Resolved A lot of you are missing the Point of the NEO and the people who will buy it.

[4sallypat]

I would have had to wait and save up to get the MBA. The Neo fits my needs and budget.

And I will freely admit that I did not need to get 24 GN of RAM in my M4 Mac mini. I also determined that I did not need all of the power of the iPad Pro so I replaced my 2018 Pro with a M3 Air.

Yes, I bought 2 Neos for the price of 1 MBA.

Going on retirement income, Neo is perfectly situated for the fixed income people, students and the masses.

 

[davidg4781]

I've been thinking about this for a bit.

We saw a huge success of Apple Silicon and the Mx chips, chips that are growing in power faster than most Apple users need them.

Using Ax chips is a way for Apple to get moderately powered machines into the hands of the average or below average user. Users that are doing basic tasks. Heck, even my 17 Pro has a lot more power than I'll ever need. I was tempted to get the 17 or Air but wanted the 3rd camera because I had been taking pictures for work. Honestly, my 11 Pro was just fine for my needs except for the storage.

 

[montuori]

Well said and 100% agree - are you by chance a psychologist ?

Not even a little. I just program computers. 🙂 I'm also a theater designer. Do enough shoestring budget productions and you learn that working with limitations is not only part of the job but can lead to some interesting work. I've become distrustful of the idea that more (or more expensive) is somehow better. It's trite but boundaries often spark creativity.

We say a huge success of Apple Silicon and the Mx chips, chips that are growing in power faster than most Apple users need them.

I agree! I've got this M1 (Pro? Max? ... I can't keep it straight) Studio that I picked up to drive a bunch of projectors. I don't know what the impetus would be to upgrade. Certainly not processor bottlenecks. Compositing video or adding effects live doesn't work the machine very hard. And when I program I'm much slower than the compiler.

Sorry to ramble. The sour reaction to the Neo on MR was surprising to me. I think they're cheap and cheerful (and, with MacOS, damn useful).

 

[IvyKing]

Going to show my age a bit. When I was going through school and the short time I worked in network administration, The backbone was always 100 Mbps and all clients were at 10 Mbps. Those that needed better performance used higher spec computers while everyone else used thin clients.

Couldn't resist: When I was going to school, the "network" was twisted pairs running from the TTY Model 33's to the computer center - though we did have a few Hazeltine terminals laying around.

Having said that - each user should purchase whatever suits their needs. For me a Neo would not be a great choice for a primary laptop and neither would an MBA - the recent MBP's have HDMI ports, SD card slots and Magsafe, which is why I bought an M3 Pro MBP 2 years ago. As mentioned on some other threads, the Neo would make a nice travel computer.

For someone who could only afford $500 to $600 for a computer, the Neo would be a good choice, particularly since it would probably last longer than a comparable priced Windows laptop.

 

[Letlie]

I think the introduction of the Neo model is mainly about reaching a broader range of users, similar to the idea behind the iPhone Air. People who want higher-end specs can simply choose the other models and pay more for them.


This particular combination of price and configuration exists to serve the people who actually need it. It’s unrealistic to expect every product on the market to meet everyone’s expectations. Different products are designed for different needs.


From that perspective, I think it’s a reasonable approach by Apple, as it gives more people options to choose from. In the end, everyone can just pick the model that best fits their needs and budget.

 

[lowkey]

There are people on the forum strongly recommending a refurbished Air over the Neo. There seems to be a lot of interest in the Neo for multiple reasons and it will probably sell very well. My question to those saying get a refurbished Air instead is how many refurbished Airs are actually available. Very few listed on the Apple website which is the only place I would buy a refurbished device and they are a lot more expensive than a Neo.

In Australia it’s variable. Currently the cheapest refurb available is a $1469 M2 13” MBA. Neo is $899.

If money is your main concern, and I think it would be if you’re looking at a Neo, then it’s a lot less.