The first half of 2026 has been defined by a memory shortage that pushed laptop prices sharply higher – and by a $599 Apple laptop that somehow defied all of it.
The Best Laptops of 2026: A Disruptive Mac, a Windows Comeback, and an Nvidia Wildcard
The Best Laptops of 2026: A Disruptive Mac, a Windows Comeback, and an Nvidia Wildcard
- Thread starter Julio Franco
- Start date
Megalomaniac
Posts: 1,143 +1,218
The NEO was automatically going to win because the Mac Air and Mac Pro are overpriced.
I'm planning on buying a pink Neo (as a gift) soon and I'm going to try to get the student discount on the top spec model. the way I see it: 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD is lackluster. 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM is where it should be.
I'm planning on buying a pink Neo (as a gift) soon and I'm going to try to get the student discount on the top spec model. the way I see it: 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD is lackluster. 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM is where it should be.
LordVile95
Posts: 436 +277
How are the air and the pro overpriced exactly?
For the build of the machine what did you expect at the price point?
I don't think the Neo was automatically going to win because Apple products are "overpriced." Look at the cost of comparable Windows laptops.
The bigger issue is value for money and what you're actually getting for the price. They needed a inexpensive laptop, people wanted it, and they delivered one. Yet, as usual, here we are with the complaints.
As for the 8GB RAM argument, if we're talking about a Mac that sells for under $600, what exactly are people expecting? I'd love to see 16GB as the baseline everywhere, but at that price point 8GB isn't exactly shocking, not to mention ram prices currently.
And macOS handles memory management significantly better than Windows. Apple Silicon machines make very efficient use of RAM, and features like memory compression and fast ssd swap mean that 8GB on a Mac often behaves much better than 16GB on a comparable Windows machine.
Squid Surprise
Posts: 7,883 +8,181
Can we add a “desktop replacement” section?
I’d like to see how the Titan, Area51 /Alienware 18, Asus 18, etc measure up… people DO buy those as well you know…
I’d like to see how the Titan, Area51 /Alienware 18, Asus 18, etc measure up… people DO buy those as well you know…
Too bad seasonal deal's don't count!
My daughter was Christmas shopping last December and decided on a present for herself.
She was at Costco and bought a MSI Crosshair 18 with an 18" 240Hz IPS panel, Core Ultra 9 275HX, 32 gigs of DDR5 5600 and an RTX 5070ti for $1000.
My daughter was Christmas shopping last December and decided on a present for herself.
She was at Costco and bought a MSI Crosshair 18 with an 18" 240Hz IPS panel, Core Ultra 9 275HX, 32 gigs of DDR5 5600 and an RTX 5070ti for $1000.
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I'm surprised the dual screen Zenbook Duo isn't somewhere on these lists. I love the look of the Neo but just can't face the hassle of swapping OS after all these years. That SPARK chip also looks very interesting but I'm not sure I could stomach paying over $2K for a laptop that uses one.
GodisanAtheist
Posts: 1,239 +2,600
I'd love to see a budget gaming laptop option/section, something in the $500-$1000 range that is going to give you the best bang for the buck and maybe not look like a Transformer in the process.
You read that propaganda straight from Apple? Both Apple and Windows use memory compression on OS level. What is this "efficient use of RAM on Apple silicon"? That simply does not exist on level that system having half RAM magically appear much faster except some very special crafted cases perhaps. All in all, that was jusr typical Apple fanboy trying ot make people believe Apple "superiority". Apple fanboys are pathetic.
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