I get the hype.

[TSE]

Wife and I were tired of juggling a single MacBook Air between us so went out and bought a MacBook Neo today. Base model. Citrus.

Installed Figma. Claude. Discord. Parallels Desktop.

This makes no sense, but even with 8gbs of RAM, it runs Windows 11 just fine within Parallels for what I use it for (Project 1999, an older 3d MMORPG).

The vibrant color is fantastic. I love the white keys. I realize this is controversial, but I just wish the bezel was white as well to match my iMac.

For all intents and purposes it's equal to the Air's. It's bright. The colors are nice. It does the job.

The trackpad is actually BETTER than the haptic. It's incredible. If you haven't yet, go out and check it out at a store near you.

Only thing I notice is the battery does indeed drain a little faster. I like to take my laptop to the kitchen and play some Youtube while I clean it every night, and after half an hour it went to 92%. That's about 5 hours of battery life which is fine.

Overall, super happy. It's a nice, nice computer. The Air needs to go the way of the premium ultraportable. Make it two pounds. Thinner than ever. The Neo just ate its lunch.

 

[jonasen]

Interesting!
But yeah Parallells eat battery also on a more powerful machine so the drain is expected.
I think it would struggle for my developer work but it's not meant for that, for anyone who just browse the web, watch movies and word processing it must be the best machine you can get now for its price.

 

[apostolosdt]

Running Parallels+Windows 11 on an 8 RAM sounds really interesting. So what basically you're saying is that Neo runs with effectively 4 RAM just fine! I'do like to hear more, if you don't mind.

 

[1rottenapple]

Interesting. I do find the display slightly less vibrant while I’m st the store. But perhaps I need to spend more time looking at different sites.

I like the idea of white bezels! So true I love the old designs it would look great with white.

 

[ruslan120]

I was unimpressed with the screen and could immediately tell it was lower quality than Air / Pro.

But I’ve been spoiled by the Pro / XDR screens..

Agreed 100% on the trackpad - prefer it over Haptic 100%.

 

[bapegg]

When it comes to the Neo's screen, it all depends on what you are use to.

I am still using 24" 1080P monitors with my Mac mini and Dell Optiplex. I also have a 2018 iPad Pro and M3 iPad Air. I don't notice much difference between all of those and the Neo's screen.

I was using an iPad for all of my portable needs until recently when I found I need to run actual MacOS software. I bought the Neo and it has been great for my uses.

 

[4sallypat]

When it comes to the Neo's screen, it all depends on what you are use to.

I am still using 24" 1080P monitors with my Mac mini and Dell Optiplex. I also have a 2018 iPad Pro and M3 iPad Air. I don't notice much difference between all of those and the Neo's screen.

I was using an iPad for all of my portable needs until recently when I found I need to run actual MacOS software. I bought the Neo and it has been great for my uses.

Yes Neo's display is very good and I use the Apple Studio Display gen 1 with my M1 Mac Studio Max and very comparable for my aging eyes.

 

[1rottenapple]

I was unimpressed with the screen and could immediately tell it was lower quality than Air / Pro.

But I’ve been spoiled by the Pro / XDR screens..

Agreed 100% on the trackpad - prefer it over Haptic 100%.

Yes agree. I can’t expect the screen of the Neo to be like the my mba 15 when the Neo is 599 starting price. Same with the 17e vs my 17 air with ultra bright display that I love btw when I’m outdoors.

 

[loby]

A friend bought a Neo and brought it to me today so I could take a look as I recommended it to her.

After analysis, I prefer the MacBook Air over the Neo, including my (2x) MacBooks (2015 and 2017 models).

The Neo..a good Mac. But not for me. Would I get one...maybe if I needed it, but prefer paying more for the superior Macbook Air.

If you don't compare the three MacBooks side-by-side you would not notice the major differences when compared with Neo, but when you do..you can definitely notice the differences.

The Neo's trackpad is "ok", but cheap-ie compared to the MacBook Air and the old MacBook. Neo's Screen is good, but when you compare it to the Macbook and MacBook Air...cannot compare to them. Neo's screen is just "ok". The Neo's keyboard was surprisingly good and it was what I would say is the highlight of the Neo. I do like MacBook Air's keyboard and of course the MacBook's butterfly keyboard...well... Neo is bulkier and heavier than MacBook Air and of course the light and thin MacBook beats both in travel.

Price...Neo wins and is why probably people are running to it. Great laptop for the price.

But..I prefer the old thin and light MacBook over the Neo and the MacBook Air is way out of both the other's league.

The MacBook Air is the best.

I am typing this on my MacBook 2015. I have a maxed out 2017...perfect for travel, but is becoming now limited but still usable on macOS Ventura.

 

[TSE]

A friend bought a Neo and brought it to me today so I could take a look as I recommended it to her.

After analysis, I prefer the MacBook Air over the Neo, including my (2x) MacBooks (2015 and 2017 models).

The Neo..a good Mac. But not for me. Would I get one...maybe if I needed it, but prefer paying more for the superior Macbook Air.

If you don't compare the three MacBooks side-by-side you would not notice the major differences when compared with Neo, but when you do..you can definitely notice the differences.

The Neo's trackpad is "ok", but cheap-ie compared to the MacBook Air and the old MacBook. Neo's Screen is good, but when you compare it to the Macbook and MacBook Air...cannot compare to them. Neo's screen is just "ok". The Neo's keyboard was surprisingly good and it was what I would say is the highlight of the Neo. I do like MacBook Air's keyboard and of course the MacBook's butterfly keyboard...well... Neo is bulkier and heavier than MacBook Air and of course the light and thin MacBook beats both in travel.

Price...Neo wins and is why probably people are running to it. Great laptop for the price.

But..I prefer the old thin and light MacBook over the Neo and the MacBook Air is way out of both the other's league.

The MacBook Air is the best.

I am typing this on my MacBook 2015. I have a maxed out 2017...perfect for travel, but is becoming now limited but still usable on macOS Ventura.

I understand what you are saying. Absolutely. When you put a Neo next to an Air, the differences are noticeable.

I do agree with you that the 2017 MacBook is still very special. Really all Apple needs to do is take it, put an M5 in it, put a bigger screen in to shrink the bezels, put a second USB-C port on it, and replace the butterfly keyboard with the current ones and call it a MacBook Air and it would sell like hotcakes.

Then you have:

MacBook Neo, $599: The Mac for most people.

MacBook Air, $1099: The Mac for people who travel a lot.

MacBook Pro, $1699: The Mac for the professional.

 

[loby]

I understand what you are saying. Absolutely. When you put a Neo next to an Air, the differences are noticeable.

I do agree with you that the 2017 MacBook is still very special. Really all Apple needs to do is take it, put an M5 in it, put a bigger screen in to shrink the bezels, put a second USB-C port on it, and replace the butterfly keyboard with the current ones and call it a MacBook Air and it would sell like hotcakes.

Then you have:

MacBook Neo, $599: The Mac for most people.

MacBook Air, $1099: The Mac for people who travel a lot.

MacBook Pro, $1699: The Mac for the professional.

Humm…with the old Macbook size and weight, you could “say” now it is an “Air” instead of the current Macbook Air.

Keeping the tapered body like the M1 would work MUCH better than the current Macbook Air’s boxy square feel. My arms and wrist start to hurt a little on the current Air and the hard edge after prolong use.

1. Make the Neo the Macbook
2. Make the old style 2017ish small and light (with its old body design) the Macbook Air
3. Macbook Pros 14” and 16”

No confusion anymore with Mac Laptop selections.

Make the Macbook Air design screen bigger than the old Macbook, bit keeping the same body size (which then screen would be a 12.5-.75”, killing the bezels and add another USB-C port and fix the keyboard, with a M5 chip…that’s a dream!

 

[geta]

A friend bought a Neo and brought it to me today so I could take a look as I recommended it to her.

After analysis, I prefer the MacBook Air over the Neo, including my (2x) MacBooks (2015 and 2017 models).

The Neo..a good Mac. But not for me. Would I get one...maybe if I needed it, but prefer paying more for the superior Macbook Air.

If you don't compare the three MacBooks side-by-side you would not notice the major differences when compared with Neo, but when you do..you can definitely notice the differences.

The Neo's trackpad is "ok", but cheap-ie compared to the MacBook Air and the old MacBook. Neo's Screen is good, but when you compare it to the Macbook and MacBook Air...cannot compare to them. Neo's screen is just "ok". The Neo's keyboard was surprisingly good and it was what I would say is the highlight of the Neo. I do like MacBook Air's keyboard and of course the MacBook's butterfly keyboard...well... Neo is bulkier and heavier than MacBook Air and of course the light and thin MacBook beats both in travel.

Price...Neo wins and is why probably people are running to it. Great laptop for the price.

But..I prefer the old thin and light MacBook over the Neo and the MacBook Air is way out of both the other's league.

The MacBook Air is the best.

I am typing this on my MacBook 2015. I have a maxed out 2017...perfect for travel, but is becoming now limited but still usable on macOS Ventura.

Except that both MBA and MBN weigh the same, but with a different weight distribution that makes the MBN feel heavier.

 

[loby]

Except that both MBA and MBN weigh the same, but with a different weight distribution that makes the MBN feel heavier.

I guess the MacBook Air distributes the weight better, for when I compared the Neo with it, the Neo felt heavier.

 

[geta]

I guess the MacBook Air distributes the weight better, for when I compared the Neo with it, the Neo felt heavier.

Had the same "problem" every time I held both in my hand in the store… but I still preferred the overall size of the Neo.

 

[tomtad]

I guess the MacBook Air distributes the weight better, for when I compared the Neo with it, the Neo felt heavier.

It's a physically smaller device, but the same weight as the Air. That's why it feels heavier

 

[Hajj.david]

Wife and I were tired of juggling a single MacBook Air between us so went out and bought a MacBook Neo today. Base model. Citrus.

Installed Figma. Claude. Discord. Parallels Desktop.

This makes no sense, but even with 8gbs of RAM, it runs Windows 11 just fine within Parallels for what I use it for (Project 1999, an older 3d MMORPG).

The vibrant color is fantastic. I love the white keys. I realize this is controversial, but I just wish the bezel was white as well to match my iMac.

For all intents and purposes it's equal to the Air's. It's bright. The colors are nice. It does the job.

The trackpad is actually BETTER than the haptic. It's incredible. If you haven't yet, go out and check it out at a store near you.

Only thing I notice is the battery does indeed drain a little faster. I like to take my laptop to the kitchen and play some Youtube while I clean it every night, and after half an hour it went to 92%. That's about 5 hours of battery life which is fine.

Overall, super happy. It's a nice, nice computer. The Air needs to go the way of the premium ultraportable. Make it two pounds. Thinner than ever. The Neo just ate its lunch.

Have you tried running project 1999 in crossover or wine? Will save you a ton of overhead when running it

 

[TSE]

Have you tried running project 1999 in crossover or wine? Will save you a ton of overhead when running it

I've tried so many times. Never succeeded, it's too complicated. If you would be able to help me with it, I'd super appreciate it. I've tried following step-by-step instructions and never really succeeded. Let me know!