MacBook Neo

[Anonymous]

Any reactions to the new MacBook Neo at $599?

[Anonymous]

It runs on a phone chip. Probably grabbing the 2025 M4 on sale before they are too hard to find.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It runs on a phone chip. Probably grabbing the 2025 M4 on sale before they are too hard to find.

My 72 year old mother only checks her email and online banking from her laptop (MacBook Air circa 2015). Apple is best for her since it is visually similar to her iPhone apps. The Neo with a phone chip is likely a good match for her case (and many seniors).

[Anonymous]

Most people don’t need a super expensive laptop.

[Anonymous]

It's crippled with 8GB of non-upgradable RAM. The specs are basically the same as for a five-year-old low/mid-range laptop. It might work well for some people, but so would an older-model used laptop that would be half the price. Pretty much no one should be buying a new general-purpose computer with 8GB of RAM in 2026, especially with no ability to upgrade it in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It runs on a phone chip. Probably grabbing the 2025 M4 on sale before they are too hard to find.

My 72 year old mother only checks her email and online banking from her laptop (MacBook Air circa 2015). Apple is best for her since it is visually similar to her iPhone apps. The Neo with a phone chip is likely a good match for her case (and many seniors).

I am getting it for my 78 year old mom for this exact reason.

[Anonymous]

this is an ad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t need a super expensive laptop.

Yep. Get a Chromebook, cheap with great specs. Does everything most people need to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t need a super expensive laptop.

Yep. Get a Chromebook, cheap with great specs. Does everything most people need to do.

I don't let Google have any of my data. ChromeBook is a non-starter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's crippled with 8GB of non-upgradable RAM. The specs are basically the same as for a five-year-old low/mid-range laptop. It might work well for some people, but so would an older-model used laptop that would be half the price. Pretty much no one should be buying a new general-purpose computer with 8GB of RAM in 2026, especially with no ability to upgrade it in the future.

macOS is a Unix os. For running a web browser and excel, that is plenty.

This is basically a iPad with integrated keyboard and more local storage and can run real applications.

Price out the iPad Pro and keyboard and compare.

[Anonymous]

It looks great, actually. If it had existed when my kids were middle schoolers, I would have bought some. But now, my college kid has a MacBook, and my teen will get the same when she graduates from high school... so we're not in the market for Neos.

[Anonymous]

Online reviews from reputable places say it is a reasonable home computer, but not a work computer substitute. Meaning great for email, web, light use of MS Office (not some huge work spreadsheet).

Price point is interesting compared with what a Windows laptop specs are at that same cost.

One review thinks that the K-8 education sector is the target market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Online reviews from reputable places say it is a reasonable home computer, but not a work computer substitute. Meaning great for email, web, light use of MS Office (not some huge work spreadsheet).

Price point is interesting compared with what a Windows laptop specs are at that same cost.

One review thinks that the K-8 education sector is the target market.

Even in college you aren’t running huge spreadsheets, most things are done on beefy servers. This is a Chromebook that can run office as native apps. Many people do everything on their phone but this may bring people back to computers.