Apple Is Reportedly Facing a 'Massive Dilemma' with the MacBook Neo

_the_inflator

Who would have guessed that afortable prices for an Apple product would create a blockbuster if it actually delivers better quality than the rest of the market that utilizes Windows etc.? I believe that Apple targets Google, not Windows. It is Android and the Chrome Book Apple is taking on, not Windows machines. I feel sorry about the Neo. To me Tim Cook is the one that evolved Apple into a luxury brand. The pricing doesn't really appeal to device power, but luxury tiers. I only buy Apple because I use them for work and can write them off. I bet Apple factored this into their strategy. And of course with the the lastest UI update, let's not talk about quality. I hope that the Neo doesn't evolve into Apple's black sheep, but makes them reconsidering their pricing. I have a very bad feeling, that the Neo may paradoxically cause a price hike, in order to keep its image as luxury brand. Why? Because we already had the low cost line called SE, that now is called "e". So Apple might introduce a new line with an iPhone Neo, iPad Neo and so on. I am curious whether the Neo actually is bought as a second device or first time device. I hope for the later. And to make it clear: I dislike Apple's pricing. Did I mention the subscription on top...?

siruwastaken

For anyone not interested in reading the whole article, apparently Apple is running out of binned, slightly damaged but still usable chips from earlier production, chips to use in the MacBook Neo series. So the actual problem is simply: > In any case, Apple could opt to keep the starting price of current and future MacBook Neo models at $599 and simply accept lower profit margins on the laptop, especially given that it attracts customers to the macOS and broader Apple ecosystem. A company having slightly lower margins does not seem like an actual issue. It doesn't even sound like they would end up loosing money on this device just lower their own margin.

capnchaos

Apple's goal is to eventually make it so that hardware is a subscription service, you will lease a machine similar to leasing a car. You will of course be benefited by doing the leasing through the Apple Card program. EDIT: to clarify - Apple won't try to push 100% of their user population into this setup, they know that won't fly. But they will structure the pricing so that for most people it's the more attractive option. Yes, it's shitty.

joshstrange

While I am happy that the Neo is a huge hit [0] I'm not about to feel bad for Apple here. "Oh no, they won't make quite as much money on their blockbuster hit". They will be just fine. [0] Not because I care that Apple makes a lot of money from this but because it widens the Mac install base which can only be a good thing for a platform that has languished as of late. While the hardware is top-notch (pun intended), the software leaves quite a bit to be desired. Hopefully the popularity of this device will result in more resources allocated to the Mac platform.

ed_mercer

> Apple would have to disable a GPU core on these chips to ensure that they have only a 5-core GPU, like all other MacBook Neo units sold to date. This is wild. Why not just leave it a 6-core GPU? Would there really be bad press from having an extra GPU core?