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Apple Explains 'MacBook Neo' Name

eRondeau said:
I bet “Neo” will become Apple’s new low-end name for everything. Watch Neo. iPad Neo. iPhone Neo. AirPods Neo. etc etc etc. All in fun colours with limited features to keep the cost down.
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Apple also should have a "Meh" product line-up. Apple Vision Pro Meh, Apple Mouse Meh. So much Meh potential...
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I look at the apple MacBook Neo and I see an area marketing skipped over and that is the older folks that just want a basic laptop. I think this would be perfect for an elder citizen that just needs something to get online and to check emails. I for one am interested in it but as my travel laptop that is cheap. I have a M1 MacBook Air and this is interesting but I wait for a year or so before replacing the M1
 
ignatius345 said:
As much as I liked my black polycarbonite MacBook, I will concede that sucker got HOT. I actually bought a cutting board specifically to shield my legs from the heat...
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Yeah I loved my black MacBook. I used it until it physically died, at which point my company bought me my first MacBook Air (one of the core i7 ones.. I forget the year now… 2011?). This was when they also still made the 11” Air, which I got my then wife who was on 7-months of bed rest due to pregnancy complications. (Spoiler: our daughter came out just fine! No issues! Whew!). Before she got the 11” Air, she had the white polycarbonate MacBook. We both loved those machines. She eventually gave hers to her mom when she got the 11” Air.

I even had my mom get the same black MacBook who extolled the virtues of MagSafe. She is… shall we say.. quite clumsy. My parents lived in a full-size RV (the kind you tow with a Freightliner). She tripped over that power cord so many times, and never had an issue. She had Thinkpads several times prior to the MacBook and always tripped over the power cable. Every time she broke that DIN power connector. My stepdad had to take every ThinkPad apart to re-solder that connector for her. More than once, sometimes.

Like others, I was perplexed at the 12” weirdo MacBook. We got one for our son at the time, and now my daughter uses it somewhat regularly. I want to get this Neo for her as she enters high school, but she told me 2 days ago that she wants to learn 3D modeling and try using Blender.

Err.. well crap… there goes my idea…

Of course, I don’t know how serious she is about it. She said she’s already scoped out YouTube tutorial on it and watched how others use it. I just don’t know what she intends to do after that, tho. Build a character model…and…. ?

I’d hate to gimp her experience with the Neo, but I also don’t want pony up a MacBook Pro or iMac just to have her say “nah… changed my mind…I just wanna watch YouTubers play games” (WTF is that all about anyway!?). (Daddy ain’t flush with the dollars at the moment…). Yeah yeah I know… “invest in her future blah blah, learning blah, experience blah blah” yeah yeah…

Can someone install Blender on this Neo and report back? 😁
 
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Martinpa said:
I wasn’t really into the name at first, but it’s growing on me. I think keeping in mind the implied target demographic for this, it makes a lot more sense. The MacBook (not Air or Pro) has been out of the lineup for a while, and I think most people use “MacBook” to refer to that product category as a whole, so using the name for a singular product, at this point, would diminish the product recognition and differentiation, I feel.

I could see them using the Neo name for the iPhone #e line in the future, if they change the branding and direction of it a bit (and especially if they eventually drop the numbers altogether). Maybe even the base iPad. I don’t see it happening, but a Mac Neo could be an interesting proposition…
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iPhone-ee-oh
 
Just remember this "Neo" seems to be targeted at younger folks that typically have cell phones today. Apple iPhones can become a hotspot for a "Neo" in short order . The combo becomes like an iPad Pro with a decent keyboard and storage on two devices. 😳

I went for the 512gb model with Touch ID. The Neo and my iPhone 17 Pro Max 2TB (both acquired with my military discount) combination is less expensive that the M4 or M5 iPad Pro models with 2TB. 😎 I figure AirPods for shorter flights and my Boze headset for over the pond flights to the UK.

I ordered my Neo on 5 March at 1700 Arizona time and delivery has slid to March 20 to 27 from March 11.. So we do not know the initial build inventory but production must be ramping up for the demand. 🙄

I went for Citrus color as it is easy to see and will help remind me (soon to be age 81) to take it off the plane or out of the car. Need memory tricks now. 😱
 
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jjrtiger said:
I think this is intentional. A cheap and fast computer is such a basic commodity now that it’s akin to headphones or any other electronic staple for this target audience.
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And you know, there are people who spend thousands of dollars on sound systems who don’t spend thousands on computers. They put their money where they have a passion.
 
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ikramerica said:
And you know, there are people who spend thousands of dollars on sound systems who don’t spend thousands on computers. They put their money where they have a passion.
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Or thousands on a sound system for their car. But that car is like a 2000 nisan maxima.

Remember those days being next to one of those cars at a red light and your car is shaking because the dude next to you has his subwoofers on max
 
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Elwe said:
“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.
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Remember also that computers also used to be expensive to own because software was expensive. Apple started making everything “included” but now, most everything is available free or freemium, and a computer is just one more way to access subscriptions.

This machine is not intended for people with a lot of expensive software.
 
Love the contrast of highlighting the affordability of the Mac neo and the image of the girl using headphones which cost as much as the computer.
 
Interesting marketing photo...

I really wonder if someone who buys a $499 (student discount) MacBook Neo will actually wear a $549 headphone...

Apple with this marketing photo implies luxury - yet for a crowd that actually has to go for cheaper options when it comes to laptops.
Would these customers really spend more money on their headphones than on their laptop?
 
The marketing photo isn’t strange at all. It shows the Neo belongs and works in their ecosystem. And it’s not just for the budget minded.
 
Well, when it comes in new fun colors like silver, it definitely needs an equally fresh name to correspond! Way to go, Apple. Think Different!
 
tripleburst said:
The marketing photo isn’t strange at all. It shows the Neo belongs and works in their ecosystem. And it’s not just for the budget minded.
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I wonder about that.
Would you really spend more money on your headphones than on your laptop? That market is very small.
The crowd who buys MacBook Neos will also wear plain AirPods.

The latter I cannot subscribe to. Anyone who is not budget minded has to buy a MacBook Air at least.
Personally I was very interested in the rumored new MacBook, but with a measly 512GB of HD storage - I am out.
Me, I am not budget minded, and happy to pay $5,000 for a MacBook Neo with 8TB of SD storage space. Alas, Apple does not give me a choice here...
 
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