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Biggest Surprise With The Neo...

I compared the speakers on my Neo, 2018 iPad Pro, and M3 iPad Air. The iPad Pro sounded the best out of the three but it also has four speakers. The Neo wasn't very far behind the iPad Pro. And even though the iPad Air finished last, it still beats any Dell or HP laptop I have ever had.
 
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I almost never listen to music through my computers or iPads, use AirPods instead. Don't know why lol. I can't say the NEO surprised me, I find I am in tune with most of Apple's engineering, and I had read the reviews and specs carefully. I can say seeing it, using it, impressed me as I thought it would. It's a great computer for the price.
 
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Ha. I've been using the Neo all day, trying to run down battery. I haven't even listened to the speakers. Just did. Not bad. I will observe, I mostly use AirPods when using my laptop so speakers don't matter that much. No way they are better than the sound and bass through the AirPods, but the speakers do not suck.
 
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Zazoh said:
Ha. I've been using the Neo all day, trying to run down battery. I haven't even listened to the speakers. Just did. Not bad. I will observe, I mostly use AirPods when using my laptop so speakers don't matter that much. No way they are better than the sound and bass through the AirPods, but the speakers do not suck.
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The very first thing I noticed about the M4 Air was how horribly tinny and underwhelming the speakers were, especially in the $1000+ price point.

So I just assumed the Neo would sound even worse, having half as many drivers, but lo and behold… BLOWN AWAY ahaha. Especially at THIS price point.👏🏼
 
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Apple_Robert said:
Which color did she get and what was her reaction to seeing it in person?
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joshwithachance said:
Does she love it?! What color did you get her?
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She chose the Blush Neo with the 512GB SSD & TouchID keyboard. She loves it! She's coming from a pink 2018 MBAir with the awful keyboard which is also no longer holding a good charge. She really likes the keyboard, the sound quality and the performance for her use case. She's even using the trackpad more vs a mouse - she likes the control and responsiveness of the trackpad on the Neo! When I had both machines side by side while migrating her data, she stated that she thinks the blush color is a lot better than the pink on her old machine.

Note: I did a fresh install of her applications to avoid the need to run under Rosetta
 
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dborja said:
She chose the Blush Neo with the 512GB SSD & TouchID keyboard. She loves it! She's coming from a pink 2018 MBAir with the awful keyboard which is also no longer holding a good charge. She really likes the keyboard, the sound quality and the performance for her use case. She's even using the trackpad more vs a mouse - she likes the control and responsiveness of the trackpad on the Neo! When I had both machines side by side while migrating her data, she stated that she thinks the blush color is a lot better than the pink on her old machine.

Note: I did a fresh install of her applications to avoid the need to run under Rosetta
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I agree with her. I think the Blush color is Apple's best Pink color to date and that is coming from a guy who normally doesn't get drawn to or wowed by past pink Macs.
 
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I got the citrus 512GB Neo on launch day and so far my biggest surprise is just how good the screen actually is. I mostly use it for computer consulting work, doing everything from setting up network equipment to watching YouTube instructional vids, to general research for problems and error codes, and the the screen looks really good in varied lighting. From incandescent to natural sunlight through windows to overhead office fluorescents, it all looks good. I came from an M4pro (that I never really used for more than I described so I sold it) and I was worried that the screen would just not be good enough. It's certainly good enough, and bonus! it has great battery life and is lighter to carry, especially with the smaller power brick. In fact I'm still on the first charge and still have more than half of the battery. Also, I do love the citrus color!
 
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I agree about the speakers. I don't use mine much, but I do occasionally and a lot of times in clamshell mode. I assumed they were better because they are on the sides of the machine, but maybe they are just better overall.

The biggest surprise to me is just how capable this laptop is. Are they compromises? Sure. But it's still a great laptop that works just as well as my MacBook Air, but is decently smaller where it counts. I wasn't;t 100% sure I'd love it. I knew it was their 'budget' laptop, but they seem to have made all the right compromises (except the backlit keyboard) in my book.

There are a couple of posters on macrumors that seem to have made it their life's mission to tell everyone what a piece of crap the Neo is. I love mine. I do wish it had a backlit keyboard, but aside from that, I couldn't ask for anything more. It still amazes me that this thing runs on an iPhone chip. And that it can be charged with a tiny Anker 20 Watt charger that is roughly a 1" Cube. It's insane to me.

My dream machine would be that this sells so well that they branch out & sell an upgraded ultra thin model of it, something along the lines of the 12" Retina. But for now, that is as close as I can get to my favorite laptop ever, and I'm happy to have the option.
 
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mk313 said:
.....
My dream machine would be that this sells so well that they branch out & sell an upgraded ultra thin model of it, something along the lines of the 12" Retina. But for now, that is as close as I can get to my favorite laptop ever, and I'm happy to have the option.
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Yes, agree - if the Neo is a success, then I would hope Apple would design newer versions like thinner chassis 3D printing for the 12" rMB ultra thin desing or maybe incorporate titanium for sleek, thinner, premium looks ?

In comparison to a premium design, my iPhone Air has a sleek design with titanium casing which gets noticed when my co-workers and friends have the aluminum Pro or Pro Max 17.
 
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G5isAlive said:
I almost never listen to music through my computers or iPads, use AirPods instead. Don't know why lol. I can't say the NEO surprised me, I find I am in tune with most of Apple's engineering, and I had read the reviews and specs carefully. I can say seeing it, using it, impressed me as I thought it would. It's a great computer for the price.
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I think the thing that is really amazing is that if we find the fit and finish & usability to be impressive, the average user should be blown away versus the competition
 
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I’d also assumed that the speakers would be crappy but thinking about it, it makes total sense for the student market. watching films around a laptop in a small room, or showing off the latest tracks from a favourite artist… all free organic marketing if it simply sounds better than the alternatives.

Wouldn’t make much difference to the build cost but will make it the group favourite device, I’m imagining lots of people saying “play it on so-and-so’s laptop, it sounds better”.
 
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joshwithachance said:
The very first thing I noticed about the M4 Air was how horribly tinny and underwhelming the speakers were, especially in the $1000+ price point.

So I just assumed the Neo would sound even worse, having half as many drivers, but lo and behold… BLOWN AWAY ahaha. Especially at THIS price point.👏🏼
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Interesting, I assumed the speakers would be underwhelming, as the Apple autumn education offer in the UK is often free Beats headphones/AirPods, so people wouldn't be that fussed.
 
limesmoothie said:
Interesting, I assumed the speakers would be underwhelming, as the Apple autumn education offer in the UK is often free Beats headphones/AirPods, so people wouldn't be that fussed.
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Coming from many Macs - especially the 12" rMB that it replaced - stunning sound difference!
 
Built in speakers on laptops, tablets and computer monitors usually have poor sound quality. Apple did a good job with the Neo speakers. If you want or need studio quality then external speakers are the way to go.
 
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bapegg said:
Built in speakers on laptops, tablets and computer monitors usually have poor sound quality. Apple did a good job with the Neo speakers. If you want or need studio quality then external speakers are the way to go.
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Yes, on my 12" rMB I would quickly pair my Sony or Bose headsets when I wanted to listen to audio.

Now, the Neo has almost got me to do without headsets since the speakers are amazing.

But on an aircraft, I guess the headsets are still required....
 
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Im spoilt with my ipad 13 M4 speakers, they are amazing. I was still impressed with the Neo though. Blows the socks off the Acer Predator 4080 gaming laptop i have got, those speakers are so bad it annoys me whenever i hear them.
 
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