The Macbook Neo is the best thing Apple has ever done for the Mac

[theluggage]

The iPhone singlehandedly destroyed Microsoft Zune, Creative Zen and various other mp3 player manufacturers. Even Samsung got into the action.

I assume you mean iPod.
Creative were selling digital audio players before the iPod launched (...and the iPod took a couple of generations & a switch from FireWire to USB to take off) - the iPod was just a more appealing product & took over all but the low-end of the market. The Zune came out after the iPod was established and didn't stand a chance (if they'd been first to market, history might have been different).

Then Microsoft went delulu and sought to build the 'third ecosystem' (Windows Mobile) to rival iOS and Android, even cannibalizing the carcass of Nokia to do so.

Windows Mobile (and Windows CE before it) pre-dated the iPhone. I had a Windows Mobile phone when the iPhone was launched (it sucked, but looked impressive until the iPhone made it look like a handful of spare parts).

You may be thinking of "Windows Phone" which did come out a few years after the iPhone & which did actually show some promise - except the iPhone was untouchable by then.

Microsoft's problem was/is that everybody hates DOS/Windows but can't live without the huge base of legacy software that runs on it. However, that legacy software is mostly fundamentally unusable on smartphones and tablets without a major re-design, so they haven't been able to use their leverage on the desktop to push their way into the smartphone market. Meanwhile, Apple could start from scratch, as could Android (after a quick iPhone-provoked U-turn - original Android was a more Blackberry-like button-driven UI).

 

[Mrbobb]

That means more people looking for mac specific software, mac specific games, mac utilities.

More mac specific viruses 🙁

 

[Parowdy]

A friend of mine traded in his M4 Max for a neo and is more than happy. Says the Neo performs the same for a lot less money.

Your friend is a strange person.
The Neo performs nowhere near the same as a M4, let alone a Max. They simply never needed more than a MacBook Air and thought the best is only good enough for them.
Glad someone else will be able to use that machine for a reduced price now.

 

[fzJNotIBOxgnbqejSeVCvJScL]

It's the best thing for Apple to steal customers away from Microsoft Windows. Those who have never used a single Apple product.

Combine with a student discount and maybe further discounts later this year during the holiday season, let's see Microsoft/Qualcomm or one of the Windows OEMs match such value.

 

[realLucaR]

It's the best thing for Apple to steal customers away from Microsoft Windows. Those who have never used a single Apple product.

Combine with a student discount and maybe further discounts later this year during the holiday season, let's see Microsoft/Qualcomm or one of the Windows OEMs match such value.

I mean, there is literally no other comparable Windows laptop in that price range that is made out of aluminum and is still made with Apple's premium build choices.

They are all made of cheap plastic with these huge charging bricks. So for me even objectively seen, there is really zero reason why anyone would get a budget Windows laptop at this point.

 

[1BadManVan]

I mean, there is literally no other comparable Windows laptop in that price range that is made out of aluminum and is still made with Apple's premium build choices.

They are all made of cheap plastic with these huge charging bricks. So for me even objectively seen, there is really zero reason why anyone would get a budget Windows laptop at this point.

Not to mention a nice 2k screen, 500 nits, sRGB, decent speakers, good track pad etc. It’s the overall package that really makes this a home run.

 

[realLucaR]

Not to mention a nice 2k screen, 500 nits, sRGB, decent speakers, good track pad etc. It’s the overall package that really makes this a home run.

Especially the screen imo! all the budget Windows laptop have some crappy 1080p screen with awful color accuracy. Even the speakers are Sennheiser-level when compared to some Windows laptop 😅

 

[AlixSPQR]

The best product was the Apple Newton, since its failure greatly contributed to bringing Steve Jobs back to the helm.

 

[throAU]

I can't agree with that assessment.

The Neo is not the greatest thing apple has done for the Mac. I feel that achievement was won by the bondi blue iMac. That mac helped save apple from bankruptcy. The Neo is a low cost computer, to be sure, but Apple did that already with the bondi blue iMac, This was an all in one computer that was much more affordable and very capable then nearly any other PC and Mac out there. Apple didn't stop innovating, as other iMacs through out the years had quite a number of innovations.

Then there was the MacBook Air, which largely created a whole new category that didn't exist.

Is the Neo a successful product? Yes, and it will have an impact in the greater industry as a whole, as PC makers now have to respond, but is the greatest thing apple has done? No, not even close.

The Bondi blue iMac was never going to take significant share from the pc.

 

[throAU]

I've enjoyed reading everyone's perspectives/opinions. Here's my slightly off-kilter take:

Personally, I think the best thing Apple ever did for the Mac was the iPhone. People who never had Apple on their radar suddenly knew who the company was and began exploring what other devices lived in the Apple universe.

Replace iPhone with iPod.

 

[maflynn]

The Bondi blue iMac was never going to take significant share from the pc.

And the same thing could happen with the Neo

 

[snipr125]

I mean, there is literally no other comparable Windows laptop in that price range that is made out of aluminum and is still made with Apple's premium build choices.

They are all made of cheap plastic with these huge charging bricks. So for me even objectively seen, there is really zero reason why anyone would get a budget Windows laptop at this point.

Habit and software compatibility are the big reasons many people will not switch over to Mac OS from Windows, no matter how cheap and premium a Macbook is.

 

[theluggage]

The best product was the Apple Newton, since its failure greatly contributed to bringing Steve Jobs back to the helm.

Nah. By that argument the best thing they did was the Copland OS (the original planned replacement for classic Mac OS and a legendary Epic Fail) - when that crashed & burned, Apple had to buy a new OS and chose NextStep (which became OS X) - which came with a free Steve Jobs.

Possibly the significant thing about the Newton is that it led Apple to partner with Acorn and VLSI to develop the ARM 6 processor…. so it was arguably the foundation stone of the iPhone (well, the whole smartphone industry, really) and Apple Silicon.

Apple under Scully made some dull desktops but also did a lot to establish the PowerBooks as the most desirable laptops.

 

[AlixSPQR]

Nah. By that argument the best thing they did was the Copland OS (the original planned replacement for classic Mac OS and a legendary Epic Fail) - when that crashed & burned, Apple had to buy a new OS and chose NextStep (which became OS X) - which came with a free Steve Jobs.

Possibly the significant thing about the Newton is that it led Apple to partner with Acorn and VLSI to develop the ARM 6 processor…. so it was arguably the foundation stone of the iPhone (well, the whole smartphone industry, really) and Apple Silicon.

Apple under Scully made some dull desktops but also did a lot to establish the PowerBooks as the most desirable laptops.

But I thought this thread was about hardware. Otherwise, I agree.

 

[theluggage]

But I thought this thread was about hardware. Otherwise, I agree.

I don't think you can separate the two.

The OS and GUI are a large part of what distinguishes the Mac. Hardware-wise they've been playing leapfrog with PC and other systems over the years (although they've always been nicely designed). The original Mac and Mac II had technically superior hardware to the original 8086 PC, but was losing that status in the 386/486/Pentium era, going to PPC leapfrogged for a while but petered out with the G4 and G5.

The "rational" thing for Apple to have done in the late 90s would probably have been to wind down MacOS and start making Apple-branded PC laptops. Apple were already an established brand in computing & the Powerbooks were much lusted-over. Something that looked like a Powerbook G3 but ran DOS/Windows would probably have sold like hotcakes at the time (shame about the battery life - but, hey, the G3 let you hot-swap a second battery in the floppy drive bay). Would have worked short-term but they'd probably have gone the way of Compaq, Gateway, Sony Vaio by now.

2005-2019 Macs were really just PC clones (nicely designed and made - esp. the laptops) with some minor firmware differences. You could (officially) run Windows on a Mac, or you could (unofficially) run MacOS on a PC - both with relatively minor tweaks to the firmware/installer - at one point you could certainly get better (desktop) hardware by going Hackintosh, but that was impossible to recommend for "professional" use. That didn't stop Macs being Macs.

 

[dizmonk]

I bought a neo as a secondary machine, and I love it. It still doesn't match my old 12" rMB, but it is the closest thing we have to it right now.

But my post is less about the actual computer, and more about the mindset. The mac as a platform has been stagnant for years. Yes, we got Apple Silicon and now have the best top of the line laptops on the market by far. Great performance (Especially unplugged, which Windows users can't even conceive of), great battery life, solid hardware, etc. Basically - Apple Silicon came and fixed the Macbook Pro which was broken for a long time at the end of the intel era (Crappy keyboards, mediocre peformance, the forgotten touchbar, losing magsafe, jumping full in usb-c too quickly.) Because of that, Apple has been pushing the iOS narrative wholeheartedly for the past 10 years, trying to push the iPad into the pro market.

But now the Neo finally does the opposite, it brings the mac down to the entry level market. Before now, the jump to mac was a giant leap for most people. Committing $1000+ for a computer with a foreign operating system, not knowing if it'll run the software you need (coming from windows) meant you had to do a lot of research and planning to make the jump. Now at half that price, the Neo opens up the mac platform to millions of users that would have never even considered a mac. And for the platform itself, this is huge. That means more people looking for mac specific software, mac specific games, mac utilities.

And it isn't just a "one time" thing - these users being pulled into the low-end of mac are eventually going to want to "graduate" to the Air or the Pro. That means one important thing, we are going to see growing developer support for the mac, something which has been for the most part staying the same or on a slight decline. As a developer myself, I'm now looking at the mac as a real target for future apps, as it finally seems like Apple is fully invested in the mac lineup again.

I understand the logic of this post and some of it I agree with BUT... and there's a big BUT.... I hate the idea of an "entry" laptop that has 8GB of memory that cannot be upgraded. That is a failure.

Anyone who wants to go to Mac... could have gotten a m2 or M3 Air used for nearly the same price as the Neo... and wouldn't have that fundamental problem.

The Neo is fine for elementary schools to replace Chromebooks but this hyping of this machine is so off the rails...

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I've enjoyed reading everyone's perspectives/opinions. Here's my slightly off-kilter take:

Personally, I think the best thing Apple ever did for the Mac was the iPhone. People who never had Apple on their radar suddenly knew who the company was and began exploring what other devices lived in the Apple universe.

Some, I guess. Highest number I've seen is that 36% of iPhone users (in the US) also own/use a Mac, while 90% own some type of computer.

 

[DeepSix]

All the elementary, junior high and high school kids who already have an iPhone. You think they're going to want a crappy windows laptop for school? No chance with the Neo being this well priced.

 

[maflynn]

All the elementary, junior high and high school kids who already have an iPhone. You think they're going to want a crappy windows laptop for school? No chance with the Neo being this well priced.

ITs not up to the kids, but the school system. My kids when they went through the system were handed chromebooks for one reason and one reason alone. They were cheap. I'm not saying the NEo will do poorly in the education sector, but rather its not up the kids or parents but the school system.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

All the elementary, junior high and high school kids who already have an iPhone. You think they're going to want a crappy windows laptop for school? No chance with the Neo being this well priced.

The school admins don't care what the kids think. I'm sure most of the local school kids here have iPhone, but they still get Chromebooks.

 

[1BadManVan]

The school admins don't care what the kids think. I'm sure most of the local school kids here have iPhone, but they still get Chromebooks.

Yea it will be interested if schools will want to make that shift. I’m sure there are better deals and incentives offered by Apple for larger bulk orders for schools. But will it be enough to incentivize them

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Yea it will be interested if schools will want to make that shift. I’m sure there are better deals and incentives offered by Apple for larger bulk orders for schools. But will it be enough to incentivize them

Google offers all the backend services to go along with ChromeBooks that Apple doesn't offer, or have an equivalent to.

 

[Mainsail]

Yea it will be interested if schools will want to make that shift. I’m sure there are better deals and incentives offered by Apple for larger bulk orders for schools. But will it be enough to incentivize them

I think the way this is likely to play out is that some students' parents will opt to buy a Neo rather than use the school supplied Chromebook. Then, we will see if the Neo slowly builds up enough momentum to usurp Chromebooks in the public schools. Eventually, elementary schools may start with iPads, and middle/high schools may get the Neo. TBD.

In our district, teachers are issued MBAs and students get Chromebooks. However, we are a fairly affluent district, so many students bring their own laptops anyway. The Chromebooks tend to be pretty fragile, and they have to be returned to the district at the end of the school year. The older kids are working on college applications and using computers when school is not in session, so in our district, I suspect many will buy a Neo for their four years of HS.

 

[thadoggfather]

A friend of mine traded in his M4 Max for a neo and is more than happy. Says the Neo performs the same for a lot less money.

Tell me this is a joke.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I think the way this is likely to play out is that some students' parents will opt to buy a Neo rather than use the school supplied Chromebook. Then, we will see if the Neo slowly builds up enough momentum to usurp Chromebooks in the public schools. Eventually, elementary schools may start with iPads, and middle/high schools may get the Neo. TBD.

In our district, teachers are issued MBAs and students get Chromebooks. However, we are a fairly affluent district, so many students bring their own laptops anyway. The Chromebooks tend to be pretty fragile, and they have to be returned to the district at the end of the school year. The older kids are working on college applications and using computers when school is not in session, so in our district, I suspect many will buy a Neo for their four years of HS.

Kids here can't bring their own computers, regardless of what they own. I suspect it has something to do with the bell-to-bell cellphone (and connected smartwatch) ban, and not wanting them to have an unlocked-down machine, but I don't really know. It's a pretty affluent area, as well.

My kids go to a private school, and they leave their Chromebooks there.