1rottenapple
macrumors 603
Right, who would have thought engineer can outthink a program and design useful solutions. Imagine that.
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MacBook Neo Teardown: Modular Ports, Glue-Less Battery, Zero Tape
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macduke
macrumors G5
At this price I could see some modders removing the internals and replacing the guts with something else. It's a nice aluminum unibody enclosure and screen, with a trackpad better than probably all non-Apple devices on the market, complete with speakers, keyboard, and a decent sized battery. Just swap something else in place of the iPhone logic board and resolder, unless the accessory devices require authentication? The camera might, at least. Could maybe pop in a board from one of those Windows or Linux gaming handhelds that have fairly beefy GPUs, or something like a Pi 5 16GB, or strip down who knows what else and try to cram it in there. Might need fans, though.
kltmom
macrumors regular
Yeah, our school district issues Chromebooks to each student grades 3-12. My kids have regaled me with many, many stories and instances of kids easily breaking through the "lockdown" and doing things on their Chromebooks they're clearly not supposed to be able to do or have access to.
stiligFox
macrumors 68000
Heck yeah, an insanely repairable affordable MacBook? It’s been so so long since we’ve had this and it feels great. I’ll be keeping mine alive for years to come the same way I kept my PowerBook G3, iBook G4, and my 2015 MacBook Pro alive.
This *awesome!*
This *awesome!*
As I watched the initial teardown video and read the Molly Anderson Dezeen interview it became clear that the major difference - only hinted at - is that the Neo is not a unibody construction. "Unibody" has always been a somewhat misleading term because there are distinct top and bottom case portions that have to be attached with screws along with the hinge mechanism and the display. The Neo harkens back to the more curvy pre-unibody aluminum days (2006-08) and even the unibody plastic MacBook, which was notable for having a fairly heavy, rigid metallic bottom case that was covered in what felt like neoprene. I'd like to see someone weigh the bottom case of the Neo and compare it to the same part of the Air.
Regardless, it shouldn't matter as long as it holds up better than my '06 MBP, which had some case bend in the aluminum at the DVI port. The port and the logic board both gave out in time for me to buy a unibody MacBook Air in 2013.
Regardless, it shouldn't matter as long as it holds up better than my '06 MBP, which had some case bend in the aluminum at the DVI port. The port and the logic board both gave out in time for me to buy a unibody MacBook Air in 2013.
shoehorn42
macrumors newbie
Happy_John
Suspended
The far fewer ports and and so cutouts in the aluminium sides (2 usb-c, one audio minijack far away from the usb-c cutouts and a thin speaker grill on one side, a single speaker grill on the other) compared to your 2008 MBP (lots of big cutout for Ethernet etc) should help.
I wonder if that’s partially the reason why the audio port was placed in such an odd position for a MacBook.
It wouldn't hurt if the mission is to preserve structural integrity. Though Max Tech likes the placement to prevent snagging headphone cables.
As someone who actually owns one, I strongly disagree with these comments. The keyboard & trackpad don't feel cheap at all, and it doesn't feel more like that the more I use it. (I'm comparing to an M2 MacBook Air that I also own). I also have zero issue with the screen, although one other poster on here (sure there are more, but he's the only one I've seen) who bought one did not like the screen & returned it because of that.
I haven't really seen anyone who owns one complain about the keyboard or trackpad. If it 'feels more cheap the more you useit' that would seem to come out in the comments. Not sure where the poster is seeing that, but my take is 100% different.
I bought Silver & it looks exactly like it looks online, but I can't speak to any of the other colors.
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These will sell well, and assuming they get around 7 years macOS support we will see them in use for many many years.
eee you — yes, they can make Apple do things that real competition could do if it existed … well, make them do it at least over there.
Not to distract from the fact though that calling it Neo was a good choice for more than one reason. And not just focusing on shareholders but also users. Very welcome. Thank you, Apple. Next: SSDs, please.
Tagbert
macrumors 604
The iPad Pro doens’t need to be only used with touch. A large number of iPad Pro owners use it with the Magic Keyboard with keys and a trackpad. As long as you have multiple interaction options and OS like Mac OS is perfectly usable on a device with touch. You won’t use touch exclusively but as a mix of interactions depending on what is appropriate for any given action. Pinch to zoom, tap a button, scroll a page all with touch. Click on a tiny icon, use the trackpad. Fast switching, use the keyboard.
Add a backlit keyboard to your list. That is definitely something the NEO should get in future iterations.
chars1ub0w
macrumors 6502a
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
These are designed for education. Apple wants them in every school - so kids get used to MacOS and then buy their own Macs when they're older. They've made it so the IT guys at a local school can swap out parts. That's likely one of the key requirements for bulk education orders, and so Apple have designed it as such.
I don’t get all the hatred of Tahoe and iOS 26. iPadOS 26 is a massive improvement. Tahoe and iOS 26 are fine. Sure, some of the changes are a bit superfluous but as evidenced by iOS 7 Apple will refine them over time. The basics are still the same.
On another thread you say this is a winner.
Remember Apple is targeting people new to Macs with this. The trackpad isn’t as nice as the one on my M4 MacBook Air, but it’s still miles better than than one on my work-issued Lenovo X1 that costs twice as much. Side-by-side the Air’s screen is better, but again, it’s not bad viewed in isolation and much better than what you’ll find on a $600 Windows PC. Indigo is very close to the “Midnight” color that was popular with the M2 and M3 Airs, and Blush is, IMO, appropriately muted. I’d have been OK with the “Rose Gold” (that wasn’t really rose gold) of the 2018 iPad Pro and 2020 MacBook Air, but Blush checks the box without being overtly feminine.
My guess is that this sells well. Remember analysts are predicting sales of about 5 million per year. I think this will hit that. It’s $600. $500 with the education discount. That’s an impulse buy. Or for a more rational buyer, you can get this and a base iPad combined for less than the base MacBook Air. For many people that is a good combination. The iPad can act as a second display for the MacBook Neo and is a decent device in its own right.
johnsawyercjs
macrumors 68010
If nothing else, the easier repairability of the Neo will be appreciated by Apple's in-house techs, who don't like wrestling with adhesive, etc. any more than anyone else.
Agreed. Apple is targeting Chromebooks. And standard screws are cheaper than proprietary. Every cent helps margins at this price level. Remember also that this weighs as much as a MacBook Air. That reflects Apple’s emphasis on economical production costs over everything else. Apple used “standard” components as much as possible without compromising the industrial design.
Plutonius
macrumors G4
Apple_Robert
Contributor
I liked what I saw with the teardown. The thing is, I hope that I never need to get the Neo repaired due to hardware failure. I am not about to go tinkering inside a new Mac. lol What we see is probably good news for a lot people who do repairs.
Apple_Robert
Contributor
@kltmom is showing off using the word "regaled." Kudos. Nice to see you posting.