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MacBook Neo Can Only Drive One External Display at 4K 60Hz

lazyrighteye said:
ONLY ONE EXTERNAL?!??! 🤪

I would be surprised to learn the target audience would use an external - let alone be upset that it was limited to just one external. Same as my M2 MBA.

An external would likely cost more than Neo. Oof, I do not like that name. But I'm nor the target audince. Maybe it'll be well received. 😉
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Honestly I thought that one external display would only support Mirrored output. So this is a nice surprise.
 
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macaddiict said:
This just goes to show the extreme potential of iPhones and iPads that Apple has limited by their own shallow iOS releases

The Note9 from Samsung in 2019 could run high-res external monitor and a DeX desktop-like operating system - this was 6+ years ago on a medium end SnapDragon chip.

I'm disappointed that the people who work at Apple with the lackluster ability to use the hardware they sell the most of.
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Companies have tried teh "phone as a desktop" and it has not worked out well. Too many tradeoffs and so it's best keeping the phone a phone.

EugW said:
Anyhow, I unfortunately see the Neo as a netbook & Chromebook competitor. I was hoping to see it at 12 GB for $799 with some better features, but was disappointed. However, I suspect that in 2027 it will go to 12 GB when it gets an SoC update to A19 Pro. It will still likely be limited to 4K though, but that's OK.
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Given the market positioning, higher pricing would be a non-starter since you're getting closets the Air with an M. This price point positions it for as a mass market machine (think WalMart) where it is priced competitively with PC laptops. While it might be underpowered for many users, it seems well suited for someone who is doing basic things, or students who just need a laptop and want a Mac.

adamlbiscuit said:
This is their opportunity to make a smaller, cheaper, 4k display that sits under the Studio Display, and pairs well not just with the MacBook Neo, but also the iMac (aesthetically).
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That is a tough market, and Apple would likely not be able to make a monitor to Apple standards and be competitively priced. The new Studio displays aren't cheap but are very competitive for the market tehy are targeting.
 
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Has any hand-on yet confirmed whether it can run third-party apps normally like every other macOS device? Ie, it is not locked-down to appstore only. Also, does Rosetta2 run on it?
 
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I guess I'll find out on March 11 when I get mine, but this should still work with multiple external monitors through a DisplayLink Hub. I'm sure I'm missing something graphics wise, but we use a Plugable dock for work (remote job) and I plug my current MacBook Air into it after work & it works just fine with 3-4 external monitors.
 
I don't think the target customer for this device is going to be looking to use more than one external display at a time.
 
mk313 said:
I guess I'll find out on March 11 when I get mine, but this should still work with multiple external monitors through a DisplayLink Hub. I'm sure I'm missing something graphics wise, but we sue a Plugable dock for work (remote job) and I plug my current MacBook Air into it after work & it works just fine with 3-4 external monitors.
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DisplayLink uses software encoding to send the video stream; Apple doesn't advertise it because in some workloads your computer will be a lot slower outputting DisplayLink than with DisplayPort/direct output
 
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Should still be able to run multiple 4K displays via DisplayLink - same as the M1 MacBook Air. That setup worked flawlessly for me for years.
 
Hmm... For my kid, I was considering both a 512 GB Neo (in 2027 with 12 GB RAM) and a base MacBook Air, but I just realized the Neo may not even support my Huawei 28.2" 4K+ screen. I upgraded from that to a 6K and was going to give the 4K+ screen to my kid, but the Neo is limited to 4K. Normally I'd say that's OK for a product like this, but it would be a shame if the Neo I can't drive those extra 400 lines. My 4K+ screen is 3840x2560 but 4K is 3840x2160.
 
macaddiict said:
That's 6K

6K has ~12.9 million more pixels than 4K

It won't work
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I thought the MacRumors article here said LG and Sampson monitors are cheap and therefore the Mac Netbook could push them. That the only one it can't push is the ultra powerful Apple 5K.
 
turbineseaplane said:
I hope not!

The buyer of this will probably hook it up to a 1080p garbage monitor that will show off the ABYSMAL integer scaling of macOS.
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A "looks like" 1080p resolution on a 1080p monitor would not be integer scaled, it would be 100% pixel scale, whereas retina is a 200% pixel scale.
 
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