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MacBook Neo: Apple admitting iPads have failed to compete with Chromebooks?
- Thread starter CloudChief
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Apple_Robert
Contributor
The Neo is not Apple admitting anything about iPad. The Neo is about Apple making the entry level Mac more affordable to a larger user base.
But surely the iPad used to be, and still is, positioned as an entry level computer. If you needed to browse the web and do emails, get an iPad. Now you could get a Neo.
Chromebooks did more than tablets. They were not the same thing.
Simply attaching the folio keyboard etc to the iPad didn’t make the equivalent of a Chromebook.
The new Neo likewise is running the full macOS so not really comparable to chronebooks.
Simply attaching the folio keyboard etc to the iPad didn’t make the equivalent of a Chromebook.
The new Neo likewise is running the full macOS so not really comparable to chronebooks.
iHorseHead
macrumors 68020
There are many Android tablets as well, outside of the US and Western Europe. Now people are gonna be: I haven't seen.
Well, I have. Just saw two people on the train using Android tablets and me using an iPad to watch a movie and the rest were on their phones and one was reading a book. A real book. Shocking. I know.
Well, I have. Just saw two people on the train using Android tablets and me using an iPad to watch a movie and the rest were on their phones and one was reading a book. A real book. Shocking. I know.
I’m coming at it from the education market’s perspective. Up until now it’s been iPad or Chromebook really (maybe cheap windows laptops)
Did you get a look over their shoulder? 😂
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/hidden-phone-holder-inside-a-book--855965472896746786/
Yr Blues
macrumors 68030
Apple admitting that the economy sucks and they can't force people to buy luxury computers.
Arran
macrumors 603
Quite. If the world economy goes south in the next few years we might all need to lower our expectations.
I don’t think it’s accidental the Neo is being released now.
4sallypat
macrumors 603
Our school district uses iPad Pro for teachers, staff and some advanced science classes.
I have been issued an iPad Pro and iPad Gen 10 but never use it.
OTOH when I fly planes, I use the iPad Mini on my thigh/knee board for ATC instructions, checklists, aviation traffic alerts, cross country navigation, and fuel management.
Can't use a Neo or any laptop on my knee while I fly a plane and try to type while I hand fly a small plane.😵
Sanlitun
macrumors 6502a
There's things I do with a keyboard and things I don't. I have a use case for both iPad and Neo.
Remember the iPad for education event 8 years ago where they tried to tell the world that the iPad was better than a Chromebook? Well that didn't work and I'm sure that played a part in their decision to go this route.
I’ve been an iPad Pro user for over a decade. I was/am an avid ultrabook user (the 2008 MacBook Air was the best I've owned so far) and actually own an 11.6" Air (2015) and a 12" MacBook (2017), but for years, I’ve purposely left them behind and traveled only with my iPad Pro 12.9/13", truly wanting it to be my primary device. But let’s be real—the limitations of iPadOS are still there.
Does this mean Apple is admitting the iPad failed? Maybe not entirely, but the MacBook Neo feels like a necessary pivot to win the K-12 market. Right now, Chromebooks dominate with about 60% share because they hit that $250–$300 volume pricing. Windows laptops and desktops hold about 14–15%, and iPads are stuck at a similar 15%. Honestly, the iPad has only stayed that relevant because schools are so tied to Google Workspace.
If Apple launches the Neo at $499 Edu and pushes volume discounts into the $300s, it’s a total game changer. It’s the perfect "First Mac" strategy.
Think about the ecosystem: 88% of US teens already use iPhones, and 40-50% of college students are on Macs. By filling that K-12 gap with an affordable macOS device, Apple is securing the next 10 years of the garden. If the Neo succeeds, the iPad can finally go back to being a great tablet instead of trying to be a compromised laptop.
Does this mean Apple is admitting the iPad failed? Maybe not entirely, but the MacBook Neo feels like a necessary pivot to win the K-12 market. Right now, Chromebooks dominate with about 60% share because they hit that $250–$300 volume pricing. Windows laptops and desktops hold about 14–15%, and iPads are stuck at a similar 15%. Honestly, the iPad has only stayed that relevant because schools are so tied to Google Workspace.
If Apple launches the Neo at $499 Edu and pushes volume discounts into the $300s, it’s a total game changer. It’s the perfect "First Mac" strategy.
Think about the ecosystem: 88% of US teens already use iPhones, and 40-50% of college students are on Macs. By filling that K-12 gap with an affordable macOS device, Apple is securing the next 10 years of the garden. If the Neo succeeds, the iPad can finally go back to being a great tablet instead of trying to be a compromised laptop.
I think everyone is going to be adjusting their offerings to lower price points.
Memory prices are too high because of the AI explosion for one, then world events causing price spikes of other essential supplies.
Chromebooks seem really strong in the education market.
cateye
macrumors 65816
The point of the Chromebook is the seamless, cloud-based management. That's why they rule K-12. Apple offers nothing similar. It has nothing to do with hardware. The Neo doesn't change that. That doesn't mean it won't be successful or won't appeal to students or anything of the sort. But Apple's expertise and success has always come from targeting consumers, not institutions.
When Apple comes late to the party, they are often positioned to take it over. iPod, iPad, iPhone, MacBook Air. None of them where the first of their kind, but they took over the market by doing it better.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Apples and oranges, ipads are tablets, where those types of devices excel at content consumption, where as laptops are superior to content creation. Tablets will never be able to compete with laptop form factors. Just ask Microsoft with their surface tablets and windows 8
throAU
macrumors G4
Apple does not position the ipad as a laptop replacement, it is a complementary device.
Totally agree on this. It hurts to know that finally Apple gave up creating iPad + Magic keyboard as their Chromebook type device. There are too many systemic limitations on iPadOS for productivity like Chromebook.
Ya know, this is so true, why?
Not because the iPad is clunky or something, far from it, with its M cpu. It's because they are too shortsighted to let it run Windows and Mac OS, which apparently will happen eventually anyway, if they put touchscreens in MacBooks.
So now we have Neo, which is fine, albeit perhaps unnecessary.
Not because the iPad is clunky or something, far from it, with its M cpu. It's because they are too shortsighted to let it run Windows and Mac OS, which apparently will happen eventually anyway, if they put touchscreens in MacBooks.
So now we have Neo, which is fine, albeit perhaps unnecessary.