Asus co-CEO calls MacBook Neo a "shock" to the Windows PC industry

[Alfonso Maruccia]

Winners & losers: Just days after Cupertino unveiled its latest notebook, the move is already being dissected across the PC industry. Manufacturers know they'll need some kind of response. The timing, however, could hardly be more complicated, as supply chain pressures around memory and other key components continue to intensify.

Apple launched the MacBook Neo last week, positioning it as the most affordable laptop the company has ever built. Starting at $600 (or $500 for students), the device targets users looking for a lightweight, agile computing machine. Its unusually low price, by Apple standards, could quickly become a source of concern for the broader PC ecosystem.

According to recent comments from Asus co-CEO S.Y. Hsu, major players across the industry are already discussing how to respond to Apple's latest move. Speaking during the company's most recent earnings call, Hsu described the MacBook Neo and its aggressive pricing as a genuine "shock" for Windows PC OEM manufacturers.

Until now, PC makers largely assumed Apple would continue to price its computers above most competing systems. A budget-oriented MacBook represents something new, Hsu noted. The Asus executive also suggested that other key players in the PC ecosystem, including CPU vendors and Microsoft, are taking this new threat as seriously as they can.

If Apple can persuade enough buyers to pick up one of its most affordable machines, students and everyday users may end up sticking with the company's ecosystem and eventually upgrading to more expensive devices. According to Hsu, insiders across the PC industry have been debating about rumors of a MacBook Neo for at least a year.

The machine does come with some hardware limitations, including 8GB of non-upgradable memory. Hsu argues that the MacBook Neo is better suited to lighter, everyday use, while many mainstream laptop buyers still expect their systems to handle more demanding workloads. However, early comparisons suggest that many Windows laptops selling in the same price range as the Neo are actually slower than Apple's machine.

Must read: The MacBook Neo is a $500 Wake-Up Call for the Entire PC Industry

The new MacBook is powered by Apple's A18 Pro chip – the same processor used in the iPhone 16 Pro – making it an unusual entry in the laptop market. For the most part, however, its performance appears to align with Apple's M1 SoC, which remains surprisingly capable.

At the same time, the broader PC industry is already facing another major constraint: memory supply. Analysts warn that retail prices for mainstream laptops could climb by as much as 40%. Asus has already confirmed that memory prices alone have doubled in a single quarter.

"How big of an impact it will have on the PC industry will still require some time for us to observe," Hsu said, adding that "the entire Windows PC ecosystem will push out products to compete against Apple."

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Asus co-CEO calls MacBook Neo a "shock" to the Windows PC industry

 

[bviktor]

It's hilarious when Apple teaches lessons to OEMs about budget offerings.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

It's hilarious when Apple teaches lessons to OEMs about budget offerings.

Apples been rocking the budget thing for awhile now. The $350 iPhone se line was great compared to androids in that range, the cheap iPad destroys the entire android market, and now the 17e made a joke of the pixel 10a.

And don't forget the base Mac mini is the same price as the neo and offers a more powerful m4 and 16gb of ram and thunderbolt connectivity.

 

[abactuon]

Acer Nitro V 16 AI | RTX 5050: was US$899 now US$779.99 at Walmart
Key specs: RTX 5050 | Ryzen 5 240 | 16-inch | 1200p | 180 Hz | 16 GB DDR5 | 512 GB SSD

 

[J95qRP7]

Acer Nitro V 16 AI | RTX 5050: was US$899 now US$779.99 at Walmart
Key specs: RTX 5050 | Ryzen 5 240 | 16-inch | 1200p | 180 Hz | 16 GB DDR5 | 512 GB SSD

That is 30% more expensive than the Neo and I'm not sure it'd even be as fast. The laptop 5050 is, not good, and 16GB on a fresh Windows 11 Home is going to be a slow experience. The SSD will be QLC, which is horrible for an OS drive, at least in the Dell and HP systems I've used.

Then there is the size difference. The fact the Acer is almost twice as heavy. Battery life and sleep/hibernation considerations.

Apple really nailed the Neo and Windows OEMs currently have nothing for it that is price competitive.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Acer Nitro V 16 AI | RTX 5050: was US$899 now US$779.99 at Walmart
Key specs: RTX 5050 | Ryzen 5 240 | 16-inch | 1200p | 180 Hz | 16 GB DDR5 | 512 GB SSD

The only win here is memory capacity (which will be taken up by windows bloatware raising idle RAM usage to 8GB with McCaffee and Norton and other BS running on it).

In CPU performance, GPU performance, SSD performance, battery life, build quality, and support the Neo destroys that Acer.

 

[scoffer]

Can't be a bad thing really. Get more people off Winslop...

 

[abactuon]

Buy yourself an iPhone with a 13" screen.
There are no tests yet, except for Cinebench.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Buy yourself an iPhone with a 16" screen.
There are no tests yet, except for Cinebench.

Gaming tests are already out:

50 FPS on low in cyberpunk is pretty good for a phone CPU.

 

[abactuon]

I'll try to find some kind of job and save up money for a Mac Book Pro.

 

[Kashim]

Apples been rocking the budget thing for awhile now. The $350 iPhone se line was great compared to androids in that range, the cheap iPad destroys the entire android market, and now the 17e made a joke of the pixel 10a.

And don't forget the base Mac mini is the same price as the neo and offers a more powerful m4 and 16gb of ram and thunderbolt connectivity.

And don't forget the best part of owning Apple hardware and that's getting locked into their walled garden forever! You know, that walled garden Apple has an iron grip on and fighting tooth and nail to keep everyone else out of there so they can take all the profits. Gotta love how Apple makes their own devices seamlessly work together but purposely makes it hard to connect to anything outside their own ecosystem.

Let's be real here, Apple isn't doing anyone favors by releasing this cheap crappy laptop. The only reason they're doing it is a) they're making a profit off it or they wouldn't be doing it at all and b) their plan is to get at least some percentage of the poor suckers who fall for this to switch over to Apple and start buying their hilariously overpriced garbage.

At the end of the day this laptop isn't going to be some kind of PC killer like everyone is fearing. Yes, a bunch of computer illiterate old people and kids who need a cheap laptop will buy this thing. What will happen when they realize NONE of their PC games and apps they already paid for work on this thing?

PS. - Good thing that turtleneck wearing douche is gone, or he'd be on stage holding up this new "magical" device and pretending he invented laptops.

 

[Amamoh]

The problem is 13 inch screen. Useless device.

 

[Jack77]

This is the iMac moment for laptops. And on steroids.
Basically doing the netbooks/chromebooks over again, but totally right. This is what Apple excels at: breathing real live in failed concepts. Because others s*ck at doing things really right from the start.

And that at a time when Windows has reached an all-time high in sloppiness. This could switch many users over. Well done, Apple. Tim Cook may have put himself in the Apple hall of fame now.

 

[dangh]

Can't be a bad thing really. Get more people off Winslop...

Absolutely. The problem is, apple is same crap as ms. So, getting off winslop and appleslop means we need move to linux, no matter what hardware is beneath.

 

[J95qRP7]

The problem is 13 inch screen. Useless device.

Unless you're a child or teenager. Having a smaller device, that is as light as possible, can be the highest priority for parents or students.

I personally think 13.3 or 14" laptops are the best size and it's what I always get. 15.6" is too large, I think, especially if you're moving around a lot.

 

[Burty117]

And don't forget the best part of owning Apple hardware and that's getting locked into their walled garden forever! You know, that walled garden Apple has an iron grip on and fighting tooth and nail to keep everyone else out of there so they can take all the profits. Gotta love how Apple makes their own devices seamlessly work together but purposely makes it hard to connect to anything outside their own ecosystem.

Let's be real here, Apple isn't doing anyone favors by releasing this cheap crappy laptop. The only reason they're doing it is a) they're making a profit off it or they wouldn't be doing it at all and b) their plan is to get at least some percentage of the poor suckers who fall for this to switch over to Apple and start buying their hilariously overpriced garbage.

At the end of the day this laptop isn't going to be some kind of PC killer like everyone is fearing. Yes, a bunch of computer illiterate old people and kids who need a cheap laptop will buy this thing. What will happen when they realize NONE of their PC games and apps they already paid for work on this thing?

PS. - Good thing that turtleneck wearing douche is gone, or he'd be on stage holding up this new "magical" device and pretending he invented laptops.

I think the crazy thing about this entire statement, is that you think Microsoft and Windows based laptops are somehow better?

 

[Watzupken]

Other than Apple, I really don't think there is another company that can pull this off. Apple have pretty much full control from a hardware and software perspective, so they can optimize the OS for it. With Microsoft pushing all sorts of crap into their OS, 8GB of RAM and fragmented hardware is going to be a big problem to boot.

 

[Watzupken]

The problem is 13 inch screen. Useless device.

I don't see 13 inches screen as a problem. I've used 12 inches tablet for work before and it is fine. It really is down to personal preference. Bigger screen also means you need a bigger bag and more weight to carry around.

 

[Watzupken]

Gaming tests are already out:

50 FPS on low in cyberpunk is pretty good for a phone CPU.

I suspect the game will suffer from bad stutters over time when it runs out of VRAM. Moreover, this will accelerate the death of the SSD since there will be a lot of file swapping. So using it for games is not ideal even if it is possible.

 

[Puiu]

Considering that it is in general slower than an M1, with some exceptions like browsing, it's not that great of a deal.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Considering that it is in general slower than an M1, with some exceptions like browsing, it's not that great of a deal.

Considering you cant buy new or apple refurb M1 hardware anymore, that is irrelevant. The 3090 is faster than a 4060, doesnt mean the 4060 doesnt have a spot in the market.

And don't forget the best part of owning Apple hardware and that's getting locked into their walled garden forever! You know, that walled garden Apple has an iron grip on and fighting tooth and nail to keep everyone else out of there so they can take all the profits. Gotta love how Apple makes their own devices seamlessly work together but purposely makes it hard to connect to anything outside their own ecosystem.

Let's be real here, Apple isn't doing anyone favors by releasing this cheap crappy laptop. The only reason they're doing it is a) they're making a profit off it or they wouldn't be doing it at all and b) their plan is to get at least some percentage of the poor suckers who fall for this to switch over to Apple and start buying their hilariously overpriced garbage.

At the end of the day this laptop isn't going to be some kind of PC killer like everyone is fearing. Yes, a bunch of computer illiterate old people and kids who need a cheap laptop will buy this thing. What will happen when they realize NONE of their PC games and apps they already paid for work on this thing?

PS. - Good thing that turtleneck wearing douche is gone, or he'd be on stage holding up this new "magical" device and pretending he invented laptops.

MacOS isnt any more locked down then Windows is, buddy.

And pro tip: 99% of consumers dont care. They want their facebook and angry birds. They dont run emulators on their phones or wifi analysis tools or an of the stuff us enthusiasts do.

The problem is 13 inch screen. Useless device.

Guess what the largest selling segment of laptops is?

Its up to personal preference, but the trend has been shrinking for years. Thats why 17" laptops went the way of the dodo.

 

[Puiu]

Considering you cant buy new or apple refurb M1 hardware anymore, that is irrelevant. The 3090 is faster than a 4060, doesnt mean the 4060 doesnt have a spot in the market.
MacOS isnt any more locked down then Windows is, buddy.

And pro tip: 99% of consumers dont care. They want their facebook and angry birds. They dont run emulators on their phones or wifi analysis tools or an of the stuff us enthusiasts do.
Guess what the largest selling segment of laptops is?

Its up to personal preference, but the trend has been shrinking for years. Thats why 17" laptops went the way of the dodo.

You can still find M1 and M2 macbooks on the market (I guess it depends on your location). Where I live a new 13" Macbook Air With M2, 16GB RAM and 512GB storage is 765$ before tax and the Neo starts at 660$. (the M4 is a bit more expensive at 870$)

As for sales, I see a reputable store with 10x M2 Macbook Air in stock selling for 712$ (before tax).

Giving advice is normal, why are you dismissing it? Just because something is newer doesn't mean we should look at it from inside a bubble ignoring everything else. You should tell ppl that for a small price bump they can get something much better (if they can afford it).

And pro tip: 90% do care, but most don't have somebody to help them with the technical stuff.

 

[maxxcool7421]

If I could run fully accelerated linux on it I would buy one today. but I refuse to use apples poison garden.

 

[Jack77]

If I could run fully accelerated linux on it I would buy one today. but I refuse to use apples poison garden.

Not fond of big tech ecosystem lock-in and other practices either. But when someone comes to me now for a basic home-use laptop, I will rather point them to this than to a Windows machine. Easier for them, less fuss for me. A happy Linux user myself, but imo Linux is still not user-friendly and universally supported enough to make it work for users that sometimes want to install their own apps.

 

[3ogdy]

I'm not sure why PC (or even phone, for that matter) manufacturers should feel threatened by Apple. This has a lot to do with the ecosystem.

I keep seeing this "Apple becoming a threat to PC and Android by lowering the price point", as if their products were universally better and thus if they were priced on par with other products, everyone would go the Apple route. Buying Apple is a choice, not a no-brainer.

When you buy Apple, you're gonna walk into an ecosystem that will ask you to buy instead of pirate, to spend more on hardware upgrades (if there are any).
Basically ,once you're in, you'll become an Apple tax payer.

Windows and Android give you some sort of freedom that Apple even makes you pay to give up.