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MacBook Neo is So Popular That Apple Reportedly Doubled Production

Happy_John said:
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I fully agree with the first sentence, not so much with the second.

There is still enough people with high level of disposable incomes out there, even if they are a small minority compared to the overall population.

So there's more than enough potential customers for a $2000+ iPhone. What it come down to is Apple not overestimating demand. If they are fairly accurate with the expected demand, and so their production, they'll sell out.
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We will see. It’s a bold move in the opposite direction everything seems to be trending. If it works and they sell a bunch of $2000 folding phones, they’ll look like geniuses.

But I’d take the success of the base 17, and the failure of the Air as a bad warning sign. I think customers are more interested in solid “meat and potatoes” devices than expensive flashy gimmicks in 2026.
 
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Happy_John said:
Who is that? Never heard of them.
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Don’t worry. You will… eventually. 😉

Just an MR institution of sorts. They usually start a thread on a new Apple product to give you their unsolicited recommendation to buy/not buy and then appear to die on that hill with endless responses repeating mantra-like their overarching opinion (e.g. 8GB is too little and will likely not make three years of useful life). I find it humorous and in good fun but some folks take exception.
 
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Happy_John said:
But it's not a bad purchase.

It's only a bad purchase if you are not aware of or honest about your own use-case and needs.

If you need a tractor but you buy a golf-cart to do the work of a tractor instead, then that's really all on you, not on the golf-cart itself or on the manufacturer of the golf cart. You simply brought the wrong tool for the job.

And what the world really doesn't need are even more self-appointed online experts dishing out unsolicited "advice"

So it's not a case of being bad purchases it a case of bad purchasers. Caveat Emptor.
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Agree but I think some folks’ argument (not mine and I won’t name names) think selling the Neo with a “binned iPhone chip” and 8GB is akin to putting a hydraulic bucket on the front and a hitch with tiller on the back of the golf cart and saying it can do tractor type of work. If one didn’t know any better they’d think they were buying a tractor. At least that’s how some Neo detractors (there may be a pun in there somewhere lol) see the Neo. At any rate, I don’t think the Neo is a bad purchase at all and the online experts might mean well but are out of touch with who the average user is and what they really need for their day-to-day computing needs.
 
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The current response from manufacturers using Windows as their operating system is to offer laptops with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSDs. There is no mention that these same manufacturers thought that same configuration with a NEO was a non-starter. Sort of curious...🤨
 
conmee said:
At any rate, I don’t think the Neo is a bad purchase at all and the online experts might mean well but are out of touch with who the average user is and what they really need for their day-to-day computing needs.
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That is the perfect sum up. Too many people here calling Neo a bad purchase because it can’t do the things they do. Too many people with patches over their eyes, unable to realize that different users have different needs.

And that Neo’s capabilities move than cover the needs of a huge percentage of users. The numbers don’t lie.
 
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Didn't they first had manufracting problems because of the unexpected high sales and not having enough A18 chips?
 
Veoronox said:
Didn't they first had manufracting problems because of the unexpected high sales and not having enough A18 chips?
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Just because someone writes an article on a tech site doesn’t mean it’s true.

The only truth is that no one outside Apple knows how many chips they have, how many Neos were sold and if there is/will be a chip shortage.

Sounds like Apple is doing just fine production wise.
 
Happy_John said:
But it's not a bad purchase.

It's only a bad purchase if you are not aware of or honest about your own use-case and needs.

If you need a tractor but you buy a golf-cart to do the work of a tractor instead, then that's really all on you, not on the golf-cart itself or on the manufacturer of the golf cart. You simply brought the wrong tool for the job.

And what the world really doesn't need are even more self-appointed online experts dishing out unsolicited "advice"

So it's not a case of being bad purchases it a case of bad purchasers. Caveat Emptor.
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Except your analogy is wrong.


It's golf cart made to last 5k miles for 70% of the cost of golf cart made to last 30k miles.
 
StevesBobs said:
Except your analogy is wrong.


It's golf cart made to last 5k miles for 70% of the cost of golf cart made to last 30k miles.
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We don’t know that considering Neo was only released recently.

If it turns out that Neo will struggle with macOS 27 or 28, then maybe your thinking was right. Until then, the jury’s still out.
 
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My work daily driver is a M3 Air, but I've used my daughter's Neo. The one thing I found I miss more than I expected is the backlit keyboard - the Dell competitor does have an advantage there.

For my next personal computer I'm semi-seriously thinking about waiting to see what rev 2 of the Dell looks like; mabye getting one and slapping Linux Mint on it.
 
MacRumors said:


On an earnings call in late April, Apple's CEO Tim Cook said that customer response to the MacBook Neo was "off the charts," and the popularity of the laptop has reportedly led the company to significantly boost production.

MacBook-Neo-on-Yellow-Feature.jpg

Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo this week said he believes that MacBook Neo shipments to Apple were doubled from an initial target of 5 million units to 10 million units in 2026 at some point after the laptop launched in March.

Apple was very optimistic about the MacBook Neo before announcing it, but the company still "undercalled" the level of enthusiasm that the laptop would generate, according to Cook. He said that MacBook Neo demand exceeded Apple's expectations and helped to drive a record number of first-time Mac buyers last quarter.

New figures from market research firm IDC support Apple's claim that the MacBook Neo is selling well, and the Windows PC industry has taken notice. For example, Dell recently introduced a redesigned XPS 13 laptop from $699 and said it has features "you won't find on a MacBook Neo," such as a touch screen and a backlit keyboard.

"Apple's MacBook Neo is a capable machine, and its arrival confirms that there's real appetite for premium quality at accessible prices," admitted Dell.

With a starting price of $599 in the U.S., or $499 for college students, the MacBook Neo is Apple's most affordable MacBook ever. Powered by the iPhone's A18 Pro chip, the laptop is available in colorful finishes like Citrus and Blush.

A second-generation MacBook Neo is expected to be released next year with an A19 Pro chip and 12GB of RAM.

Article Link: MacBook Neo is So Popular That Apple Reportedly Doubled Production
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Apple has finally priced a laptop that my wife finds reasonable. I bought her the high-end pink MacBook Neo, which she enhanced with a Logitech M240 mouse and a pink Incase sleeve. This machine can handle everyday tasks and fits within a tech budget. As a result, Apple now appeals to a broader audience.

Does this pricing signal a permanent change or a one-time play?
 
Dirk Pieters said:
We don’t know that considering Neo was only released recently.

If it turns out that Neo will struggle with macOS 27 or 28, then maybe your thinking was right. Until then, the jury’s still out.
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Next time I get my brakes done, I'll get 80% used brake pads, saves me 30% on the brake job. They stop the car just fine despite the naysayers. Sure they start making a whole bunch of noise after 6 months, but they still keep stopping the car and nothing bad happens. Until it does, the jury’s still out.

Some things are predictable, even if you can't predict it.
 
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StevesBobs said:
Next time I get my brakes done, I'll get 80% used brake pads, saves me 30% on the brake job. They stop the car just fine despite the naysayers. Sure they start making a whole bunch of noise after 6 months, but they still keep stopping the car and nothing bad happens. Until it does, the jury’s still out.

Some things are predictable, even if you can't predict it.
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Bad analogy as the Neo isn’t an 80% used Air. Neo is a new computer with 80% (ish) capabilities of the Air.

So the correct analogy would be to buy new brake pads that offer 80% of the stopping power of better brake pads. However, if your car comes to a perfect stop with the cheaper brake pads then you didn’t need the better brake pads. You could even argue that the better brake pads would have been overkill for the car.

Will the cheaper brakepads wear out faster? Who knows? Is capability and wear linked?

Probably makes no sense. Fact remains we don’t know how Neo will handle macOS updates. You can’t judge Neo beforehand for failing without knowing what it will do.

Let’s relax and see what happens.
 
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JJAdams said:
The current response from manufacturers using Windows as their operating system is to offer laptops with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSDs. There is no mention that these same manufacturers thought that same configuration with a NEO was a non-starter. Sort of curious...🤨
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The thing they have in common: People who don't know better and buy them.

The other thing you have to consider is some windows machines might use removable memory modules where the NEO is soldered on. Still comes back to knowing which model has removable modules and which doesn't.
 
Dirk Pieters said:
Bad analogy as the Neo isn’t an 80% used Air. Neo is a new computer with 80% (ish) capabilities of the Air.

So the correct analogy would be to buy new brake pads that offer 80% of the stopping power of better brake pads. However, if your car comes to a perfect stop with the cheaper brake pads then you didn’t need the better brake pads. You could even argue that the better brake pads would have been overkill for the car.

Will the cheaper brakepads wear out faster? Who knows? Is capability and wear linked?

Probably makes no sense. Fact remains we don’t know how Neo will handle macOS updates. You can’t judge Neo beforehand for failing without knowing what it will do.

Let’s relax and see what happens.
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It isn't a bad analogy. 4GB is not being sold because it's already too little. 8GB is going to be too little in a few years. 16GB will take much longer to become too little.

I'm completely relaxed. Do not care if people don't take my advice, in fact you guys buying NEOs makes my net worth go up so I'm going against my best interests talking about this.
 
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i love mine. really only gets use on the weekends, but it does what i need it to do and it's such a nice form factor.
 
Zwhaler said:
This is interesting! What’s the idea there?
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honestly I can see this making sense in 1 particular situation only: device convergence.
If you could use your iphone as a portable desktop, the usb-C ports could hit an external display or usb-c dock. that would be amazing. I really do think apple could make such a thing, even making laptop shells you could slide the phoen into to turn it into a laptop.

But they wont.
 
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