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

[DEMinSoCal]

No it is not.

The RAM is packaged under the processor logic. It is NOT part of the CPU

https://www.techpowerup.com/347063/apple-macbook-neo-capped-at-8-gb-ram-by-a18-pro-info-pop-packaging


Google has already come out and states chromeOS isnt going anywhere anytime soon. It will still exist for low cost educational devices.

You want to talk Apple innovation? Apple doesnt even HAVE any sort of first party MDM. They are entirely reliant on 3rd party tools like JAMF. They have a very long way to go to match what Google offers.

You're talking semantics. First, the RAM is packaged ABOVE the CPU die, not below it. Second, people commonly use the term "CPU" to denote the chip that contains the actual CPU. Whether or not it comes with RAM embedded in the package most people don't care. Same with Lunar Lake chips -- CPU + RAM in a single package yet everyone calls it the "CPU".

 

[techstrike]

And whats the benefit of this instead of an ipad? the stuck keyboard?
gimme a break apple.

 

[fadingfool]

Interesting move by Apple. Definitely a good entry point into the Apple ecosystem and perfectly powerful enough for most daily tasks (a Raspberry pi 400 is perfectly capable as a daily driver for most people - the Neo will be the tech hit this year). Cunning move to package only 256GB space as it makes buying Apple cloud a no-brainer. 8 GB is more than enough RAM for anything other than windows 11 - these are not gaming machines or video editing workstations. I'm not in the market for such a device but if the other half's Lenovo Yoga dies this could easily be a replacement (especially as it comes in a selection of colours - I had to get the Lenovo because it was a "lovely Orchid" colour - it only has 8GB RAM and a 256GB NVMe, there is space to upgrage but no problem as yet).

 

[DEMinSoCal]

And whats the benefit of this instead of an ipad? the stuck keyboard?
gimme a break apple.

The answer is obvious -- macOS. In case you didn't notice, iPadOS is not a serious replacement for macOS.

 

[PaladinNH]

I just picked up an open-box Chromebook Plus with 8GB and a beautiful 16" 120Hz display last year for $170. It blows away my 16GB HP Windows laptop from 2020. Turn off Google Play and over 5GB free for browsing, etc. 8GB is fine at this price point on a non-Windows machine, and it's a great move for Apple to access a consumer audience they typically ignore. Essentially $500 for a light, fast, solidly built "Chromebook", but with access to MacOS.

 

[Stoly]

When your phone is more powerful than your laptop...

 

[ScottSoapbox]

The "Mac Chromebook" has one big advantage over Google's: the OS.

Entering the working world, they can ask (demand?) a Mac Mx device because that has the same OS they learned on in college. (I mentioned in another post about new hires demanding Pascal for their programming language for the same reason, they learned it in college.)

Most Chromebook users usually have no choice but Windows, unless they are in a less-demanding office job, which AI is trying to take.

You should read my entire comment as I already said: "They tried and largely failed to convince schools to use iPads instead of Chromebooks so they had to try something else because that education market are your future customers."

Also Google doesn't care if use windows or mac to access their browser, office suite, etc. And I will tell you that most college kids use google docs and slides - even those with macbooks.

 

[erickmendes]

Well... The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED now is a 1500 USD down here in Brazil (importing fees and taxes...) so outside of USA "personal computing" is becoming a luxury...

We are barely seeing 8GB cost effective notebooks here, and the desktop building camp is also a total train wreck... a single 16GB DDR5 sub 6000 MTs stick is now going for upwards of 300 USD...

Now Jensen can wear a live aligator instead of just a jacket... I hope he is happy.

 

[human7]

Outside of the student and tablet space, this is also a very attractive device as a travel laptop. Us Techspot readers might not be the target audience for this device in general, but I can see myself buying one for use on the road or in the air.

 

[Jack77]

Remember the iMac? A simple yet complete and user-friendly computer in a nice sexy package. This almost looks like an iMacBook to me, but even more tailored to the masses.

 

[Lounds]

These will be the best selling Laptop by the summer for back to school/Uni students.

Apple has clearly done it's research what the most the average student/parent is willing to spend on a laptop device for education purposes.

I mean you'd be hard pressed to find a Dell laptop that's as well built as this and has a battery life as long as this new MacBook.

As someone who has a HP Intel Laptop for work and a MacBook Air M1 16/512GB as a personal device, the MacBook is significantly faster and has a better battery life.

 

[The Eck]

Of course! It's EASY with Windows and Android (which doesn't concern me at all anyway). I back-up to my PC SSD, PC HDD and my external SSD backup drive. No offsite because I don't care enough. If it's gone, it's gone, my life will go on just fine. I'm old and nearly dead anyway. lol

So in other words instead of a small monthly fee, you bought THREE drives, spend time copying between them, and still don’t have data security if your house gets broken into or burns down.

 

[p51d007]

Not everyone needs/wants a "flagship" top of the line phone, laptop, PC in their lives.
But you can't tell that to the bulk of the phone/laptop/pc companies. And why not?
Consumers have been buying them year after year.
My last PC, bought in 2023, I didn't want/need a gaming box, but I bought a lower end
gaming box because the graphics card/ram makes it better for what I use it for...photoshop.

 

[acrossthestars]

The problem with an 8GB laptop being sold for $500 is not the price, it’s the downstream implications. The Macbook Neo does not represent value, it represents strain. The entire tech industry is reeling, under hype-fuel hysteria and radical levels of incompetence and mismanagement. If saner heads were at the helms of Fortune 500 companies, we’d have killed off AI years ago. It’s doesn’t just produce no value, it produces negative value―time has to be spent proofreading the results, because unless it is regurgitating something already known from Stack Exchange, the default assumption is that it’s probably just making stuff up.

If the Neo were priced commensurate with where RAM should be (given advancements and innovations in DRAM technology), then it should be closer to $350. It’s just that RAM has become so scarce and expensive in such little time, that $500 now seems like a bargain because everything else has exploded in price by comparison. If anything, it's actually overpriced. But again, we don't live in the world of "three months ago, when things made sense", we live in the world of "now".

That the Macbook Neo is $500 is not a "wakeup" call for the PC industry. It's not "a revolutionary value proposition", it's an alarm bell. We're taking on water and we need to purge the ballasts, before we capsize and drown.

 

[Jack77]

The problem with an 8GB laptop being sold for $500 is not the price, it’s the downstream implications. The Macbook Neo does not represent value, it represents strain. The entire tech industry is reeling, under hype-fuel hysteria and radical levels of incompetence and mismanagement. If saner heads were at the helms of Fortune 500 companies, we’d have killed off AI years ago. It’s doesn’t just produce no value, it produces negative value―time has to be spent proofreading the results, because unless it is regurgitating something already known from Stack Exchange, the default assumption is that it’s probably just making stuff up.

If the Neo were priced commensurate with where RAM should be (given advancements and innovations in DRAM technology), then it should be closer to $350. It’s just that RAM has become so scarce and expensive in such little time, that $500 now seems like a bargain because everything else has exploded in price by comparison. If anything, it's actually overpriced. But again, we don't live in the world of "three months ago, when things made sense", we live in the world of "now".

That the Macbook Neo is $500 is not a "wakeup" call for the PC industry. It's not "a revolutionary value proposition", it's an alarm bell. We're taking on water and we need to purge the ballasts, before we capsize and drown.

Apple was always premium priced. And even apart from the rampocalypse, laptops have become far too expensive over the past years.

 

[deemon]

Clickbait title. It's not 500$, but 600$ (-1). And even then before taxes. In Europe it's closer to 700€ (818$) for the 256GB storage model.

 

[LordVile95]

Clickbait title. It's not 500$, but 600$ (-1). And even then before taxes. In Europe it's closer to 700€ (818$) for the 256GB storage model.

It’s $500 on the education store. I can get it for £499 in the UK. It’s available in France and Germany for €599

 

[LordVile95]

The problem with an 8GB laptop being sold for $500 is not the price, it’s the downstream implications. The Macbook Neo does not represent value, it represents strain. The entire tech industry is reeling, under hype-fuel hysteria and radical levels of incompetence and mismanagement. If saner heads were at the helms of Fortune 500 companies, we’d have killed off AI years ago. It’s doesn’t just produce no value, it produces negative value―time has to be spent proofreading the results, because unless it is regurgitating something already known from Stack Exchange, the default assumption is that it’s probably just making stuff up.

If the Neo were priced commensurate with where RAM should be (given advancements and innovations in DRAM technology), then it should be closer to $350. It’s just that RAM has become so scarce and expensive in such little time, that $500 now seems like a bargain because everything else has exploded in price by comparison. If anything, it's actually overpriced. But again, we don't live in the world of "three months ago, when things made sense", we live in the world of "now".

That the Macbook Neo is $500 is not a "wakeup" call for the PC industry. It's not "a revolutionary value proposition", it's an alarm bell. We're taking on water and we need to purge the ballasts, before we capsize and drown.

You think an aluminium unibody laptop with the level of build quality and a solid chip that outperforms most laptops under a grand should be $350?

 

[matthisd]

It's designed for middle schools to have a cheap laptop to hand out - NOT to disrupt the laptop space.

For good or ill, Apple rarely does anything for just one reason. Both stories are true.

 

[LordVile95]

For good or ill, Apple rarely does anything for just one reason. Both stories are true.

It’s a bit wrong. This is too expensive for schools to consider vs chromebooks at half the cost. This is targeted at university students and people who’s parents are buying them a first “real” laptop which would have been a HP or Dell in the 400-700 price range

 

[acrossthestars]

You think an aluminium unibody laptop with the level of build quality and a solid chip that outperforms most laptops under a grand should be $350?

I think the Macbook Neo is overpriced by at least $100, due to the RAM allotment. The build quality and SoC saves it.

 

[LordVile95]

I think the Macbook Neo is overpriced by at least $100, due to the RAM allotment. The build quality and SoC saves it.

It’s not a windows laptop, MacOS does fine with 8GB of RAM. They’ve only just bumped up the air to 16GB.

Also with the price of RAM now good look finding any new laptops launching with 16GB at this price point.

 

[BobHome]

You dont need a file manager to clean up either Android or iOS. 99.9999% of data put on these machines are photos, videos, or applications, all of which can be deleted or de synced with a simple push.

And you CAN connect an ipad/iphone to a PC and pull photos off of it with USB. I dont know where that idea came from.

The primary educational buyers of chromebooks are not colleges. Students are responsible for that themselves.

It's elementary, middle, and high schools, none of which will be interested in an apple device that lacks the management tools of Chrome and costs 2-3X as much.

I agree. But when ALOS devices arrive pushing Plus features, their prices will most likely be in the same Neo arena.
Google does have the advantage in admin software for K-12. Today. But the longer they take to get their hew hardware to market--and debugged, the longer Apple has to perfect their school software. Gonna get interesting, I believe.

 

[matthisd]

It’s a bit wrong. This is too expensive for schools to consider vs chromebooks at half the cost. This is targeted at university students and people who’s parents are buying them a first “real” laptop which would have been a HP or Dell in the 400-700 price range

Apple will never compete against the lowest price, but if you factor in volume purchase pricing, the value proposition will be tougher for Chromebooks, even in schools. And while "real" might not be relevant for "laptop", it definitely is for "OS"

 

[LordVile95]

Apple will never compete against the lowest price, but if you factor in volume purchase pricing, the value proposition will be tougher for Chromebooks, even in schools. And while "real" might not be relevant for "laptop", it definitely is for "OS"

Schools don’t really care about “value”. They upgrade hardware on a time basis not a hardware one so typically the cheapest product is the one they get. Also volume pricing is much stronger with chromebooks.