Typing this on a Neo - It's a winner!

[turbineseaplane]

Well, for all my bashing, I have to admit, the build quality of these are excellent, and certainly given the price.

I'm typing this in an Apple Store, on a Neo, right now.

A few things I've noticed

- The screen doesn't tilt back particularly far, which one notices when using it standing up (like at a store or on a counter in kitchen, etc)
- Trackpad is ok. I would miss the ability to tweak those settings, but for the price point it's fine
- Screen seems good, again, especially at this price.
- Case Colors are pretty "meh" ... the tradition continues of "no color colors". The green is the lone exception.
- I wish they'd sucked it up and done TouchID on all of them. I sort of feel bad for folks who will miss that on the base model.
- Same for MagSafe, particularly with how these will get used. It's a shame no MagSafe on the upgraded model that has TouchID.
- If they'd done one with more RAM/SSD options, I'd likely have one (assuming those options didn't 2x the price)
- Front edges are still a little sharper than I care for -- true on all the MacBooks.
- They did a phenomenal job hiding the Webcam and it's SO nice to not have the notch.
- If one is coming from other Macs, you can notice it isn't "quite" as snappy, but that won't be a problem for the users of these and at these prices.
- It's a GimpBook, but done very well. I agree with those that say they will sell a lot of these.

- By default these are running at 1408 x 881, which is a scaled resolution. The screens look a lot better when they are perfect 2X retina at 1204x753





- Oh .. I hate Tahoe
- Also, all the iPhones are too big still (the real reason I was here again .. the 17e) 😂

 

[dumastudetto]

That's so call you dropped in to send us a message from an Apple Store. 😀

I think it's insanely great Apple has prioritised build quality over raw specs. This is still a supremely powerful laptop that will deliver more performance than almost all Windows laptops.

The tradeoffs seem good. The things we notice will mean nothing to most normies. The 97% sRGB panel is noticeably worse to my eyes versus the P3 panels in everything else, but the target customers of this won't have a clue. While the trackpad is definitely a step down from the more expensive devices, they have actually engineered a custom solution to elevate the experience compared to competition in this price range.

Please thank the Apple Store staff for their part in driving the overarching Apple experience forward.

 

[turbineseaplane]

That's so call you dropped in to send us a message from an Apple Store. 😀

I think it's insanely great Apple has prioritised build quality over raw specs. This is still a supremely powerful laptop that will deliver more performance than almost all Windows laptops.

The tradeoffs seem good. The things we notice will mean nothing to most normies. The 97% sRGB panel is noticeably worse to my eyes versus the P3 panels in everything else, but the target customers of this won't have a clue. While the trackpad is definitely a step down from the more expensive devices, they have actually engineered a custom solution to elevate the experience compared to competition in this price range.

Please thank the Apple Store staff for their part in driving the overarching Apple experience forward.

I have strong opinions, but am always willing to update them with more data.
I was near the store and figured I had to pop in.

I can see why PC makers are concerned. This is far & away better build quality than anything one will get in PC land at this price (especially at EDU price).

Also, I can see just about anyone loving this as a couch/extra/around the house Mac.

 

[bapegg]

The A18 Pro only supports 8 GB of RAM. Apple will have to go with the A19 Pro to get 12 GB.

The Neo is definitely not as quick as my M4 Mac mini but I didn't expect it to be. I've been running Safari with 14 tabs open along with a couple of my amateur radio apps and the Neo is doing fine with only 8 GB.

Apple has a winner with the Neo. And for those that need more RAM or storage, there is always the MBA.

 

[bapegg]

I can see why PC makers are concerned. This is far & away better build quality than anything one will get in PC land at this price (especially at EDU price).

The build quality is night and day between my Neo and Dell laptops. The Dell just feels cheap compared to the Neo.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The build quality is night and day between my Neo and Dell laptops. The Dell just feels cheap compared to the Neo.

Totally agree. Apple did a great job with Incredible Aluminum™️.

 

[4sallypat]

.........
I can see why PC makers are concerned. This is far & away better build quality than anything one will get in PC land at this price (especially at EDU price).

Also, I can see just about anyone loving this as a couch/extra/around the house Mac.

Yes, PC manufacturers better worry because for a $499 (EDU) price tag, it will run circles around any W11 and Chromebook!

 

[Populus]

I have strong opinions, but am always willing to update them with more data.
I was near the store and figured I had to pop in.

I can see why PC makers are concerned. This is far & away better build quality than anything one will get in PC land at this price (especially at EDU price).

Also, I can see just about anyone loving this as a couch/extra/around the house Mac.

Yeah, that’s the ideal netbook for Apple users. A lso a great switcher laptop, if you want to tip toe into macOS and see if it fits you.

However, I still think the ideal machine will be the Neo 2 when they update the chip for an A19 Pro and 12GB of RAM. But I can understand the production of A19s is now geared towards more important products such as the iPhone 17 lineup and the Studio Displays.

 

[Populus]

Yes, PC manufacturers better worry because for a $499 (EDU) price tag, it will run circles around any W11 and Chromebook!

View attachment 2612433

Yeah, this is a good point. With a budget of $500 or even 600€, if I can get by with 256GB of storage (using external storage), there’s no other rival. The Neo is going to eat all that market. Well played Cook.

Hopefully they will strengthen the security of macOS because if Macs become more and more popular… there will be more and more malware geared towards it

 

[Populus]

Also, all the iPhone are too big still (the real reason I was here again .. the 17e) 😂

Oh man… I’m on the verge ofof getting a 17e but I’m holding off because my SE 3 still serves me well. But honestly, I’m VERY tempted.

In fact, I went today to the Apple Store to see the Neos, and ended up holding a 17e. I know it’s the same body as the 16e but IDK, I felt it “manageable”. Oh, and it also has the “reduce PWM” toggle.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I don’t remember when Apple switched to using so many scaled resolutions as defaults, but I really prefer the look of perfect 2X retina on the laptops.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Oh man… I’m on the verge ofof getting a 17e but I’m holding off because my SE 3 still serves me well. But honestly, I’m VERY tempted.

I keep going between that and the Air and I basically just wish they had made a smaller Air.

Also, even though the air is sexy and thin, I find it easier to hold when the sides aren’t so thin.

17e feels better if you’re a phone “gripper” like I am.

 

[bryo]

Interesting point about the 2x retina scaled res. I had to put my face to the screen to really see the difference on text, but there is certainly a difference.

 

[PCMacUser]

This is still a supremely powerful laptop that will deliver more performance than almost all Windows laptops.

I think this statement is completely untrue. However, the Neo has the potential to deliver budget-restricted laptop buyers away from the cesspool that Windows 11 has become.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Interesting point about the 2x retina scaled res. I had to put my face to the screen to really see the difference on text, but there is certainly a difference.

In person it’s immediately obvious which one is the perfect 2X retina

I guess they just figure everyone is obsessed with more screen space but the screen shows off a lot better at full retina.

Of course, the other problem is they keep making space more constrained with the overly rounded corners and excessive padding every round of OS updates.

 

[Paul1964]

This is still a supremely powerful laptop that will deliver more performance than almost all Windows laptops.

Someone's been on the KoolAid.

You should qualify that with "in its price range".

My laptop runs an Intel 13900HX and Nvidia 4080 laptop GPU and 32GB of RAM.

A Mac Pro with an M5 Max would beat it of course but the base M5 CPU would not and certainly not an A18 Pro.

 

[bapegg]

Here are my Geekbench results on different devices.

 

[bryo]

Here are my Geekbench results on different devices.

View attachment 2612455

Is that 8945hx the minisforum ITX board? How are you liking that?

 

[vindasal]

- By default these are running at 1408 x 881, which is a scaled resolution. The screens look a lot better when they are perfect 2X retina at 1204x753

This was exactly what I was wondering when I first saw the resolution. A little poor they didn't bump the screen res up to get solid 2x scaling out of the box. Less than 768 pixels tall is terrible, that was a target res 20-30 years ago in 1024x768.

Like most things with the Neo though I doubt most people that buy this will ever notice, but another reason I'm glad I bought a different MacBook last fall instead of holding out for this one. Other than this and the ports it would've been adequate.

 

[bapegg]

Is that 8945hx the minisforum ITX board? How are you liking that?

Yes that is the Minisforum BD895I SE motherboard. I am liking it so far. It is power efficient and runs well. I am running it with 32GB of DDR5 SODIMM, two 1 TB M2 NVME drives and an Intel A380 graphics card. The A380 is not for gaming but it does well running three 24" monitors and a 32" TV (using as a monitor).

 

[conmee]

I don’t remember when Apple switched to using so many scaled resolutions as defaults, but I really prefer the look of perfect 2X retina on the laptops.

View attachment 2612438View attachment 2612437

I first noticed the change with I want to say Catalina (or Monterey maybe) on my 2019 MBP. At some point one of the macOS updates defaulted to a higher scaled resolution sometime after Mojave (the 2X is still the default with Monterey on my 2015 15" MBP). Instead of defaulting to 2X, it went up one step. I always put it back to 1440x900 equivalent on my 15" Intel MBPs.

 

[thadoggfather]

Was not as thick as I was expecting from photos, it's barely just a little bit thicker than the 13 inch MBA.

I like the Citrus color. The keyboard not so sure about, if it was the lighting or what, but it looked like yellow/white almost like someone typing on had been chain smoking.

A deal breaker? IDK cause that color is cool but I might look to silver or indigo if I were to get one 😛

but also IDK, because of the novelty of citrus. It is a very impressive machine for $500-600.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I first noticed the change with I want to say Catalina (or Monterey maybe) on my 2019 MBP. At some point one of the macOS updates defaulted to a higher scaled resolution sometime after Mojave (the 2X is still the default with Monterey on my 2015 15" MBP). Instead of defaulting to 2X, it went up one step. I always put it back to 1440x900 equivalent on my 15" Intel MBPs.

It just kind of cracks me up because when it comes to external monitors, people lose their minds about those of us who use scaled resolutions ... yet MacBooks have been shipping with scaled resolutions as the factory default for years now.

It's even how they have them set up at the Apple Stores.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Someone's been on the KoolAid.

You should qualify that with "in its price range".

My laptop runs an Intel 13900HX and Nvidia 4080 laptop GPU and 32GB of RAM.

A Mac Pro with an M5 Max would beat it of course but the base M5 CPU would not and certainly not an A18 Pro.

Thank you! I am so tired of the hyperbole. Why can't the person just say, "it's faster than I thought." My brand new gaming laptop kicks the crap out of most macs, definitely the Neo wouldn't even come close.

 

[Apple_Robert]

OP,
I give you credit for taking the time in the store to at least give it a little test. I don't care for the "GimpBook" terminology but, making the post you did is standup in my book, given your recent postings.