mrboult
macrumors 6502
“MacBook Neo is new, exciting, original, and HERE”
OMG so lame - they should have not said anything 😂
OMG so lame - they should have not said anything 😂
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Apple Explains 'MacBook Neo' Name
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The more I've thought about it the more I like it, in concept anyway. They may have cut a bit too much with this version but it'll be interesting to see the first revision. That's usually the one to get anyway whenever Apple comes out with a new product line.
Abydos
macrumors 6502
marketing doing what marketing does, seen too much of the automobile industry over the years to care, at this point keep your hands off the wallet
dontwalkhand
macrumors 604
I am excited for this thing actually, I preordered mine. I plan on using it more of an iPad keyboard replacement, than a true "Mac." For more powerful tasks, I have a MBP 16" I will use instead.
ShufromChina
macrumors regular
On second thought, I think it is good that this line differentiates itself from the 12-inch MacBook 10 years ago. Ancient laptops aside, IMO only the premium and elegantly built ultra thin and light MacBooks deserve the "MacBook" name, no suffix.
cateye
macrumors 65816
We need to go deeper, to reach the Youths using the language of their peers, so they realize we're "hip" to their computing needs:
MacBook Slaps
MacBook 6-7
MacBook Is Not Cooked
MacBook Bruh
I think it's a really cheesy name, I get it's supposed to be the 'new return' of the entry level MacBook but just call it MacBook.
iHorseHead
macrumors 68020
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
Still think I prefer "CookBook" that someone suggested a few days back.
Finding a bargain bin way to use old and/or bum iPhone chips is as Tim Cook as it gets.
Finding a bargain bin way to use old and/or bum iPhone chips is as Tim Cook as it gets.
ClaraStahlbaum
macrumors 6502a
I would prefer the name "Macbook E" to go in line with the 16E and 17E.
Compote
macrumors 6502
Yes someone already pointed out that the AirPod Max on the illustration shot were more expensive than the laptop itself, making the advert look completely ridiculous.
My guess would have been Neon but the Indigo one might be too dark of a shade to be classed as Neon and Silver doesn’t really count. 😂
Until a last-minute leak revealed the MacBook Neo name, it was widely assumed that Apple's lower-cost MacBook would simply be named "MacBook." After all, Apple offered a plain "MacBook" from 2006 to 2012, and again from 2015 to 2019. In the end, Apple did go with MacBook Neo branding, and it has explained why in a new interview.
In short, Apple said MacBook Neo sounds fresh.
"We wanted something that felt fun and friendly, and fresh, and felt like it really suited the spirit of this product," said Colleen Novielli, a Mac product marketing director, in conversation with TechRadar's Lance Ulanoff.
Indeed, Apple has emphasized the MacBook Neo's newness.
"MacBook Neo is new, exciting, original, and HERE," said Apple's marketing chief Greg Joswiak, in a social media post on Wednesday. "With a beautiful aluminum design, 13-inch Liquid Retina display, 16 hours of battery life, and the power of Apple silicon, you'll fly through everyday tasks. It'll be love at first Mac."
Many of the MacBook Neo lifestyle images that Apple shared show young people. The more affordable laptop will undoubtedly be popular with students.
The colorful MacBook Neo starts at just $599 in the U.S., and at an even lower $499 for college students. Available in Blush, Citrus, Indigo, and Silver, the MacBook Neo is powered by a version of the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone, and it is equipped with a 13-inch display, up to 512GB of storage, and a non-configurable 8GB of RAM.
With the MacBook Neo, which launches on Wednesday, March 11, Apple could reshape the lower-end laptop market in a big way.
Article Link: Apple Explains 'MacBook Neo' Name
TruthAboveAllElse
macrumors 6502
JPack
macrumors P6
In the real world, this photo absolutely makes sense.
You underestimate how girls and women emphasize aesthetics and design. Yesterday, I had a number of friends comment how the yellow and pink Neos looked great and they were considering buying one to replace their M2 or M3 Airs or have one for air travel only. And they weren’t Apple enthusiasts. They just saw them on IG and TikTok.
bradman83
macrumors 68000
Apple's naming conventions for its various hardware tiers have been all over the place for a while now and this just adds to it.
Air used to mean thin and light. Sometimes it still does (iPhone Air, to a lesser extent MacBook Air), but now it just seems to mean midrange, especially with the MBA being Apple's mainstream consumer laptop and the iPad Air being neither thinner nor lighter than the Pros.
SE used to be the bargain basement model that came with some tradeoffs for the sake of price, but the iPhone SE has been replaced with the iPhone ##e and the base iPads and this new base MacBook never used the branding.
Air used to mean thin and light. Sometimes it still does (iPhone Air, to a lesser extent MacBook Air), but now it just seems to mean midrange, especially with the MBA being Apple's mainstream consumer laptop and the iPad Air being neither thinner nor lighter than the Pros.
SE used to be the bargain basement model that came with some tradeoffs for the sake of price, but the iPhone SE has been replaced with the iPhone ##e and the base iPads and this new base MacBook never used the branding.
mcilwraith
macrumors regular
It absolutely started internally as Non Expensive Option, then when they decided to keep it, they retconned it to new, exciting, original lol, 100%
“nowadays”? I’m probably what many here would consider an old foggie, and I don’t remember a time when most of marketing wasn’t “nonsensical”.
More directly, I think the correct response to your observation would be to say that the audience is different. The old MacBook—and by this I assume you meant the 12” MacBook with the Intel chip. Not the now ancient white/black plastic MacBooks of yore that weren’t exactly “light”—was relative expensive. I don’t think too many young students and people of limited means purchased them. I think it was white collar workers on the go. And people in the upper income stratas spending a lot of time in coffee shops or in transit. Or anyone who had the money and prioritized size/weight over almost anything.
That doesn’t seem to be the purpose of the Neo. This device clearly seems to be aimed at students, and people with less income. Including people on fix incomes. And people who simply want more color. I think it will cannibalize the base level MacBook Air purchases with those individuals, but Apple has clearly decided that is ok because of the greater market opportunity. I don’t know how the $400+ Chromebook market survives at all, and if I was Acer or Lenovo I would be worried about my lower end PC market.
By the way, inflation over the last 10 years has been significant. The cost difference between a new 2015 MacBook and a 2026 MacBook Neo is even more stark than it appears at first glance.