There are a few things which I think "regular" users will notice that are cut out. You mentioned MagSafe. A backlit keyboard is a pretty obvious thing even for a casual user. Leaving off TouchID on the 256 GB model might also make it onto the "normal person" radar screen. But that's about it IMO.
2026 Apple Devices
- Thread starter wco81
- Start date
Vincent Hanna
Ars Scholae Palatinae
Could the lack of Touch ID on the 256GB/$599 model be intentional, as that feature could be viewed as a negative by bulk education buyers?
The extra $100 to add it back in plus another 256GB (at half price!) seems like a no brainer for almost all consumers.
The extra $100 to add it back in plus another 256GB (at half price!) seems like a no brainer for almost all consumers.
Very possible, though for large-deployment managed devices, isn't it something that management tools can disable en masse if desired?
And yeah, for individual buyers, the upsell to the 512 GB model is very attractive unless you're very price constrained. In all of our pre-announcement discussions about prices, I don't think anyone floated a mere $100 gap between the two models. Inconceivable!
And yeah, for individual buyers, the upsell to the 512 GB model is very attractive unless you're very price constrained. In all of our pre-announcement discussions about prices, I don't think anyone floated a mere $100 gap between the two models. Inconceivable!
Unfortunate about the 8 GB. It makes sense for all kinds of Tim Cook reasons, but it is going to result in a whole lot of people (including everyone who never closes a browser tab) complaining that their MacBooks neo are "slow." It will also result in me recommending the Air over the neo to everyone who asks, even basic users.
With some feeling, I also note that this bargain-basement $599 Mac has a screen that's not as nice as the Air's… but still much nicer than the one with which my employer insists on saddling our work laptops (and they refuse any requests for a CTO upgrade or a different device).
With some feeling, I also note that this bargain-basement $599 Mac has a screen that's not as nice as the Air's… but still much nicer than the one with which my employer insists on saddling our work laptops (and they refuse any requests for a CTO upgrade or a different device).
The Neo is cool and a surprising move, we might get one in a little while as my daughter is getting to the age where she is asking for her own computer.
That said, I had really hoped they would go the other direction and bring back the lapzilla and announce a 17 or 18" laptop. I have always preferred bigger screens and I had an M3 MBA for a while but the 15" was just too small. I have been using an 18" MSI for the last few months, and I can't see going back to something less than 17". It is great and so much more useable but I would really prefer to be using OSX instead of Windows. I don't need that much portability as 90% of my usage is on the couch. If they had announced an 18" MBP, I would have preordered.
That said, I had really hoped they would go the other direction and bring back the lapzilla and announce a 17 or 18" laptop. I have always preferred bigger screens and I had an M3 MBA for a while but the 15" was just too small. I have been using an 18" MSI for the last few months, and I can't see going back to something less than 17". It is great and so much more useable but I would really prefer to be using OSX instead of Windows. I don't need that much portability as 90% of my usage is on the couch. If they had announced an 18" MBP, I would have preordered.
This reminds me of when the iMac G3 was introduced. The Neo certainly won't have the impact that the iMac had (i.e. save Apple's skin), but in terms of reaching out to grab market share, this certainly has a lot of potential.
I wonder if future versions of the Neo will come in Flower Power and Blue Dalmation?
I wonder if future versions of the Neo will come in Flower Power and Blue Dalmation?
I look forward to the whole new round of complaints about how neo doesn't have enough ram, and then the replies that Mac OS special and doesn't need more ram. I guess it was premature to put that to bed. But on the flip side neo is the one.
The macbook neo is the perfect Mac for education. You don't need touchID, backlight keyboard, high-end speakers and the A18 is more than enough. The lack of magsafe is a bummer though.
I don't know how I missed this. Are they getting Keanu as a spokesperson in Ads (I know they don't tend to go that way, still - hard to pass up)
So you should take the indigo MacBook if you want to continue living in a reality distortion field, and the blush MacBook if you want to know how deep the walled garden goes? What happens if you take the citrus version??
Yeah I went ahead and ordered the cheapest in Citrus. Four hundred ninety-nine US dollars!!! I have serious reasons, and I'll report back later.
Or a bottle of Yellow Chartreuse (to satisfy my inner Joris-Karl Huysmans).
??? Maybe a urinal cake from the 80s… I haven’t seen a urinal cake that’s anything other than blue in ages.
I’m not a daily connoisseur of urinals or their cakes, but pink seems to be the color I remember more recently.
Not only do these colors help sell the devices, I bet just like iPhones they'll rotate them in and out as the model progresses. So now you'll get a few buyers who will simply say "OMG I love purple!" "Wow they make a green one now?" "Red will look so good in my living room!"
I have to admit a Project(RED) Neo would be really hard to pass up.
I have to admit a Project(RED) Neo would be really hard to pass up.
Yeah, a yearly update that includes a new set of colors along with incrementing the SOC and so forth seems almost inevitable.
Vincent Hanna
Ars Scholae Palatinae
Now that we know that the Neo gets bog standard iPhone chips with no additional RAM or controllers, AND assuming the Neo gets annual updates, next year’s Rev B will have the A19 Pro with 12GB of RAM.
The buyers of this machine will (understandably) care much more about the seasonal color changes, but that extra 4GB of RAM will make it much easier for us nerds to recommend it to friends/family.
Vincent Hanna
Ars Scholae Palatinae
I know someone who would INSTANTLY downgrade from her MacBook Air to a MacBook Neo if it came in purple.
That 'expensive' model is perfect for business fleet use. Wish it existed back when I was running an IT department.
Unless they treat it like the iPad Air which is bafflingly going into its third generation of the exact same colorways without changing!
Maybe. The MBN is the only device using a binned A18pro (so the chip is “free” as long as they have defective A18pros) but the iPhone Air already uses the binned A19pro, so I’d be surprised if they update it that soon.
You know, I was and am disappointed by this but the M2 gen came out less than two years ago, so it's not that crazy.
Quinn Nelson had an interesting observation about the MacBook Neo launch: it was in-person for media and tech influencers - and it was done by John Ternus. Of course, he's the current SVP of hardware engineering so it makes sense - but it was also basically a mini keynote. He's also been the one doing the press tour for the Neo.
This might be Apple finally soft-launching him as Cook's successor. The timeline as I see it is that Cook does one final WWDC in June, summer is vacay time (and lots of *OS 27 beta gnashing of teeth in the Ach) and then Ternus replaces Cook in August, to launch the new iPhones in september. It would also be a bit symbolic: it would be 15 years after Cook took over from Jobs as CEO, who Apple had courted and lured back 15 years earlier, in 1996, to save them (he became CEO again in September 1997, but the NeXT deal was finalized in late 1996). It kind of feels like something Tim would do.
And then Ternus announces the next AppleTV as his first One More Thing.
This might be Apple finally soft-launching him as Cook's successor. The timeline as I see it is that Cook does one final WWDC in June, summer is vacay time (and lots of *OS 27 beta gnashing of teeth in the Ach) and then Ternus replaces Cook in August, to launch the new iPhones in september. It would also be a bit symbolic: it would be 15 years after Cook took over from Jobs as CEO, who Apple had courted and lured back 15 years earlier, in 1996, to save them (he became CEO again in September 1997, but the NeXT deal was finalized in late 1996). It kind of feels like something Tim would do.
And then Ternus announces the next AppleTV as his first One More Thing.
… but wouldn’t we assume that the new iPhone Airs will get the binned A20Pros this fall leaving the binned A19Pros available for next year’s Neo just fine?
I‘m sure this post will make sense to someone. It’s just that that someone ain’t me.
Yeahhh there's always gonna be old A series Pro chips once new ones come out. The iPad mini has been rumored to get the A19 Pro, wouldn't seem outrageous for the MBN to get it too. Whether it's like clockwork or extended/random like other products will be interesting to see. I'm guessing it'll sell well enough that they'll update it regularly, but who knows if they have different costs/amortization plans in mind.
Semi related, the new displays have A19 and A19 Pro apparently:
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/04/new-apple-studio-display-chips/
No text labels on the keyboard of one of these screenshots.
I think that’s actually the style going forward, but I found it interesting that Apple’s own renders aren’t always consistent.
The A18 Pro in the MacBook Neo is apparently faster in single-core performance than the M1, which until yesterday was still available for sale via the Walmart-only M1 MacBook Air. And that machine sold well enough to persuade Apple to build a new Mac laptop specifically for this price range. I’m still using an M1 (Pro with more RAM, but still) for professional web development work and it’s totally fine.
I’m not saying an A18 Pro with 8 GB of RAM doesn’t have its limits, because of course it does. But anyone who’s coming from a Windows laptop in this price range is going to be totally fine with the Neo, if not downright impressed. People are going to buy it because (a) it’s the least expensive Mac laptop and (b) it comes in colors. That’s it! For anyone who finds 8 GB of RAM genuinely limiting, the MacBook Air is right there.
Also, since it reuses the year-old A18 Pro from the iPhone 16 Pro, I imagine next year they’ll update it with the A19 Pro from the iPhone 17 Pro – which will give it 12 GB of RAM.
I have two AppleTV 4Ks and really can't imagine why there would need to be a new one. What would it do that current one can't? I wouldn't mind a better remote but as far as capability for TV watching it isn't missing anything that I know of. Built in OTA tuner maybe?
A strong second to that. Second- and third-gen TVs are both sufficiently snappy for my needs.
The only major feature addition I could see is either a built-in camera or a port on the back to add one. And maybe some integrated mics for hands-free Siri.
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Why would I care about that for tv watching? What could it do for me that the current one can’t?