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MP All Models So long, old friend.
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The majority of people can install and run everything they need in 256GB storage and 8GB of memory. Not you, but that doesn't mean the Neo is bad like you claimed, it's just not for you.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
MacRumors is funny.
For years we saw countless posts, threads stating how apple is screwing people over with pricey ram upgrades and the base amount is just too low for any real work to be done. Likewise with storage SSDs on the base models.
Now with the Neo, many of the same people, and many others are coming out of the woodwork to defend the ram/storage allotments saying how most people don't need more then 8gb, or 256GB of storage.
btw, I have a 512GB SSD and its already 1/2 full and there's a rule of thumb where the less free space you have on a SSD the slower it gets and the higher the wear and year you incur. I do not have a huge suite of pro apps on the internal drive (I bought an external drive to manage most of my needs).
mode11
macrumors 68000
This is all very true, though the Neo arguably gets a pass due to being so cheap. It cuts many corners, but there's an acknowledgement that these all contribute to the low price.
A computer like this is likely a secondary machine, so doesn't need to e.g. host an entire photo library or suite of apps. A MacBook Air or entry level MacBook Pro at double the price, however, could very well be someone's main / only machine. In which case, it becomes difficult to avoid Apple's (extortionate) upgrades without severely compromising your experience.
Flint Ironstag
macrumors 68000
Isn't it though?!? 🤣 There's always a couple of people who will - I think the kids call it 'glaze' - their favorite corporation's moves, no matter how bone-headed.
Christ on a bicycle - I can't fit my music library and a couple of videos in my 'to be watched' list in 256GB. On a Mac. In 2026. Without adding a dongle. And people are praising this. 😂 A single game like World of Warcraft will nom that storage.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
I would say the intended market, the lower specifications will be adequate. .
That's what a lot of people here are using it for, though I don't think that's what was apple's primary market for this laptop
Flint Ironstag
macrumors 68000
A TON of people will get this as a primary Mac. Can you visualize the back to school, black Friday, cyber Monday specials?? Apple has the performance vs efficiency down pat. Give the people some baseline storage. FFS. The greed is SO ugly.
mode11
macrumors 68000
You can get one with 512GB + TouchID for only £100 more. That's not a bad deal (especially with educational pricing).
Given its positioning, I expect they'd rather direct you to the MBA than get into custom configs. The RAM is limited by the SoC to 8GB anyway.
Not the same at all because the Neo costs far less money. It's also for a target demographic that likely won't actually run into limitations with that amount of memory and storage.
You've also got the fact that Apple couldn't have added more memory and kept the price that low - they're using binned wafers from the iPhone 16 Pro production run, so these chips are already made and more memory can't be added.
I'm not every Macrumors user either - I never said you can't get anything real done with 256GB storage and 8GB memory. I might have said those amounts were pathetic for the price, which they were when they were the base models for more expensive laptops.
Can't really use my post for your generalisation, sorry.
Perhaps the Neo is not for you? It's not for me either.
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maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
consumers don't care about that.
Apple marketing spouts this all of the time, but its not something that enters most people's though process - at least typical consumers who need a laptop
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Never said it was
i'm just making a point that for just office apps, and few other iwork stuff, my 512GB drive has a lot less free space then I prefer.
You seem to have a real problem differentiating yourself from other users. Not everybody is you, not everybody needs the same thing.
There are plenty of people who just stream music and TV/movies. Those who need more storage can upgrade the storage or just get a different computer.
It's $500, it's not going to fit everybody's use case.
mattspace
macrumors 68040
The real ragebait about the Neo is if I could put macOS on my M2 iPad Pro, with a keyboard, it would have a better screen with a wider colour gamut, twice the ram, better processor etc etc.
Basic75
macrumors 68030
mattspace
macrumors 68040
yup, which is the slap in the face - costs twice as much and has a clownshoe OS that makes it too annoying to use.
mode11
macrumors 68000
Wouldn't it have made more sense to buy an M2 MacBook Air?
I just use my iPP for sofa surfing, videos etc. I did try it with a (s/h) Apple keyboard for a bit, but wound up selling the keyboard again. IMO, the iPad works best as a good touch device, rather than a bad laptop.
There's a big difference between a $1600 "pro" laptop with only 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD (which is what Apple were selling until 18 months ago) and a $700 laptop with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD (and a 256GB option for $100 less).
The base 8/256 Air was already sufficient for "personal productivity" if you thought that $1100 was a reasonable price for an entry-level "personal productivity" laptop (or that an extra $600 to upgrade it to a hardly exotic 16GB/1TB config was reasonable). It really wasn't...
Meanwhile, Apple is still selling pricey RAM & SSD upgrades with rather low base specs - although right now the price of RAM and SSD is shooting up and so far Apple have mostly avoided passing the cost on.
FilthyMuppetInnuendo
macrumors regular
“RAM is expensive right now because speculators have used currency they don’t have to order future memory that doesn’t exist to install it into graphics cards that aren’t built yet to put them into data centers that aren’t constructed and power them with electricity that can’t be generated” is what I make of it.
The coming crash is going to be extremely good for consumers.
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mattspace
macrumors 68040
No, I wanted it for the pencil, and for proofing EPUB books (screen rotation etc).
mode11
macrumors 68000
Could proofing be done in macOS, or would you need to do so on iOS regardless?
It would be cool to have the option of running macOS on the iPad Pro, especially if you could dual-boot. The standard iPad is fine as a consumption device, but the Pro seems ridiculously over-specced given the limitations of the OS.
mattspace
macrumors 68040
The Mac version of Apple Books was a different app to the iOS version... WAS being the operable word, now it's just a catalyst port. But the screen rotation etc is something the Mac version doesn't offer, and the way it deals with panning across a page spread on iPad is specific to it.
It's like trying to run in a mirror maze, just constantly bashing against barriers.
It’s time for a Hackintosh because it’s currently the only alternative. The advantage of tower computers is or at least should be their expandability. I don’t think anyone seriously believes that if you’re using a computer for work at the office, you’re short on space under your desk.
But the Mac Pro 2023 was a tower computer in name only because it wasn’t expandable. The idea is that you have a big case and don’t have to worry about where to put all those add-ons. But the Mac Pro 2023 was created mainly so that pro users would have a place to put their vintage gear, like disk arrays or old audio cards.
It wasn’t a successful model because it didn’t offer the option to install a better CPU, GPU, or memory. It didn’t even have PCIe M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs. And it didn’t have them because it couldn’t; everything was integrated into a single chip.
Apple has entered the era of disposable computers, where after two years you replace the entire machine if it’s not enough for you. And it’s pursuing this strategy with full force to maximize profits and squeeze more money out of our pockets. 😃
But the Mac Pro 2023 was a tower computer in name only because it wasn’t expandable. The idea is that you have a big case and don’t have to worry about where to put all those add-ons. But the Mac Pro 2023 was created mainly so that pro users would have a place to put their vintage gear, like disk arrays or old audio cards.
It wasn’t a successful model because it didn’t offer the option to install a better CPU, GPU, or memory. It didn’t even have PCIe M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs. And it didn’t have them because it couldn’t; everything was integrated into a single chip.
Apple has entered the era of disposable computers, where after two years you replace the entire machine if it’s not enough for you. And it’s pursuing this strategy with full force to maximize profits and squeeze more money out of our pockets. 😃
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Won't that largely be a moot point after Tahoe? Obviously staying on an older version of macOS is a work around
I suspect the average consumer doesn't store a lot of their content on their devices. Just photos/vids, some documents maybe.
To me, 8/256 seems criminally low for a current computer, but the 256GB on both my iPhone and iPad is not even half full.
I think the Neo needs to be viewed from that perspective, as the laptop (netbook!) for an iPhone user who just wants to browse, view Youtube/IG/Tiktok, buy stuff on Amazon, pay bills, and do it on a bigger display with a full-size keyboard.
It is assumed that people that want to do anything more intensive, will know what they need to accomplish that.
Somebody who plays WoW is obviously not gonna buy a Neo for that. Macs are non-starters for gamers anyway.