First MacBook Neo Benchmarks Are In

signa11

linux on this would be *soo* cool !

spacedcowboy

Not a bad single-core result for a $600 laptop...

aa-jv

I've been holding back to find a suitable machine for a bit of XCode development, web browsing and mail, and I'm pretty close to concluding this'd be good enough, but I'm pretty sure I'd be better off with something heftier, since I mostly just want to develop JUCE stuff on MacOS .. anyone got opinions on this so far? How does the A18 versus Mx architecture factor into things, will we need to write slightly different code for each, or can we write ARM assembly that will be fine in both environments?

Synaesthesia

People say things like "don't expect to do hardcore content creation on these" (Ars Technica) We used to do hardcore content creation on Intel processors and spinning hard drives that were way shittier. Heck even my M1 still 100% suffices for everything I wanna do.

mitchell_h

I'm sold. My wife is a teacher(refuses to use a chromebook because they suck, or an Ipad because data input sucks). She'll be getting one of these. Kids probably will too. I'm having a really hard time finding another laptop on the market the hits the "i use gmail, and gdocs, and some other webapps all day" demographic so well.

tosh

Incredible when you consider that the next one or two generations of the macbook neo will probably come w/ 16gb+ ram and support 5k displays. A few more generations and we might see < 1kg, 120hz oled and multi day battery life. But I'm most excited about the near future because if the macbook neo becomes a huge success it will hopefully encourage app devs to waste less ram.

timpera

I'm excited to see how well it runs Windows 11 ARM64. This could be a great value.

notfried

The Neo is incredibly executed by Apple, and one they must have been planning for for years: to be able to create a machine this good at this price. I wouldn't be surprised if it dramatically reshapes the laptop industry. Spec-wise, this is as good as an M1-M2 Air, which is already an over-powered device for most non-professionals. All the "compromises" they made, like no center stage in the camera, less ports, only one monitor support, "just WiFi 6E", and others, are all non-issues for a typical average consumers. And the price is the best it could be. At $499 for students, in a year's time when Gen2 is released, you will find a new Gen1 at possibly $399, and a refurbished Gen1 at even less. I don't see why anyone who wants an "entry-level/starter laptop" would buy anything but a Neo. We already are in a world in which average people don't need specific Windows-only apps. Most common apps are either cross-platform or web-based. Dell, HP and alike are lucky that they're being enamored with datacenter server demand. I expect them to shift-away from the consumer laptop market and focus more on the enterprise in the coming years, which could have negative consequences for their pro-lineups.

nerdjon

I know it is not the target use case this, but I have been thinking more and more about how this could serve a need of a terminal or a kiosk computer in a scenario where a tablet may not be the most suitable due to the need for a full keyboard. I use an iPad mounted to an arm in the kitchen for cooking but always had issues whenever I needed to modify a recipe (or add a note for later modification), I am debating on switching it out for a Neo. Possibly some other use cases of a permanent computer in places that a tablet worked but a full computer would be far more flexible. I just first need to find an arm that would be rock solid enough to not wobble a ton while typing, if anyone has any recommendations.

evanjrowley

I like that they sell a version that lacks touch ID so I cannot be compelled to unlock my Mac by US law enforcement without a warrant. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/compelled-biometri...

haunter

The Walmart outlet on eBay is selling refurb M1s for $380, I think that's still a better deal not just because it's cheaper but you get Touch ID, a better screen, and dual Thunderbolt ports. Backlit keyboard too!

caro_kann

It's wild that iPhone 16 Pro has better benchmark than macBook Air. I think this Neo is gonna be a good sell, especially among students and people don't do heavy stuff and just need decent laptop.

lostmsu

The multicore score is worse than a $650 HP laptop: https://www.staples.com/hp-omnibook-5-16-2k-laptop-copilot-p... This HP laptop also has 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD and is an excellent machine overall. I'm speaking from experience. There's an even cheaper $570 model with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD and still slightly better than this Mac on multicore.

Traster

I'm kind of surprised there has been so much talk about benchmarks. The CPU is probably the single strongest part of the product. The RAM and SSD are clearly going to be limiting factors for a lot of people, but they're not crazy, they're reasonable minimums for a budget device. If you're thinking about performance this device just really isn't for you.

risingsubmarine

On the slim chance that anyone at Apple reads this... I can't justify buying one of these as I already own multiple more powerful macbooks in similar sizes. ...but if you made a smaller one, the same physical size as an 11inch ipad, then yeh I would instantly buy one as my sling-book for light coding work in cafes! It would also quiet down many of those calling for macOS on the iPad.