask), the 8GB ram will not be enough. Additionally, new MacOS updates are sure to slow the device down quite a bit, intentionally or unintentionally. The only option in Macland is to fork out double the cost for the Air (or more if you upgrade the storage, as you have said), and that is my main point.

As for the HDMI dongle, that isn’t entirely accurate. You just need a different cable. Get a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable.

Often times the cable is routed through into a little hole (e.g. if it’s a projector mounted on the ceiling) or is very long and already plugged in, so using your own cable is not always possible. Hence, adapter dongle. Another thing you might need to purchase, so it is worth considering given that many other laptops in this price segment do have HDMI ports. Also, neither USB-C port is Thunderbolt, so you are misremembering?

That’s a limitation of the A18 Pro chip

I didn’t say it wasn’t. The note on RAM followed when talking about the limitation of the chip being from an iPhone. Even so, it is still a big factor, as you have no option for 16GB besides buying a new laptop (where many laptops in this price segment have SODIMM memory so they do let you do that)

You are queueing in a line. But You 31st, need to wait so long! So frightening, like Halloween.

I tried my best. You could probably do something with Me 25th as well.

Wait, I thought the French Republican Calendar had 10 months only?

But then dates written like 2026-01-01 in the old format would be interpreted as being one month ahead! The reverse may also happen too. That sounds like a very bad idea

This wouldn’t be a good idea, as then people would easily mix up dates using the old names with your system (e.g. January would go from being the first month to being the seventh!)

That’s fair enough. Internet people can be truly horrible. No harm done!

That sounds like a surefire way for Taiwan to get invaded, since I’m very certain that China does not want more nuclear missiles pointed at it, much less by Taiwan right off its coast. Taiwan might end up like Iran (who the U.S. claimed were developing nukes)

If Taiwan does end up developing nukes without the knowledge of China or other major powers, then you could argue that nuclear deterrance would work. But the intelligence systems of all the global powers is incredibly advanced now, so it would probably be difficult for Taiwan to covertly do something like that (esp given that we know both sides send spies to each other)

I mean the whole deporting populations to somewhere they’ve never been kind of crime against humanity.

I don’t think I said anything about the brainwashing of Chinese people, nor did I romanticise British Hong Kong. I used to live in Hong Kong (post-British) and everything seemed alright, food was good and people were good. I did mention that Taiwan was a result of the KMT fleeing after the civil war, and fair enough, it only remained due to the U.S. fleet being in the waters, and having missiles pointed at you at all times is not nice at all.

edit: It was not directed at me, rather at the comments (in that case I can see how you feel)