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Apple intros MacBook Neo: $599 with an iPhone chip

A coworker just complained literally yesterday about her 5yo laptop, although it was mainly because the battery's clapped out. But my experience aligns: even a decent may have crap in the air channels and throttles due to heat, or OS upgrades making it run worse than it did (also an infamous problem with phones; my old pocket PC got destroyed by Windows CE 5, and my last phone, a Galaxy A35, ran pretty fast until the Android 16 upgrade, which murdered it.)

To be fair Apple is famous for updates made to purposely throttle old chips. lol
BUT people switching today may not know that.
 
That depends on a lot of things. The Core2Duo won't feel fast in 2026, but will still technically work just fine. Also, exporting from Adobe Premiere would likely take over night on a Core2Duo as well. But a 5-6 old machine is likely to have no noticeable difference compared to other modern laptops. Assuming that the laptop is still working just fine since the day it was bought.

Yes, but my point is that if you're doing daily tasks like web browsing and watching video, then the old Core2Duo will work just fine. This also includes Chromebooks since that's pretty much all they're good for.

Which doesn't matter. If the Neo takes more time to open up applications than the slower IPC Windows laptops, then IPC doesn't matter. Especially when you consider that we're going by Cinebench and Geekbench, which should not matter. I'm going to cut the part of Max Tech's video where they all click at the same time and shows that the Neo is by far the most sluggish laptop. Again, synthetic benchmarks do not matter when they don't represent real world performance.
View attachment 792787

And a heatsink, but you're right. The problem is, the Neo is saddled with an iPhone chip.

I hope Apple avoids using the A19 Pro and other future iPhone chips. Just put in an older generation M-series chip.

They already have better chips. Why would AMD and Intel care about the Neo? It's the screen and sound quality of the Neo that's concerning, not the CPU. The CPU is a joke.

Except the reviews that show the Neo being much worse at browsing than current competing Windows laptops.

I'm going to refer back to the clip of Max Tech opening up applications with that 8GB that you think users won't be noticing. Your logic is strange because you think the single threaded performance is a factor but not the ram.

Transferring files is not something you'd expect the Neo to be doing? You want me to pull out the Core2Duo and show what it was expected to be doing in 2010? Transferring files is basic 101 of daily computing tasks.

In the video you posted. THey are ALSO transferring 100 48mp raw images in the back ground. That is a stupid unfair test. Cause no one in their right mind buys ANY of these $500ish laptops to transfer 100s of RAW Digital DSLR files. That is fucking stupid. But to do it while trying to web browse? Even more stupid. Also no one is going to be using a windows and apple machine side by side and say look look 1.5s of delay. Crap! lol

I would suggest that no even for web browsing a core2 is going to suck. Frankly even for web browsing your going to notice a difference even on current gen low end chips. I mean maybe if your only using the [H] forum and slash dot who cares. But people are using the web now to load slow shopping sites, and video sites. If you got your Amazon cart in one tab, your booking some movie tickets in another, and you left that youtube video open. Even a low end Intel chip from 5 or 6 years ago is going to feel less then great.

Intel and AMD should care about the neo... cause this isn't about "Better" chips. Its about better chips for $500. NO Intel and AMD do not have better chips in that price range. What I'm saying may be sound crazy to you. I'm not crazy. This A18 chip is better then what Intel and AMD are cooking in the same price range. It sucks way less power. (which is why the neo is half the size and lighter it doesn't need a massive battery to = the windows machines) Sure it beats them in single core performance, is in spitting distance in multi core, has a much better NPU (which yes matters if your software ecosystem actually uses it which Apples does) Frankly it also has a better GPU then what AMD is selling currently in cheap chips, and Intels might be technically stronger but software... Apple not being a steam platform aside the A18 GPU is surprisingly powerful.

I don't think 8gb is really that big a deal for what people who ACTUALLY buy these will be doing with them. No one is buying these to transfer 100s of raw image files out of a camera that costs 2-3x as much as a Neo. No one is buying these to run Adobe premiere which has a annual sub cost without education discounts that is as much as a Neo. No one is buying these to do high end 3D cad work. No one is buying a Neo to play AAA games, or thinking they can. They are buying these to do some web browsing (not while trying to do the above at the same time). They are buying these to process some words and make birthday cards (remember when that was a thing lol). Edit some documents. Sure they might edit some camera phone pics, no issues. They might import some phone video and edit it a bit, no issues. And ya as silly as the NPC seems to most of us here on [H]. The apple NPU powered software will 100% make basic photo and video editing feel smooth and powerful to people wanting to do the cut out the background on this Iphone/Android phone photo type things.
 
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In the video you posted. THey are ALSO transferring 100 48mp raw images in the back ground. That is a stupid unfair test.
You want the test to use a single web browser and nothing more? Don't know about you but I have several things open at a single time, with more than one web browser open.
Cause no one in their right mind buys ANY of these $500ish laptops to transfer 100s of RAW Digital DSLR files.
He was using Lightroom Classic and the Neo finished it in 2 minutes. It was the slowest but not by a huge factor. Moving files around is a basic function of any PC. You said the Neo would be snappy and fast compared to Windows machines and that's clearly not the case.
That is fucking stupid. But to do it while trying to web browse? Even more stupid.
Yea, because I like watching my PC move files and not do anything else for the next minute or two. (y)
Also no one is going to be using a windows and apple machine side by side and say look look 1.5s of delay. Crap! lol
These are tests. Should we compare the Neo to another Neo?
Frankly even for web browsing your going to notice a difference even on current gen low end chips.
In ideal situations, but Neo is not going to have ideal situations. That 8GB of ram and slow SSD performance will make sure of that.
I mean maybe if your only using the [H] forum and slash dot who cares. But people are using the web now to load slow shopping sites, and video sites. If you got your Amazon cart in one tab, your booking some movie tickets in another, and you left that youtube video open. Even a low end Intel chip from 5 or 6 years ago is going to feel less then great.
You got this from where? SpeedOmeter? It's clear the Neo isn't good at switching tabs when multitasking. Do you expect people with older chips to be waiting seconds to open a web page? You'd get a bigger performance boost changing your DNS.
NO Intel and AMD do not have better chips in that price range.
They're demonstrably better chips. They only lose to IPC and only to tests like Geekbench and Cinebench.
This A18 chip is better then what Intel and AMD are cooking in the same price range.
Except it's slower at everything but IPC. Not even a little slower too.
It sucks way less power.
But gets the worst battery life due to Apple saddling it with a small battery.
has a much better NPU (which yes matters if your software ecosystem actually uses it which Apples does)
Nobody cares about NPU's. I'm surprised chip manufacturers are wasting silicon space for these stupid things.
Frankly it also has a better GPU then what AMD is selling currently in cheap chips, and Intels might be technically stronger but software... Apple not being a steam platform aside the A18 GPU is surprisingly powerful.
Then don't buy an AMD based laptops. Intel's Lunar Lakes are really amazing chips for something that's 2 years old.
I don't think 8gb is really that big a deal for what people who ACTUALLY buy these will be doing with them.
You keep doing that. It's a laptop that does laptop things. Don't tell people what they can or can't do with them.
No one is buying these to transfer 100s of raw image files out of a camera that costs 2-3x as much as a Neo.
Why not?
No one is buying these to run Adobe premiere which has a annual sub cost without education discounts that is as much as a Neo.
Why not?
No one is buying these to do high end 3D cad work. No one is buying a Neo to play AAA games, or thinking they can.
These Neo's can't do a lot of things it seems.
 
Come on now Duke. You know their is a difference between having something open in the background. And having something saturating the machines IO in the background.
Find me the windows user in the real world that ques up 200gb of file transfers and then starts tabbing through open browser tabs. That was a BS test designed specifically to show the Neo loose a bit for clicks.

Yes if your going to do that your correct 8gb is limited even with good compression and paging tech. Still the apple machine didn't DIE, it didn't crash. It was just 1.5s slower. Big woop. No one cares.

On AAA games sure $500 windows laptops can't play AAA games either. If you suggest they can your lying. :)
 
Come on now Duke. You know their is a difference between having something open in the background. And having something saturating the machines IO in the background.
Find me the windows user in the real world that ques up 200gb of file transfers and then starts tabbing through open browser tabs. That was a BS test designed specifically to show the Neo loose a bit for clicks.
I do this all the time. Usually through my gigabit Ethernet network. While also playing a game on my main monitor and watching a video on the second monitor. This was no different when I was using Windows 10 vs Linux. It's not like I notice any slow downs while doing this. Sometimes I forget I'm transferring files until a pop up appears that tells me it's complete. Don't you guys also run multiple applications at the same time?
It was just 1.5s slower. Big woop. No one cares.
This is not my argument. It was said that because of the IPC, the Neo would feel snappy. 1.5s slower is not snappy.
On AAA games sure $500 windows laptops can't play AAA games either. If you suggest they can your lying. :)
Do not test me. Also, why $500? The Neo's base price is $600? You assume everyone gets a school discount? Whatever, I can work with both prices. Ah yes, the NIMO brand. Never heard of them. A very under rated chip is AMD's Rembrandt. Here's a NIMO gaming laptop with a 6850U for $500.
  1. 16GB of ram.
  2. 1080P IPS screen
  3. AMD Radeon 680M <-- for gaming
  4. Backlit keyboard
  5. 100W USB-C charger
  6. Fingerprint sensor
  7. 3.75 lbs. It's 15.6 inches.
Gemini thinks it's has an aluminum housing but I don't know about that. It's 1lb lighter than a 16" inch Macbook so I'm assuming it's plastic.
 
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In the video you posted. THey are ALSO transferring 100 48mp raw images in the back ground. That is a stupid unfair test. Cause no one in their right mind buys ANY of these $500ish laptops to transfer 100s of RAW Digital DSLR files. That is fucking stupid. But to do it while trying to web browse? Even more stupid. Also no one is going to be using a windows and apple machine side by side and say look look 1.5s of delay. Crap! lol
...
Why not? Browsing (or doing some tasks) while copying data (or performing another task) in the background is fairly common. My wife's ryzen laptop cost $500 six years ago and handles such things without a hickup.

Unfortunate that those neo's are going to sell like hotcakes, setting back performance expectations in this price class by over a decade.
 
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Why not? Browsing (or doing some tasks) while copying data (or performing another task) in the background is fairly common. My wife's ryzen laptop cost $500 six years ago and handles such things without a hickup.
My HP with a Ryzen 5500U has a 1TB mechanical drive and a 1TB NVME. Copying data while browsing is fairly common. Of course I don't run FireFox and Chrome at the same time like I do on my desktop. It only has one screen after all. I mostly copy.... Linux ISO's. Yep, ISO's of Linux distros. That's my answer and I'm sticking with it. I'm fairly certain my Ryzen 5500U is considered "inferior" to the A18 Pro on the Neo. This isn't exactly new for me either. I was doing this stuff as far back as Windows XP.
 
Am I seriously hearing people claiming that Core 2 Duos have the capacity to stand alongside even the cheapest trash available today?


C2D vs A18Pro:

LITERALLY an order of magnitude slower compute.
ALSO LITERALLY TWO orders of magnitude slower iGPU.
No HW accelerated video decode.
In most every supported configuration I've ever seen, half the RAM.
At best, half the battery life. (but, more likely, a third or worse...)
Runs like garbage on any version of Windows past 7.

This is a geriatric product line that gets stomped by current Raspberry Pi's, and decade-old phone SoCs.


Also, anything anyone picks up is gonna be covered in 20 years of cigarette smoke and Cheeto dust. You think there's a Mac user on the planet that wouldn't pay $600 to not have to deal with a keyboard full of second-hand junk-funk?
 
I do this all the time. Usually through my gigabit Ethernet network. While also playing a game on my main monitor and watching a video on the second monitor. This was no different when I was using Windows 10 vs Linux.

So this is a laptop?
You are transfering 100s of GB of photos while browing on your LAPTOP? I don't think so. :)

You are comparing the Neo to desktop hardware I think.
 
Why not? Browsing (or doing some tasks) while copying data (or performing another task) in the background is fairly common. My wife's ryzen laptop cost $500 six years ago and handles such things without a hickup.

Unfortunate that those neo's are going to sell like hotcakes, setting back performance expectations in this price class by over a decade.

Accept the neo runs very well.
The test Duke is talking about. The Neo did just fine frankly. They sat both machines side by side so they could click and go look look look it took 1s longer.
It was a dumb test. The NEO passed their test imo. No one using that machine in that way would actually be complaining. They only way anyone would notice it took 1s longer is if you sat it right next to another laptop and replicated the same test. That super scientific "test" was clearly run for clicks. They had to engineer a test that made the Apple machine bad cause contrary thumbnails and titles = clicks. Its like a movie reviewer giving a great movie a shit review knowing they will get a ton of reads.

It is still a stupid test.. Cause frankly I just don't believe people are transferring 100s of GB of DLSLR files and decides hmmm its time to do some surfing. That should speed up this file transfer. On a desktop sure. On a 3watt laptop ya whatever. NO.
 
Am I seriously hearing people claiming that Core 2 Duos have the capacity to stand alongside even the cheapest trash available today?
People here are reading way too much into my statement. Obviously a Core2Duo can't stand toe to toe against any modern SoC, including the Neo's A18 Pro. What I'm saying is that any computer built in the past 15 years can web browse and video playback just fine. I still use an HP DV7 with a Core2Duo to carry to my cars and run software like Toyota TechStream. Once I put in a 2.5" SSD, the laptops runs acceptably well with Windows 10.

Obviously don't go buy a Core2Duo in 2026. My statement was me being Diogenes to Aurelius chicken statement. If a usable computer is based on web browsing and video playback then plenty of computers can do this. We obviously have higher standards today.
Diogenes chicken meme.jpg
So this is a laptop?
You are transfering 100s of GB of photos while browing on your LAPTOP? I don't think so. :)

You are comparing the Neo to desktop hardware I think.
Is this an Apple thing that I'm too PC to understand? It's both. When has transferring files ever slowed down someones computer that you needed to wait to finish to even do something simple like browse the web? I obviously don't play games on my laptop while transferring files, but only because I'd rather browse the web than play a game while transferring files. My HP laptop running a Ryzen 5500U has 16GB of ram and a 1TB NVME SSD and a 1TB HDD. I didn't spent over $500 for this laptop which was 2-3 years ago. I think it's a 17" or a 16"? I don't remember but I installed CachyOS and that was it.
Accept the neo runs very well.
The test Duke is talking about. The Neo did just fine frankly. They sat both machines side by side so they could click and go look look look it took 1s longer. It was a dumb test.
The point of the test was to show that IPC is not everything. If you expect a snappy response from an 8GB laptop with an SSD that's 1/4 the performance of every $600 laptop, then I got an Apple bridge to sell you.
The NEO passed their test imo.
It wasn't the kind of test that it could fail. It was a performance tests and the Neo was dead last. It's also a real world performance test, where Cinebench and Geekbench are not.
No one using that machine in that way would actually be complaining.
You guys need to stop limiting what you expect from the Neo. Especially stuff that's this basic.
They only way anyone would notice it took 1s longer is if you sat it right next to another laptop and replicated the same test.
This is why people do these tests, so that consumers are better informed. Wouldn't you want to know which laptops run applications faster?
It is still a stupid test..
That's copium.
Cause frankly I just don't believe people are transferring 100s of GB of DLSLR files and decides hmmm its time to do some surfing.
What are you doing with that 256GB or 512GB SSD? Files are going to transfer.
That should speed up this file transfer. On a desktop sure. On a 3watt laptop ya whatever. NO.
It's clear that the other "inferior" AMD, Intel, and even the Snapdragon chips don't seem effected the same way as the Neo. You can lower the watts all you want, but the A18 Pro in the Neo is the worst chip to be put into a laptop. You can point to as many Geekbench and Cinebench scores all you want, but realistically it's by far the worst when it comes to real world performance. Don't give me that, "but nobody actually transfers files", because people obviously do. At the very least, you're installing software which is basically the same load.
 
So this is a laptop?
You are transfering 100s of GB of photos while browing on your LAPTOP? I don't think so. :)

You are comparing the Neo to desktop hardware I think.
That would literally be a non-issue for this laptop. The phone chip in the Neo is more than capable for many tasks. And yes ... I'm constantly transferring hundreds of GBs on my laptop while doing other things since I'm a photographer. This wouldn't be an issue for this laptop even with 8 GB of RAM. There are some strange arguments happening in this thread. The Neo isn't for me because I need more RAM for what I do, but it's more than capable for what 90% of people do ... especially the target demographic.
 
That would literally be a non-issue for this laptop. The phone chip in the Neo is more than capable for many tasks. And yes ... I'm constantly transferring hundreds of GBs on my laptop while doing other things since I'm a photographer. This wouldn't be an issue for this laptop even with 8 GB of RAM. There are some strange arguments happening in this thread. The Neo isn't for me because I need more RAM for what I do, but it's more than capable for what 90% of people do ... especially the target demographic.
Exactly my point. :)
If your a professional photographer shooting raw format photos your not in the market for a neo. At least not for work.

Its the same with people testing Adobe suite stuff on the neo... that just isn't what its for.
 
Exactly my point. :)
If your a professional photographer shooting raw format photos your not in the market for a neo. At least not for work.

Its the same with people testing Adobe suite stuff on the neo... that just isn't what its for.
Why not use the Neo for professional photography and Adobe software? Because it's not optimal? A $600 laptop can do everything a $2k can do, just slower. Just so happens that Intel 226V chips can do it faster. By faster I mean it won't take over night to export. Same can be said about Snapdragon X chips. The A18 Pro is not the reason to get a Neo. It's the reason not to get the Neo. The Neo's strength is the screen and audio quality. Which would seem like the perfect laptops for photography and video editing... if it wasn't for the A18 Pro SoC.
 
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Why not use the Neo for professional photography and Adobe software? Because it's not optimal? A $600 laptop can do everything a $2k can do, just slower. Just so happens that Intel 226V chips can do it faster. By faster I mean it won't take over night to export. Same can be said about Snapdragon X chips. The A18 Pro is not the reason to get a Neo. It's the reason not to get the Neo. The Neo's strength is the screen and audio quality. Which would seem like the perfect laptops for photography and video editing... if it wasn't for the A18 Pro SoC.
Your looking for a mac book air. :)

Believe it or not professional photography is not on most peoples bingo card.

Yes you can edit standard camera phone pictures everyone takes. The dude that ran that test was transfering raw camera files. You get those come out of $2k cameras not phones right. :) Yes if you have professional needs you should buy a professional computer. The snapdragon or intel 226v is not the right product for you either. No one pairs a $500 laptop of any kind with Professional software and hardware that cost more then the laptop.

The Neo and yes A18 is a way to get Apple quality hardware for Windows craptop money.
As many reviews have pointed out if your doing basic standard photo editing like most non professionals will be doing. Apple does engage the NPU and is more capable. If your scrubbing 4k video. Which to be fair non professionals are starting to do. The neo easily bests any Intel/Qcom/AMD part in that price range.

So far all the test I have seen that make the Neo look bad, are imo done for clicks. They are tests of professional gear/software paired with a neo. I will grant you that if you are stupid you can try to use professional gear on a cheap windows laptop and through the merit of having more ram you will have a slightly better bad experience.
 
Your looking for a mac book air. :)
Which according to Just Josh is a better choice and cost very little money over the Neo. Specifically the M2 Air. It still has 8GB of ram but at least the M2 chip has a heatsink and a much faster SSD. Not my top alternative choice, as you may have guessed.
Believe it or not professional photography is not on most peoples bingo card.
Except that the Neo is kinda built like it's meant for photography. Why else have a nice screen on a laptop?
The dude that ran that test was transfering raw camera files.
Does it matter what kind of files it is that he's transferring? Like I said, just install software and it'll produce the same load. Also, this Canon EOS Rebel T7 DSLR Camera for $530 also takes raw images.
The snapdragon or intel 226v is not the right product for you either. No one pairs a $500 laptop of any kind with Professional software and hardware that cost more then the laptop.
Have you heard of the Corvette tax? The assumption that because you bought something expensive then everything you buy must also be expensive. The point I make is that the Snapdragon and Intel 226V would do a better job at that price point. You having higher standards doesn't change this fact. Especially the Intel 226V which can export Adobe Premiere videos within 20-30 minutes.
If your scrubbing 4k video. Which to be fair non professionals are starting to do. The neo easily bests any Intel/Qcom/AMD part in that price range.
Really? We just say things now? You going to make me cut the part where Just Josh disproves this? Forget scrubbing, he had performance issues playing back video on the Neo, at a quarter of the resolution. As he points out, the Acer did a much better job.

So far all the test I have seen that make the Neo look bad, are imo done for clicks.
This is still copium. Might as well say it's a conspiracy against the Neo.
They are tests of professional gear/software paired with a neo. I will grant you that if you are stupid you can try to use professional gear on a cheap windows laptop and through the merit of having more ram you will have a slightly better bad experience.
Slightly better bad experience? Don't think I ever heard of that one before.
 
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Except that the Neo is kinda built like it's meant for photography. Why else have a nice screen on a laptop?

It's meant to run Photos, the Apple app designed to run well on it. No one is buying a $500 laptop and then paying Adobe $240 a year to run Lightroom on it.
 
All this talk of exact performance capabilities (which are sometimes valid, to be clear) is missing the point.

Just this Friday, Microsoft posted a "commitment to Windows quality" piece where it publicly confirmed what had been reported for weeks: Microsoft knows Windows 11 is in a rough state, and it's spending the next months recovering the OS. It's working on baseline performance and reliability, scaling back (and refining) AI, and toning down the annoying behaviors and distractions that have affected Windows for years — in some cases before Windows 11, like 'surprise' system updates and an overly lengthy initial setup process.

Many customers tolerate these issues, but the MacBook Neo is arriving right as even Microsoft has had to acknowledge that frustration with Windows is at a peak. Apple is effectively waiting with open arms for people either deliberately leaving Windows or just more open to alternatives.
 
All this talk of exact performance capabilities (which are sometimes valid, to be clear) is missing the point.

Just this Friday, Microsoft posted a "commitment to Windows quality" piece where it publicly confirmed what had been reported for weeks: Microsoft knows Windows 11 is in a rough state, and it's spending the next months recovering the OS. It's working on baseline performance and reliability, scaling back (and refining) AI, and toning down the annoying behaviors and distractions that have affected Windows for years — in some cases before Windows 11, like 'surprise' system updates and an overly lengthy initial setup process.

Many customers tolerate these issues, but the MacBook Neo is arriving right as even Microsoft has had to acknowledge that frustration with Windows is at a peak. Apple is effectively waiting with open arms for people either deliberately leaving Windows or just more open to alternatives.
Windows being terrible is a different situation. And yea, they're breaking the OS biweekly it seems. Using MacOS over Windows is a valid argument to buy a Neo. Which shows the sad state of affairs for Windows 11.
 
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Windows being terrible is a different situation. And yea, they're breaking the OS biweekly it seems. Using MacOS over Windows is a valid argument to buy a Neo. Which shows the sad state of affairs for Windows 11.
That's the thing, though: even if we took your view of the Neo at face value, Windows will be an asterisk until (and unless) Microsoft can tighten things up. Having 16GB of RAM doesn't matter if a Mac with 8GB is just as efficient; having a sometimes faster Intel chip doesn't matter if the software annoys you the entire time.

And don't forget the ecosystem. If you already have an iPhone, getting your first Mac will feel like Nirvana: all your messages sync, you can easily hand off tasks from one device to the other, your AirPods auto-switch sources... you get the idea. Now, I know some of this is Apple keeping the best magic for itself, but the fact is that Apple's ecosystem tie-ins make even Windows' integrations (which are increasingly practical) seem crude by comparison.
 
Really? We just say things now? You going to make me cut the part where Just Josh disproves this? Forget scrubbing, he had performance issues playing back video on the Neo, at a quarter of the resolution. As he points out, the Acer did a much better job.
On adobe premiere pro or on davinci/final cut ? they do not take advantage of unified memory/neural engine/arm/metal silicon all the same.
 
All this talk of exact performance capabilities (which are sometimes valid, to be clear) is missing the point.

Just this Friday, Microsoft posted a "commitment to Windows quality" piece where it publicly confirmed what had been reported for weeks: Microsoft knows Windows 11 is in a rough state, and it's spending the next months recovering the OS. It's working on baseline performance and reliability, scaling back (and refining) AI, and toning down the annoying behaviors and distractions that have affected Windows for years — in some cases before Windows 11, like 'surprise' system updates and an overly lengthy initial setup process.

Many customers tolerate these issues, but the MacBook Neo is arriving right as even Microsoft has had to acknowledge that frustration with Windows is at a peak. Apple is effectively waiting with open arms for people either deliberately leaving Windows or just more open to alternatives.

I would say the Neo was a big part of the wake up call.
Windows... and MSDOS before it took the pole position cause they were cheaper.

MS should rightly be very afraid that APPLE has SHIT tons of the a18 chips. AND all of a sudden it seems they might not mind being cheaper.

I have a feeling Apple was testing the waters with the Neo including the PRICING of the Neo.

It is selling well at the price it is at. I imagine at some point they Drop a Neo2 Neo Plus or whatever they call it with 12gb, and slot it in at the exact same price. Without discoing the Neo, they'll just drop it another hundred bucks.

I'm sure MS maybe possibly waking up a little is a combination of factors. I think the Neo was for sure one of then.
 
...
Yes you can edit standard camera phone pictures everyone takes. The dude that ran that test was transfering raw camera files. You get those come out of $2k cameras not phones right. :)
Raw files are nothing special and most certainly not exclusive to expensive camera gear.

Fairly insane, the camera quality one can get for a few hundreds of bucks nowadays. A laptop with the neo's form factor and price could be a very nice device for photo-backup and some editing on the go.

Not to be offensive or anything, but you seem to have tech expectations that are out of date by at least a decade.
 
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Raw files are nothing special and most certainly not exclusive to expensive camera gear.

Fairly insane, the camera quality one can get for a few hundreds of bucks nowadays. A laptop with the neo's form factor and price could be a very nice device for photo-backup and some editing on the go.

Not to be offensive or anything, but you seem to have tech expectations that are out of date by at least a decade.

Fair. The real issue is he is running light room on a Neo. Felt very much to me like he was purposely trying to devise tests for Apple to loose for clicks. Best he could come up with was saturate the IO, and make it lag half a second swapping to a browser tab? Its a stupid test and I do stand by that. And yes your not wrong. Handling large photos isn't as big a deal as it used to be or it shouldn't be.

Its also silly. Cause it looses the test. Cause oh oh oh look 0.5s of delay. lol Like Grandma your kids... or anyone that doesn't have it sitting side by side another machine is going to notice. :)
 
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Fair. The real issue is he is running light room on a Neo. Felt very much to me like he was purposely trying to devise tests for Apple to loose for clicks. Best he could come up with was saturate the IO, and make it lag half a second swapping to a browser tab? Its a stupid test and I do stand by that. And yes your not wrong. Handling large photos isn't as big a deal as it used to be or it shouldn't be.

Its also silly. Cause it looses the test. Cause oh oh oh look 0.5s of delay. lol Like Grandma your kids... or anyone that doesn't have it sitting side by side another machine is going to notice. :)
Is light room hard to run now? it was like the baby version of photoshop last time I used it, I just used ps instead it was easier for what I do with it.
 
Is light room hard to run now? it was like the baby version of photoshop last time I used it, I just used ps instead it was easier for what I do with it.

https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/lightroom-cc/kb/known-issues.html

Adobe doesn't seem to be in a great place at the moment. I mean good on them for detailing current issues, at least they keep a list of known issues. Though I don't think this list is complete by any means. Lots of reports of crashing and various other issues. Like skipped imports. GPU support disappearing on the windows version. Just google lightroom, the volume of complains seems to be high right now. As I understand it Adobe has had Apple silicon builds running well. The issues are not limited at all to Apple. Most complains are coming from the windows version. The windows arm version.... eeee. Though plenty of reports from Apple silicon users as well.

If I had to guess.... some folks at Adobe may be Vibing with their softwares. lol
 
That's the thing, though: even if we took your view of the Neo at face value, Windows will be an asterisk until (and unless) Microsoft can tighten things up. Having 16GB of RAM doesn't matter if a Mac with 8GB is just as efficient; having a sometimes faster Intel chip doesn't matter if the software annoys you the entire time.
I don't think MacOS is more efficient with less ram than Windows is. Windows 11 problems with ram are how 3rd party applications tend to run in the background and take up space for no good reason. That and Microsoft's obsession with AI and ads in a OS.
And don't forget the ecosystem. If you already have an iPhone, getting your first Mac will feel like Nirvana: all your messages sync, you can easily hand off tasks from one device to the other, your AirPods auto-switch sources... you get the idea. Now, I know some of this is Apple keeping the best magic for itself, but the fact is that Apple's ecosystem tie-ins make even Windows' integrations (which are increasingly practical) seem crude by comparison.
People are not going to care about this either. How often do people plug their phone into their computer? The reason people hate Windows 11 is because Microsoft keeps pushing ads and AI. That and Windows 11 seems to break very frequently with updates. These are not problems you have to deal with on MacOS.
On adobe premiere pro or on davinci/final cut ? they do not take advantage of unified memory/neural engine/arm/metal silicon all the same.
Does nobody watch even the clips I post? He was using Premiere Pro and he even states that while Final Cut maybe better optimized for MacOS, it just isn't what his team uses.
 
Does nobody watch even the clips I post? He was using Premiere Pro and he even states that while Final Cut maybe better optimized for MacOS, it just isn't what his team uses.
That is the problem with testing premiere pro on ANY Sub $1500 maybe even $2000 laptop. Its not software intended to run well on entry level kit. Adobe doesn't really care if it runs well on 8 or even 16gb of ram.
Where I am a yearly sub for a individual for Premier pro is MORE expensive then a neo.
If as you say his TEAM uses Premier pro. Well I assume they are doing it legally and paying $100 a month.
No one should expect that to run well on any cheap laptop windows mac linux makes zero difference.

Its a silly thing to use to test $500 laptops. It would be like wasting time doing 3D render benchmarks for a 50 class GPU review.

I mean why not test Houdini on the Neo? Houdini has a Apple Silicon version... lets run that on a $500 neo cause I'm sure there are teams that use it. lol
 
That is the problem with testing premiere pro on ANY Sub $1500 maybe even $2000 laptop. Its not software intended to run well on entry level kit. Adobe doesn't really care if it runs well on 8 or even 16gb of ram.
Where I am a yearly sub for a individual for Premier pro is MORE expensive then a neo.
If as you say his TEAM uses Premier pro. Well I assume they are doing it legally and paying $100 a month.
No one should expect that to run well on any cheap laptop windows mac linux makes zero difference.
But it did run well on the Intel machines.
I mean why not test Houdini on the Neo? Houdini has a Apple Silicon version... lets run that on a $500 neo cause I'm sure there are teams that use it. lol
It wouldn't work on the Neo. The Neo meet it's system requirements of 16GB of ram. Probably would work on the Intel chips.
 
I don't think MacOS is more efficient with less ram than Windows is. Windows 11 problems with ram are how 3rd party applications tend to run in the background and take up space for no good reason. That and Microsoft's obsession with AI and ads in a OS.
One of Microsoft's stated goals with its Windows 11 tune-up is to improve memory efficiency, so I'm not sure this claim holds up.


People are not going to care about this either. How often do people plug their phone into their computer? The reason people hate Windows 11 is because Microsoft keeps pushing ads and AI. That and Windows 11 seems to break very frequently with updates. These are not problems you have to deal with on MacOS.
You... don't actually know how this works.

I'm not talking about physical syncing. If you have a Mac, your iPhone's messages (iMessage or plain SMS/RCS) just... show up. You can place and answer calls on your Mac. Handoff means you can start an email or similar task on one device and finish it on the other. There's iPhone mirroring if you want to run a mobile app on your Mac's screen. Your clipboard syncs; and of course, iCloud and other services are baked in if you use them.

Let's say you're a new college student whose only Apple device has been an iPhone. If there's finally a computer in your budget that works well with your iPhone, do you take that or get the Windows PC that only kinda-sorta talks to your phone, no matter what platform you use?
 
Does nobody watch even the clips I post? He was using Premiere Pro and he even states that while Final Cut maybe better optimized for MacOS, it just isn't what his team uses.
exactly thus my comments and your answer being strange, the 4k timeline scrolling mentionned you responded too was not on Adobe premiere pro, that not where an Neo would punch above his raw spec weight.

I don't think MacOS is more efficient with less ram than Windows is.
It is in some ways for the mac silicon + MacOS, the ram is much lower latency and those laptop have hardware accelerated aggressive compression and good ssd controler, the OS idle ram usage is also lower, MacOS can compress 30-40% of the total ram used, windows tend to compress less of it, does not have dedicated hardware for it like Apple has, making it more costly so it is less aggressive with it.

Of course those 16GB vs 8GB put it too far, the good comp would be more ~12GB vs 8GB computer.
 
One of Microsoft's stated goals with its Windows 11 tune-up is to improve memory efficiency, so I'm not sure this claim holds up.
Doesn't mean it isn't already efficient. Linux always gets updates to make memory compression more efficient. I imagine so would Windows.
You... don't actually know how this works.

I'm not talking about physical syncing. If you have a Mac, your iPhone's messages (iMessage or plain SMS/RCS) just... show up.
You mean like Google Messages? Also yes, I use Google Messages on my phone.
You can place and answer calls on your Mac. Handoff means you can start an email or similar task on one device and finish it on the other. There's iPhone mirroring if you want to run a mobile app on your Mac's screen. Your clipboard syncs; and of course, iCloud and other services are baked in if you use them.
You mean like Microsoft Phone Link and Scrcpy? Scrcpy works great for me as a Linux user, as I don't need to install any app. Even routes audio and microphone through my PC.

View: https://youtu.be/tJkqWmqsM1g?si=YcxiRa7yN0rk-hyA
Let's say you're a new college student whose only Apple device has been an iPhone. If there's finally a computer in your budget that works well with your iPhone, do you take that or get the Windows PC that only kinda-sorta talks to your phone, no matter what platform you use?
As a college student, I would want a laptop that does everything I need. Something like 8GB of ram is a big problem for me as a student. If I want to save money by avoiding a $500 PS5 and a $1k desktop PC, then getting a laptop capable of gaming would make sense as well. Depending on my budget, it would either justify spending extra for a proper gaming laptop, or dealing with the Intel Ultra 5 226V. Something like hooking up my phone to my computer to access messages and etc, would not interest me. I'm either the kind of student that hates using my phone all day, or hates using my computer all day. Especially my phone where I use it as an alarm clock and the noise it makes gives me heart palpitations.

The only reason the Neo interests me is because it's an Apple product, and my friends use Apple products, and my teachers, and my neighbors cat and dog uses Apple products. So it must be good.
so you know it's good.gif
 
You mean like Google Messages? Also yes, I use Google Messages on my phone.

Google messages is a separate app, that's like saying just use What's App. No, everything in the ecosystem is baked in, no separate apps to install and setup.

You mean like Microsoft Phone Link and Scrcpy? Scrcpy works great for me as a Linux user, as I don't need to install any app. Even routes audio and microphone through my PC.

View: https://youtu.be/tJkqWmqsM1g?si=YcxiRa7yN0rk-hyA


I have my MBP and two Windows boxes sitting at my desk to use all day. Almost everything is done on my Mac. It's because I can do everything from right there, cut and paste into my phone or from my phone. Everything just works together. I'm on a call, with my headphones, I click and it's transferred to my iPhone and can just walk away from my desk. Once you get used to it, going back to kludging a bunch of different apps together to try to get even half the experience just isn't worth it.

Edit: Just the fact that it will grab a text code for an MFA login and paste it in, makes things so much easier. Same with copying and and pasting codes from MFA apps onto the Mac.
 
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You mean like Google Messages? Also yes, I use Google Messages on my phone.
You mean like Microsoft Phone Link and Scrcpy? Scrcpy works great for me as a Linux user, as I don't need to install any app. Even routes audio and microphone through my PC.

To expand on what ND40oz said: it's not that there's no cross-platform syncing elsewhere, it's that Apple's approach is deeper and overall better.

You can't just open a Google Messages app on your PC and deal with all your messages in the exact way you would on your phone. Phone Link does help, and I've used it both with Android and iOS, but it's not as robust and often comes across as an 80% solution... I get my messages, but not all the functionality; I get my recent photos, but not all of them; I can't start a task on one device and finish it on another.

Now, Apple's approach only works if you have an iPhone (you can sync cloud services on a core level with Android, of course), but it's something Microsoft doesn't and can't really have as it has to produce a one-size-fits-all system.
 
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As a college student, I would want a laptop that does everything I need. Something like 8GB of ram is a big problem for me as a student.

Then this device is clearly NOT for you....

Plenty of people use a mobile device for 99% of their "technology interactions" and this device would suffice vs buying a windows device, cheaply made, same price range, bloated, stealing all your data.

With most people also using "SaaS" platforms these days, installed apps are less for the majority of the population.

Look, I agree the 8GB is too little, but we are power users, not everyday users, so we have to remove our bias of what "we" think is "needed" for everyone else.

End of it. You can argue all day about apps you use, how you make things sync, but it does not matter, people dont want 3rd party apps to sync messages and email, heck even I do not....
 
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Google messages is a separate app, that's like saying just use What's App. No, everything in the ecosystem is baked in, no separate apps to install and setup.
Google Messages is a web page. The phone has Google Messages app but so what ? Also, most Europeans use WhatsApp. Americans tend to use SMS/iMessage with a bit of Facebook on the side. Installing an app to do these things shouldn't get people upset.
I have my MBP and two Windows boxes sitting at my desk to use all day. Almost everything is done on my Mac. It's because I can do everything from right there, cut and paste into my phone or from my phone. Everything just works together. I'm on a call, with my headphones, I click and it's transferred to my iPhone and can just walk away from my desk. Once you get used to it, going back to kludging a bunch of different apps together to try to get even half the experience just isn't worth it.
That's how it works for me with KDE Connect. I do need the phone connected via bluetooth for audio to work. I'm not sure what makes Apple's version so unique?

View: https://youtu.be/NPl6JBAxQo4?si=SGOJPk9DoFK2wTCX
Edit: Just the fact that it will grab a text code for an MFA login and paste it in, makes things so much easier. Same with copying and and pasting codes from MFA apps onto the Mac.
Again, this is how it works with Scrcpy and Google Messages. Is this the H.264 issue from 20 years ago, all over again?
You can't just open a Google Messages app on your PC and deal with all your messages in the exact way you would on your phone.
That's exactly what I've been doing with Scrcpy. Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V stuff all the time, and the mouse wheel allows me to scroll up and down the messages. Did you think this was unique to Apple?
Phone Link does help, and I've used it both with Android and iOS, but it's not as robust and often comes across as an 80% solution... I get my messages, but not all the functionality; I get my recent photos, but not all of them; I can't start a task on one device and finish it on another.
I'm not sure what 20% is missing here? How are you not getting all your photos?
Now, Apple's approach only works if you have an iPhone (you can sync cloud services on a core level with Android, of course), but it's something Microsoft doesn't and can't really have as it has to produce a one-size-fits-all system.
I'm not sure why Microsoft can't already do what Apple does here? I'm not even sure what is or isn't done here?
 
As much as you'd like to see college students using Linux as their daily driver, it's not going to happen Duke. That's something you'd only find software engineering students doing. (I don't count Chromebooks as linux)

The NEO is made for low budget students doing law/business/HR/nursing/psychology/teaching etc etc etc degrees. They don't need to do more than the basics with their computer, and this works flawlessly with their iPhone for a low price, it's a win win situation for them. It also looks good and has a quality feel about it for the price and comes in multiple colours so the ladies can customise. Will it take the whole market from Microsoft? No. But it's seems like it's probably good enough to take a sizeable chunk. And if next year Apple replaces the A18 with a 12GB A19, then its biggest downside will be removed and it'll take even more of the low budget market.
 
Google Messages is a web page. The phone has Google Messages app but so what ? Also, most Europeans use WhatsApp. Americans tend to use SMS/iMessage with a bit of Facebook on the side. Installing an app to do these things shouldn't get people upset.

I don't want another webpage, the messages app is the same on my Mac as it is on my iPad, iPhone and watch. They all ding at the same time and I can respond from any of them.

That's how it works for me with KDE Connect. I do need the phone connected via bluetooth for audio to work. I'm not sure what makes Apple's version so unique?

View: https://youtu.be/NPl6JBAxQo4?si=SGOJPk9DoFK2wTCX


Apple's version works out of the box, nothing to setup, it just works.

Again, this is how it works with Scrcpy and Google Messages. Is this the H.264 issue from 20 years ago, all over again?

I log into something, it texts me a code and I don't have to do anything. MacOS, iPadOS or iOS pops up a "do you want to paste that code into this MFA response box," I click it and I'm logged in. I never had to do anything other than click yes. Once you're used to that across all of your devices, going back to having to open something and manually type in a code is seen as a PITA.
 
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