In my opinion, although it seems to be a good value product, the hype for it is overblown and exaggerated. But this is just my opinion, and I will try to justify it, taking into account both the good and the not-so-good.
Firstly, the iPhone chip. A binned iPhone chip, actually, since it has one less GPU core than the one in the iPhone it came from. It is kind of ridiculous that running a desktop OS on a binned smartphone chip is even possible (seriously, it’s crazy how good smartphone chips have become!), but there are many limitations of this. Most obviously, the performance. It has pretty competitive performance, appearing to sometimes match the original M1, and exceeding it in single-core tests, but it looks like it struggles with sustained performance and thermally throttles quite a bit. All in all, I don’t think this is the biggest downside of the Neo, but it may be a concern, especially with future software upgrades. It does make the over-specced iPad Pro (and to an extent the iPad Air) feel even more out of place.
Additionally, they didn’t put in an HDMI port on the side, likely due to a limitation of the chip. This means that a dongle is required, especially troubling given that HDMI displays are ubiquitous in education.
The iPhone chip does mean that it’s quite efficient, which looks to be good for battery life. If you look at similarly priced laptops, you have less power efficient chips and worse battery life from Intel and AMD but with better cooling and usually less thermal throttling, as well as much better port selection. Tradeoffs.
But then you have the 8GB of non-upgradeable RAM. It might be fine for light web browsing and the sort, but given that MacOS will already eat up at least 2-3 GB, it means that it will age poorly, especially with later software revisions that I am sure will cripple performance, intentionally or unintentionally, encouraging upgrades to Apple’s more expensive models sooner rather than later.
I believe that this is Apple’s business strategy. Take over the educational market by providing high-end-feeling products in the budget segment that have the bare minimum to meet the current needs of students, and once those needs grow, push an update that makes the 8GB ram hit hard, and suddenly you have a new generation of Apple users that buy into the ecosystem as they have become tied into Apple’s subscriptions and software. I think the reasoning of the lack of a backlit keyboard plays into this as well.
On the positive side, the build quality of the Neo is a highlight, and for good reason. A majority of laptops in its price segment use plastic construction, poor quality hinges, and have low resolution displays. I do think that many tech reviewers are overblowing it a bit, but it’s important for a device to be durable, and the Neo is durable. I also love that they introduced such fun colours!
But I think the main selling feature of the MacBook Neo is the fact that it doesn’t run Windows. Win11 has become so awful, introducing more and more advertisements, bloatware, and privacy-invasive CoPilot “features”. Nobody likes Windows, no one likes using it, so when something that ships with not-Windows out of the box is introduced into the affordable price segment the Neo sits in, everybody loves it, even with its limitations. MacOS is still not great, I hate that it’s such a closed system, but Windows has become the biggest downside of most laptops, and unfortunately, and I say this as someone running EndeavourOS and actively encouraging friends and family to switch to Fedora and Mint, the majority of people purchasing their first laptop will not have a clue about what a Linux distro is. I hope that more people switch to Linux, either on traditional hardware or on Apple Silicon with Asahi Linux, but most people won’t be looking at that.
TLDR: The performance of the Neo is currently enough for the workloads of the average student, but as needs change and adapt, non-upgradeable memory and the inherently weak performance of the (binned) iPhone chip pushes people to upgrade sooner rather than later. This is a hook for Apple to capture new users into their services and software experience. Build quality, display, and efficiency look very good though, and I like the fun colours. Not shipping with Windows is also a plus for many people.
But what do you think of the Macbook Neo?
Please don’t parrot “people who buy the Macbook Neo don’t care about performance”, we’ve seen enough of that the comments of every post, article, and video about it. It’s partially true, I think, but needs will change that the hardware will not be able to adapt, given that it’s non-upgradeable.
I will also say that “people who buy the Macbook Neo are idiots” or “the Neo suuuucks” is incredibly unhelpful. If you aren’t going to add anything to the discussion, just don’t. Thanks.
I will also add that, in many regions, you can get an older Macbook Air (M2 or M1) refurbished for the same price as the Neo, sometimes less! If you are able to score one of those, then the Neo should be out of the question for you.
It seems like you covered all the basics and you’re just looking for people to agree with you? I’m not sure if you’re considering getting one, but I agree with the prevailing logic in the comments of the articles I’ve read: if you care about the 8GB limit, the Neo isn’t the one for you, you want the Air. Everyone’s saying the Air is more expensive than last year. It’s also more performant and has more storage. With the M4 generation, they dropped the ability to order one with 8GB of RAM, bumping the RAM for free. With the M5 generation, they dropped the ability to order one with 256GB of storage, bumping the storage for free. So over the base 8/256 M3, you get the more performant M5 and double the RAM, double the storage. It’s not a bad deal. I have an M2 Air, and I bumped the RAM once to 16, and the storage twice to 1TB. Mine was like $2100. So when I see people whining about $1100 for a 16/512 M5, my sympathy is in another castle.
As for the HDMI dongle, that isn’t entirely accurate. You just need a different cable. Get a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable. It’ll connect any USB-C device to HDMI or, you can go from an HDMI port to a screen with USB-C in. Those exist, too. The truth is, HDMI kind of sucks. DisplayPort is better, but it’s rarely used in A/V setups, mostly with computers. USB-C and Thunderbolt (same port, the latter has way more bandwidth) can carry video just fine.
My MacBook Air bag, in addition to the MacBook itself, includes a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable, and a dongle with HDMI, 2xUSB-A, and 1xUSB-C. The dongle is mostly for flash drives. I wish it had SD/microSD as well, but I got it cheap enough, I’m not complaining. I also carry a USB-C to USB-C cable to charge my iPhone or AirPods off the MacBook. Unless I’m traveling for more than a day or two, I don’t plan on charging the MacBook, but I can charge it in the car with USB-C power, and a lot of hotel rooms have USB-C ports in the outlets. Plus, if we’re traveling, we’re bringing chargers for our phones, and those can charge a laptop too.
As for the Neo, it’s not surprising any of us in the “tehcno sphere” that a phone can power a desktop OS. That’s not new. It’s never really been done, but we’ve known it was possible for years. Apple just ripped the bandage off and showed everyone it could definitively be done, and now “the iPhone 16 Pro” (actually, the Neo, since the iPhone can’t run macOS) can run Cyberpunk 2077. Not to mention macOS.
Android has actually done this for years, or at least Samsung. That Thunderbolt to HDMI cable I mentioned? Use one to connect a Galaxy S phone to a monitor or TV and see what happens. I’ll tell you, because my wife and I both have Samsung phones (mine’s her old one, and doesn’t have cell service; my actual phone is an iPhone 16 Pro Max). The phone display becomes a track pad, and the TV shows you a desktop environment. Use a dongle instead, connect a keyboard and mouse? You can do it because Android runs the Linux kernel. Always has. Thing is, no one cares. The feature has been there but nobody uses it. We live in an age, and we have lived in an age for a while now, where your “computer” can just be a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, and a dongle with USB-C, you plug it into your Galaxy phone and that’s your computer. We’ve lived in this age for about a decade. Before that, Motorola had a similar feature. It wasn’t quite as good, but this was 2012, it was good for the time. So, like, 15 years we’ve been able to use phones as computers. The technology has been with us, right in our homes. By the way, ever watch Star Trek? You know how Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, whomever, they walk up to the big screen in front of the bridge and they call someone and they’re talking face to face on the TV? Yeah, we can do that too. Pair an iPhone with an Apple TV. The TV the Apple TV box is connected to is your screen. The phone is the camera. They even make little $5 Z-shaped clips that “grab” the top rim of your TV and cradle your phone so the cameras peek out over the top. Yeah, we can do that but nobody actually does it. Plenty of people FaceTime on their phones, though.
Oh, and about the Neo’s RAM not being able to be upgraded: you can’t upgrade the RAM in an iPhone 16 Pro, either. That’s a limitation of the A18 Pro chip. The one thing Apple is being shady about with regards to upgrades is, the A18 Pro also supports a 1TB configuration. They’re not offering that because if you’re gonna spend the money on that, you might as well just get the Air.
And as for this fantasy of the Neo suddenly being unable to run on its 8GB of RAM, I expect to get a decade out of my 16 Pro Max. In a few years, I’m gonna get a new (to me) Android phone. I’m thinking a year-old secondhand Pixel Pro or Galaxy S, or a brand-new Galaxy A. I’m not gonna spend much more than a couple hundred bucks on it. I’m gonna keep the iPhone for the AirPods Pro, the Watch, and the health data — Samsung straight up sells your health data, my wife had to delete hers or agree to let them do that, and she chose the former, and no one in the Android community could recommend a viable, private third party health data app, so everyone basically agrees Apple Health wins for that.
I would like others to share their opinions as well, have a good debate and such. I think your comment seems pretty well thought out, draws from your own experiences, quite good. I like (respectfully) arguing with people
I believe that normal people, although it’s not a problem right now, the limitation of 8GB ram will become more evident soon. The new Macbook Air wouldn’t be in consideration if you are shopping for a Neo, given that it’s around about twice as expensive, but I do think that a refurbished Air (like M2 or something) that is closer in price, in some regions dipping below it, could be a really good option for some people!
Note that I am not shopping for a new laptop anytime soon, I’m perfectly happy with my Intel 13th gen laptop running EndeavourOS!
But the Macbook Neo is a laptop running desktop programs. Pretty different circumstances I would say. When the needs of the user changes (e.g. they do more work outside of the browser, run heavier programs, start to multitask), the 8GB ram will not be enough. Additionally, new MacOS updates are sure to slow the device down quite a bit, intentionally or unintentionally. The only option in Macland is to fork out double the cost for the Air (or more if you upgrade the storage, as you have said), and that is my main point.
Often times the cable is routed through into a little hole (e.g. if it’s a projector mounted on the ceiling) or is very long and already plugged in, so using your own cable is not always possible. Hence, adapter dongle. Another thing you might need to purchase, so it is worth considering given that many other laptops in this price segment do have HDMI ports. Also, neither USB-C port is Thunderbolt, so you are misremembering?
I didn’t say it wasn’t. The note on RAM followed when talking about the limitation of the chip being from an iPhone. Even so, it is still a big factor, as you have no option for 16GB besides buying a new laptop (where many laptops in this price segment have SODIMM memory so they do let you do that)
No. You’re assuming I have a Neo, I think — I don’t. But it doesn’t matter. Thunderbolt is backwards compatible.
I have a MacBook Air that does have Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt to HDMI cable works.
I also have an iPhone 16 Pro Max, a Galaxy S10, and my wife has a Galaxy S22. None of these have Thunderbolt, but they all work with the cable to connect to the TV. Thunderbolt and USB-C are the same shape, the same connector. However, Thunderbolt can carry more data. That cable can carry more data. But USB-C is enough for video. You don’t need Thunderbolt to carry video. USB-C is enough for 4K60, and that’s what the Neo can do. I think that’s all my MacBook Air can do over the same port with Thunderbolt, but I’m not sure. I do not think it can do 4K120 (my TV can, my Xbox Series X supports this mode).
Oh wait, I think I misread. You have a Thunderbolt to HDMI, I read that as you suggesting to get a (pretty expensive) Thunderbolt adapter for somebody shopping for a Neo. Yes, any USB 3 adapter would work, not only TB.