ASUS Executive Says MacBook Neo is 'Shock' to PC Industry

[JohnC1959]

I'm curious why you say Apple is insulated from DRAM cost increases. (Not being sarcastic - genuinely curious.) Apple buys DRAM from Samsung (and probably others), and even with high volume, they aren't immune to increased costs.

One thing Apple does have going for it is a high gross margin, which means they can afford to eat into that a bit instead of passing the extra cost on directly to the consumer.

I'm suspecting this is key to their strategy. By making the price too good to refuse they can get some into the Apple laptop market that might have never made that entry. Once in they are more likely to later buy pricier models as they outgrow the Neo. I agree that Apple isn't insulted from the DRAM increases

 

[boswald]

That’s one thing I admire about Apple: whenever they launch something, the world notices. It must be a great boon to everyone involved with those products. I’d love to have and kind of mark on history!

 

[mjs916]

I think the real shock to the system is that Apple has released a comparatively premium-feeling laptop at a price point that PC vendors have occupied for years with 🐕💩 commodity hardware. If Apple, with its stored profit margins, can comfortably enter this market segment without making too many show-stopping compromises, what exactly have PC vendors been selling their customers all this time?

They say this about Apple on the premium side of things though (charging a lot more for what competitors offer for less) so there is that possible counterpoint.

 

[ProMotionPotato]

I'm curious why you say Apple is insulated from DRAM cost increases. (Not being sarcastic - genuinely curious.) Apple buys DRAM from Samsung (and probably others), and even with high volume, they aren't immune to increased costs.

One thing Apple does have going for it is a high gross margin, which means they can afford to eat into that a bit instead of passing the extra cost on directly to the consumer.

You're right to push back on that. I was imprecise. Apple still buys DRAM and still faces the same market. What I should have said is that Apple has two things working in their favour that most PC vendors don't.

First, 8GB minimises their DRAM exposure at the worst possible moment in the cycle. Every gigabyte you don't ship is a gigabyte you don't have to buy at peak pricing. That's not immunity, it's a hedge.

Second, exactly what you said - the margin buffer means they can absorb remaining cost pressure rather than pass it to the consumer. Which is the other half of why $599 holds while competitors are forced to raise prices.

So really you've identified the second mechanism I left out. Both of them point in the same direction.

 

[TheAngryKiwi]

Nah, the guy has not spend time on MR where the Gimpbook is praised with 8 times slower SSD speed, no P3, a whimsy Mediatek WiFi and the base model not even havin TouchID ...

I'll not slag the Neo... looks fine for many and can't beat the price point (especially if you live in the USA). I do wonder one thing, the reviewers all playing 4k video in Resolve and Final Cut as if that means a lot. Play or editing? Becuase playing 4k video in DR or FCP is no more taxing than playing a 4k video in VLC or Infuse. I know photoshop will be ok since I used to edit on my mini 2 base model with no problems.

Brian Tong tested it in FCP with 3 layers of video and audio plus 15 layers of video and audio and compared export times with other M series machines. It was similar to the M1 but slower than the others.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Put macOS on iPads and go for the kill shot!

Do it Tim!!

"Hey Siri: Activate the Courage!"

 

[vegetassj4]

Microsoft to mass produce their new laptop, codenamed Smith in response.

 

[McScooby]

I'm curious why you say Apple is insulated from DRAM cost increases. (Not being sarcastic - genuinely curious.) Apple buys DRAM from Samsung (and probably others), and even with high volume, they aren't immune to increased costs.

One thing Apple does have going for it is a high gross margin, which means they can afford to eat into that a bit instead of passing the extra cost on directly to the consumer.

It’s not the volume per se, it’s the fact that they’ll have already tied up multi year deals at fixed price points which allow them to weather the storm of volatility.

 

[JPack]

Yeah, that dig about content consumption felt like wishful thinking. He seems to be hoping it’ll cannibalize iPad sales … instead of eating into PC and Chromebook sales.

The Asus CEO doesn't seem to have evolved his views on what mainstream notebook usage scenarios are these days. A lot of it is no longer offline apps. If Apple were targeting content consumption, they would have launched a cheap 13-inch iPad with a cheap keyboard.

"So I think when Apple positioned the product, it's probably focused more on content consumption. This differs somewhat from mainstream notebook usage scenarios because in that case, the Neo feels more like a tablet because tablets are mostly for content consumption."

 

[startergo]

The only thing is that on a 600 USD total price product you need to put 65-120 USD Parallels yearly subscription to get Windows running. And running a virtual machine with a total of 8GB RAM. Good luck!

 

[JPack]

It’s not the volume per se, it’s the fact that they’ll have already tied up multi year deals at fixed price points which allow them to weather the storm of volatility.

That's just wishful thinking. Nobody, not Apple, Lenovo, nor Dell before this AI boom did multi-year deals. The DRAM and NAND business was a commodity with regular boom and bust cycles. You don't lock in because prices can always go lower. Nobody could have predicted COVID (boom) nor the overcapacity after it (bust) and then the AI boom. Tim Cook already stated during the last earnings call they expect market pricing for memory "increasing significantly."

 

[iDento]

Was the ASUS executive living under a rock? We first learned of a low cost MacBook in the works in 2020,..a full 6 years ago!

He thought it’s going to be like their “low cost” laptops with plastic bodies, squeaky keyboards, underpowered processors and a screen that looks like a TFT monitor. He isn’t shocked it exist, he’s shocked by how good it is for $599.

 

[G5isAlive]

and yet some people here are calling this a gimpbook

Some people here will be eating a lot of crow… until the next product announcement

 

[McScooby]

That's just wishful thinking. Nobody, not Apple, Lenovo, nor Dell before this AI boom did multi-year deals. The DRAM and NAND business was a commodity with regular boom and bust cycles. You don't lock in because prices can always go lower. Nobody could have predicted COVID (boom) nor the overcapacity after it (bust) and then the AI boom. Tim Cook already stated during the last earnings call they expect market pricing for memory "increasing significantly."

Wishful… https://www.igorslab.de/en/apple-and-dram-long-term-contracts-expiring-from-2026/

 

[JPack]

Wishful… https://www.igorslab.de/en/apple-and-dram-long-term-contracts-expiring-from-2026/

A lot of hearsay on that page. I'd be more inclined to believe it if any credible analyst, even if they never asked a question during a con-call, wrote something about it.

 

[ChedNasad]

The fact that they are launching this thing right when it wont even be feasible soon to for their competition in most cases to offer anything reasonable at this price point due to ram and storage costs is pretty crazy. Apple very well may just totally own this space now for the foreseeable future.

 

[McScooby]

A lot of hearsay on that page. I'd be more inclined to believe it if any credible analyst, even if they never asked a question during a con-call, wrote something about it.

Commercial confidentiality would exclude it. I somehow don't believe would have the foresight to tie up TSMC with chip capacity pre-orders including investing in the fab for upskilling etc. & not sure up the RAM side of the package, it's common sense, even if it hasn't been divulged on investor calls, as for analysts (no doubt getting info from MR etc), they're the last folk I'd listen to.

 

[Sami13496]

Well I have bashed the name ”Neo” but now I understand it’s indeed ”The One” 😂 The one to end Windows.

I guess corporations will still be using those Lenovos.

 

[JMalone]

Nah, the guy has not spend time on MR where the Gimpbook is praised with 8 times slower SSD speed, no P3, a whimsy Mediatek WiFi and the base model not even havin TouchID ...

Guy wants a MacBook Pro competitor for 500 dollars whoaaaa

 

[ButterF1ngers]

The most revealing line in this article isn't the "shock" comment. It's this: "all PC vendors, including upstream vendors like Microsoft, Intel and AMD, they're all taking this very seriously."

Upstream vendors. Intel and AMD. The chip makers.

The MacBook Neo is built on an iPhone chip manufactured at iPhone scale under Apple's direct TSMC supply agreements. Intel just raised entry level laptop CPU prices by more than 15%. DRAM costs are pushing mainstream laptop prices toward a 40% increase this year. Apple is insulated from both.

So while the rest of the PC ecosystem scrambles to launch "corresponding products," they'll be doing it with more expensive chips, more expensive memory, and Windows overhead all while trying to hit a price point that Apple can defend permanently because their bill of materials is anchored to iPhone production economics, not PC market volatility.

Wu called it a content consumption device to manage expectations. But every major reviewer ran DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Lightroom and Chrome on it without issue this week. That's not a tablet. That's a computer that the entire PC industry just admitted they don't know how to compete with.

The clock isn't ticking for Apple.

This is a really interesting take - thanks for sharing! This really could be that tipping moment we've been waiting for.

 

[Naraxus]

As usual, Apple shows the rest of the industry the way and the beggars & hangers-on fall all over themselves to copy.

Same as it ever was

 

[wilderkun]

Happy that it’s making waves. Want to get a pro setup myself, (hopefully a Mac Pro) and then use a Neo on the couch/remote access. The Neo is great! I’ve always laughed at business people who buy a maxed out laptop and then never use anything more than word/excel/email. 90% of the public needs basically a 13in max laptop with a decent camera. I know it sounds cool to say that you need the most muscular laptop, but for one you can’t approach a high powered Desktop with a laptop. The current Max chips are great on a laptop, but as someone who regularly has 24 hour plus render times I’m glad I’ve used a desktop

 

[Naraxus]

Put macOS on iPads and go for the kill shot!

Do it Tim!!

"Hey Siri: Activate the Courage!"


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Absolutely not. You want MacOS, GET A MAC.

 

[wikiverse]

Apple is playing with kid gloves, they could easily set the neo base model a m4 and 16gb ram for like $50-100 more, then the $500ish Chromebook market will be truly cooked.

Only reason they didn’t is Tim Apples worry it will cannibalize the air, and the current ram price spike probably was also a factor

No. You would also need a bigger battery. The point of a more powerful chip is run more power hungry software - which requires more power. Then people will want more local storage for the apps that run on the M4, more ports for peripherals, a bigger trackpad so it's easier to use and suddenly you've got an Air and it costs $1000.

It's not as simple as just 'better chip, more ram'... those things require additional changes to make the laptop useful and if you don't have them you really start to feel the compromises and limitations of the rest of the hardware.

The neo is built for its current purpose. Once you expand beyond that, you want an Air with all the other, better hardware that it comes with. Once you expand beyond the capabilities of the Air, you want a Pro with all the better hardware that it comes with.

Most people buy a computer thinking 'I need a computer to do X, Y, Z' and get the cheapest one that meets those needs. If you're on this forum, you're more likely to say 'I will get the most powerful computer I can afford and then see what I can do with it', and most of the time that power never gets used.

 

[atarixle]

Let the MBN be limited to 8 GB of RAM. Heck, isn't it the Mac-Enthusiasts claim that Macs last longer than expected?
Most used Macs still got only 8 GB. May be the targeted users are the ones who never bought a brandnew one.