Why I Returned the MacBook Neo

[DotCom2]

Got my 512 Citrus Neo yesterday. LOVE IT! Everything is super speedy, even the Touch ID was almost instant! I haven't had any devices in a long time with Touch ID and have never liked it but WOW, I can't believe how quick it is. Screen is perfectly fine, but I am not a professional photographer. Love the weight and size. perf for my needs which are mostly travel, and of course, the price. The only thing that bugs me, is the keyboard is not backlit. That's it!

 

[AppleWes]

Got my 512 Citrus Neo yesterday. LOVE IT! Everything is super speedy, even the Touch ID was almost instant! I haven't had any devices in a long time with Touch ID and have never liked it but WOW, I can't believe how quick it is. Screen is perfectly fine, but I am not a professional photographer. Love the weight and size. perf for my needs which are mostly travel, and of course, the price. The only thing that bugs me, is the keyboard is not backlit. That's it!

Same! The speed really impressed me too along with nearly instant Touch ID

Admittingly I'm coming from a 2018 Intel based MacBook Pro but wow it's a huge difference for my daily use, especially since I don't require extreme Pro level tasks.

 

[David Hassholehoff]

• The screen size is just a little bit too small for my liking. The 13.6” MBA size is a better size for me. I could sort of live with this, if it wasn’t for:
• The screen quality is just not good enough for me. Two main issues with it: the viewing angles are noticeably worse than a MBA and MBP screen and the clarity and crispness of the text and graphics is noticeably not as good as a MBA or MBP. Everything looks slightly blurred on screen in comparison to Apple’s Pro devices and even compared to the MBA.

Concise, clear and perfectly explained. You gave it a fair chance (unlike the guy with the "final review" who never saw it, let alone touched it) and it didn't fit you. This is exactly the kind of consumer advise I value!👍🏼

UPDATE: [...]

Well, sadly some people have the team scarf tied so tightly around the neck it asphyxiates the brain. They see negative critique, they push back. All we can do is shrug it off, I guess.

 

[I7guy]

Got my 512 Citrus Neo yesterday. LOVE IT! Everything is super speedy, even the Touch ID was almost instant! I haven't had any devices in a long time with Touch ID and have never liked it but WOW, I can't believe how quick it is. Screen is perfectly fine, but I am not a professional photographer. Love the weight and size. perf for my needs which are mostly travel, and of course, the price. The only thing that bugs me, is the keyboard is not backlit. That's it!

This is exactly the type of feedback as a potential consumer of the Mac neo that would tilt my thinking toward a purchase.

Concise, clear and perfectly explained. You gave it a fair chance (unlike the guy with the "final review" who never saw it, let alone touched it) and it didn't fit you. This is exactly the kind of consumer advise I value!👍🏼

Well, sadly some people have the team scarf tied so tightly around the neck it asphyxiates the brain. They see negative critique, they push back. All we can do is shrug it off, I guess.

As a potential consumer it’s confusing one positive review one negative. Which is why no matter what someone’s opinion is one has to try it out. Confirmation bias will happen when your position agrees with the comments. And not to mention trolling a group of people who disagree with the opinions.

 

[Queen6]

This is exactly the type of feedback as a potential consumer of the Mac neo that would tilt my thinking toward a purchase.

As a potential consumer it’s confusing one positive review one negative. Which is why no matter what someone’s opinion is one has to try it out. Confirmation bias will happen when your position agrees with the comments. And not to mention trolling a group of people who disagree with the opinions.

Reality is you need to see for yourself at very least look at impartial reviews. Like all products a defective unit is entirely possible, so you return and try again or give up, is no more complex.

Majority seem good with the Neo as they likely have balanced expectations of a $599 MacBook. Apple's problem is this; Honor MagicBook Pro 14" 32GB, 1T, Intel Core Ultra 5 Processor 225H, Intel Arc 130T GPU, 3:2 OLED display (3120*2080) & 92Wh battery with a weight of 1.37kg. $870 out the door. This is not some cheap HP plastic junk, its a premium notebook at a great price point. Here in Asia Mac's have serious competition, that's only going to increase as now most providers now offer W11 & Linux.

Simple Apple can't compete with such pricing, but that's on them...

Q-6

 

[chars1ub0w]

Apple's problem is this; Honor MagicBook Pro 14" 32GB, 1T, Intel Core Ultra 5 Processor 225H, Intel Arc 130T GPU, 3:2 OLED display (3120*2080) & 92Wh battery with a weight of 1.37kg. $870 out the door.

What about the lighter Honor MagicBook Art 14" How much does that go for with 32GB RAM in Asia? In Europe, MagicBooks are at MacBook Air pricing.

 

[Queen6]

What about the lighter Honor MagicBook Art 14" How much does that go for with 32GB RAM in Asia? In Europe, MagicBooks are at MacBook Air pricing.

Can look, our daughter wanted the base MagicBook Pro for uni, but got her a deal on the 32GB model.

Update; 14" MagicBook Art starts at $1302 to $1446, that's the site price in store can get better deals. Expect 20% less at a minimum. Her 14" MagicBook Pro was listed at 8199 local, paid 6K out the door... Best guess for the 14" Art; 32Gb, Ultra 5 255H, Intel® Arc™ 130T, 1TB SSD $1K USD. Is a good deal if you can source as these are premium notebooks that can easily go head-to-head with Apple.

Q-6

 

[Technerd108]

Can look, our daughter wanted the base MagicBook Pro for uni, but got her a deal on the 32GB model.

Update; 14" MagicBook Art starts at $1302 to $1446, that's the site price in store can get better deals. Expect 20% less at a minimum. Her 14" MagicBook Pro was listed at 8199 local, paid 6K out the door... Best guess for the 14" Art; 32Gb, Ultra 5 255H, Intel® Arc™ 130T, 1TB SSD $1K USD. Is a good deal if you can source as these are premium notebooks that can easily go head-to-head with Apple.

Q-6

Not really a fair comparison to the Neo? The Neo is great because of the performance and build quality for $500-$600.

For $1000 you can get an air and I would rather have an air over an air equivalent Windows laptop even with double the ram.

Just my opinion?

 

[chars1ub0w]

Best guess for the 14" Art; 32Gb, Ultra 5 255H, Intel® Arc™ 130T, 1TB SSD $1K USD. Is a good deal if you can source as these are premium notebooks that can easily go head-to-head with Apple.

13" M5 MacBook Air 32GB 1TB SSD is $1699.
Latest 14.6" Honor MagicBook Art 2025 is 9999 RMB ($1,450) in China with 32GB RAM 1TB SSD.
As it's Windows 11 家庭中文版 (Home Chinese Language Edition), which is single language only,
you also have to pay to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro.

I know it has OLED screen and is 1kg (lighter than MacBook Air).​

But the M5 MacBook Air is likely to destroy it in compute.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Not really a fair comparison to the Neo? The Neo is great because of the performance and build quality for $500-$600.

For $1000 you can get an air and I would rather have an air over an air equivalent Windows laptop even with double the ram.

Just my opinion?

Definitely just your opinion. 😀 But at Macrumors would also be a lot of other people's opinion as well. Not mine, but a lot of people.

 

[I7guy]

Reality is you need to see for yourself at very least look at impartial reviews. Like all products a defective unit is entirely possible, so you return and try again or give up, is no more complex.

Majority seem good with the Neo as they likely have balanced expectations of a $599 MacBook. Apple's problem is this; Honor MagicBook Pro 14" 32GB, 1T, Intel Core Ultra 5 Processor 225H, Intel Arc 130T GPU, 3:2 OLED display (3120*2080) & 92Wh battery with a weight of 1.37kg. $870 out the door. This is not some cheap HP plastic junk, its a premium notebook at a great price point. Here in Asia Mac's have serious competition, that's only going to increase as now most providers now offer W11 & Linux.

Simple Apple can't compete with such pricing, but that's on them...

Q-6

For me it was the Neo as we wanted to try macOS vs windows. Our needs are a basic laptop which the neo is a great price to value option.

 

[dzankizakon]

crispness of the text and graphics is noticeably not as good as a MBA or MBP

PPI (pixels per inch)
Neo: 219
MBA: 224
MBP: 254

Are you saying you've noticed the difference in pixel density between 219 ppi on Neo and 224 ppi on MBA? If so, you have an amazing eyesight of one in a million.

 

[Queen6]

13" M5 MacBook Air 32GB 1TB SSD is $1699.
Latest 14.6" Honor MagicBook Art 2025 is 9999 RMB ($1,450) in China with 32GB RAM 1TB SSD.
As it's Windows 11 家庭中文版 (Home Chinese Language Edition), which is single language only,
you also have to pay to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro.

I know it has OLED screen and is 1kg (lighter than MacBook Air).​

But the M5 MacBook Air is likely to destroy it in compute.

View attachment 2617862

No doubt, my daughter needs a Windows system, so the Air was not an option as the university is likely to drop support for the Mac next year. She opted for the 14" MagicBook Pro as has a 92Wh battery and the Art has an unusual set up for the camera. MagicBook Pro is a lot of computer for 6000 RMB...

As for the Air with 32GB 12,999 RMB ($1880) as I've said before this one of Apple's problems here. The Neo looks to be selling well as is priced sensibly although the completion remains incredibly strong...

Q-6

 

[Pbwallstreet]

PPI (pixels per inch)
Neo: 219
MBA: 224
MBP: 254

Are you saying you've noticed the difference in pixel density between 219 ppi on Neo and 224 ppi on MBA? If so, you have an amazing eyesight of one in a million.

Yes I have very good eyesight.

It isn’t just the PPI though, the less anti-reflection on the screen and the lower colour gamut just combined upon one another and it wasn’t quite good enough for me.

I will say though, it is still a very good screen comparatively.

 

[Fravin]

Posting objective information and making a subjective comment are two different things.

For example, the Neo screen is objectively worse than the Air screen. The Pro screen is objectively worse then the IPP M5 screen.

However, subjectively you may like the Neo screen, the Air screen and the Pro screen.

To me that boils down to semantics as to things can be true at the same time.

Very nice post, thank you!

 

[Queen6]

Have now looked at numerous Neo's. Display is good for sRGB with no noticeable colour shift. Sure, you can force it by looking at very oblique angles. My only problem with the Neo is I don't need one but want one 😂

Q-6

 

[NvidiaIntelPC]

Got my Neo today. Put it through some paces, and just got back from the Apple Store to return it.

Why I returned it:

• The screen size is just a little bit too small for my liking. The 13.6” MBA size is a better size for me. I could sort of live with this, if it wasn’t for:
• The screen quality is just not good enough for me. Two main issues with it: the viewing angles are noticeably worse than a MBA and MBP screen and the clarity and crispness of the text and graphics is noticeably not as good as a MBA or MBP. Everything looks slightly blurred on screen in comparison to Apple’s Pro devices and even compared to the MBA.

The Neo’s screen made me feel like I was stepping back in time. I can’t go to a screen like that when I use devices like the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the iPad Pro M5, the MacBook Pro M series, and a M3 MacBook Air.

I did side by side comparisons with the same content as well just to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.

Overall really nice device though. Great build quality, nice keyboard and trackpad, decent sounding audio, ran apps well, etc.

UPDATE: I BOUGHT THE NEO BECAUSE I AM LOOKING TO REPLACE MY 15” M3 MBA WITH A SMALLER DEVICE AS THE MBA IS MY NON-WORK PERSONAL LAPTOP. I BOUGHT THE NEO TO PUT IT THROUGH ITS PACES AT HOME OVER A SEVERAL DAY PERIOD, NOT A FLEETING HANDFUL OF MINUTES IN A RETAIL STORE. I INTENDED TO KEEP IT AND DON’T REGULARLY RETURN PRODUCTS TO APPLE. THE SPECS OF A SCREEN ARE NOT ENOUGH TO KNOW AHEAD OF TIME WITHOUT USING THE DEVICE WHETHER IT’S ACCEPTABLE OR NOT.

Well, of course! it’s a budget laptop, not just a smaller version of a premium class product like the old 11” or 12” MacBooks were.

 

[dzankizakon]

Yes I have very good eyesight.

It isn’t just the PPI though, the less anti-reflection on the screen and the lower colour gamut just combined upon one another and it wasn’t quite good enough for me.

I will say though, it is still a very good screen comparatively.

You were talking about text crispness though. Such a tiny difference in DPI is just placebo.

 

[Pbwallstreet]

You were talking about text crispness though. Such a tiny difference in DPI is just placebo.

No it isn’t. It’s a result of a more reflective screen, delamination and reduced colour gamut.

 

[Technerd108]

No it isn’t. It’s a result of a more reflective screen, delamination and reduced colour gamut.

I have no beef in this fight.

But, text crispness has nothing to do with reflectivity, lamination, or color gamut otherwise older Macs with plastic low res lcd screens would have suffered from the same blurry text.

DPI is DPI but resolutions can affect "crispness" and are independent of the DPI. It may be that your resolution is set too low.

The small difference in pixels would not be noticeable for most people. It is not like 720p vs 1080p etc.

 

[Meedoss]

I have no beef in this fight.

But, text crispness has nothing to do with reflectivity, lamination, or color gamut otherwise older Macs with plastic low res lcd screens would have suffered from the same blurry text.

DPI is DPI but resolutions can affect "crispness" and are independent of the DPI. It may be that your resolution is set too low.

The small difference in pixels would not be noticeable for most people. It is not like 720p vs 1080p etc.

Disagree, sold my 15" M4 air after getting my ASD, bought a Mac mini.
Imagine neo would be worse.

 

[Pbwallstreet]

I have no beef in this fight.

But, text crispness has nothing to do with reflectivity, lamination, or color gamut otherwise older Macs with plastic low res lcd screens would have suffered from the same blurry text.

DPI is DPI but resolutions can affect "crispness" and are independent of the DPI. It may be that your resolution is set too low.

The small difference in pixels would not be noticeable for most people. It is not like 720p vs 1080p etc.

Yes, it does. The combination of factors can and does distort content. Go back and read through this thread as your comments are redundant.

 

[Technerd108]

Yes, it does. The combination of factors can and does distort content. Go back and read through this thread as your comments are redundant.

I am a member of the department of redundancy department.

No repetition in any of your statements though.

A little snarky, no?

If your statement was true then why don't people complain the non laminated non anti reflective coating on the regular iPad? It has 264dpi vs 219 but you view the iPad closer so they look about the same. Any DPI around 200 should show crisp text.

I am sure if the lighting is bad it can be much more distracting but it doesn't affect the crispness of text.

I was simply pointing out one point not arguing why you returned your Neo or if it was valid reasoning. That is your decision and yours alone. I don't pretent to have any idea of what you need. Rather you pointed out text crispness and issues that don't affect it so I made a comment.

 

[Pbwallstreet]

I am a member of the department of redundancy department.

No repetition in any of your statements though.

A little snarky, no?

If your statement was true then why don't people complain the non laminated non anti reflective coating on the regular iPad? It has 264dpi vs 219 but you view the iPad closer so they look about the same. Any DPI around 200 should show crisp text.

I am sure if the lighting is bad it can be much more distracting but it doesn't affect the crispness of text.

I was simply pointing out one point not arguing why you returned your Neo or if it was valid reasoning. That is your decision and yours alone. I don't pretent to have any idea of what you need. Rather you pointed out text crispness and issues that don't affect it so I made a comment.

And that is where you are wrong. Screens that are more reflective and ones not laminated with less colour accuracy can be washed out and blurry. That is what I am referring to. You keep talking about PPI and that is you alone, not me inserting that. I have not taken issue with PPI.

And people do complain and discuss the issue on Reddit, Apple forums, etc. for iPads.

I do not care what anyone else’s experience is. This is my experience with the Neo and that is what I posted about. If the screen looks good for you and others with no issue, cool, carry on.

 

[Technerd108]

And that is where you are wrong. Screens that are more reflective and ones not laminated with less colour accuracy can be washed out and blurry. That is what I am referring to. You keep talking about PPI and that is you alone, not me inserting that. I have not taken issue with PPI.

And people do complain and discuss the issue on Reddit, Apple forums, etc. for iPads.

I do not care what anyone else’s experience is. This is my experience with the Neo and that is what I posted about. If the screen looks good for you and others with no issue, cool, carry on.

I am simply trying to understand what doesn't make sense logically to me in your comments.

If you say the text is blurry then PPI matters as well as display resolution. I inserted because lamination and color accuracy and anti reflective screen do not affect text readability but PPI and resolution do.

So of your resolution is set to very large your text will be blurry if you set it to more space or higher resolution your text will be crisp. The PPI is good enough on the Neo screen to display crisp text. This is why it matters.

A washed out screen has no effect on black or white text on the screen I assure you.

I was also pointing out resolution in case you have it set low and I could help you by adjusting it but I am sure you have done so.

I am just trying to clarify what you are saying as a complaint which is blurry text and trying to suggest that your reasoning for blurry text doesn't add up to me. Maybe you have a defective screen?

In any case I am not trying to upset you in the least it is my ADHD and autism and sometimes I point something out that offends and if so I apologize.