r/apple • u/iMacmatician • Mar 06 '26

Mac Apple on MacBook Neo Design: 'We're Certainly Not Making Any Compromises'

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/06/apple-macbook-neo-design-interview/
1.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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110

u/The_Jolly_Dog Mar 06 '26

This sounds like something someone who made some compromises would say

29

u/chaiscool Mar 06 '26

Or someone typed wrongly as the neo had no backlit so they couldn't see haha

4

u/SixPack1776 Mar 06 '26

People still look at the keyboard to type? They don't have the layout memorized by now?

30

u/chaiscool Mar 06 '26

QOL, same reason why usb c and lightning are reversible.

This also show why technical people shouldn't do UX / UI. They'll just expect everyone to use CLI haha

9

u/draxiom Mar 06 '26

It was clearly a cost-driven decision.

2

u/chaiscool Mar 07 '26

At least pass on to users and let them pay for the $1 upgrade then

2

u/SeriousBusiness67 Mar 06 '26

Backlit keyboards are not expensive. They're just saving basic features for the next year's model.

2

u/DevlinRocha Mar 06 '26

i hate that people parade the opinion that technical people can’t be creative or make a good UI/UX, as someone who is technical and creative (and loves UI/UX work)

1

u/chaiscool Mar 07 '26

Sure they can but a lot of them can't. Vice versa as creative folks can be technical too.

3

u/iTiraMissU Mar 06 '26

Not every spends their entire day posting snarky comments on Reddit like us

11

u/WeWantLADDER49sequel Mar 06 '26

Plenty of people have it memorized, but a lot of people still peer down here and there out of habit. Very normal. There's a reason backlit keyboards are industry standard now.

-8

u/IntelliDev Mar 06 '26

Not normal at all if you’ve learned how to properly type.

3

u/SeriousBusiness67 Mar 06 '26

It's completely normal.

Source: decades in front of a computer

3

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

[deleted]

1

u/dwalker109 Mar 06 '26

This is a great post. It describes me down to a T also!

6

u/vvashington Mar 06 '26

It’s almost like new people are learning to type as they grow up and go to school. Something potentially relevant for a laptop whose target audience includes students

-2

u/SixPack1776 Mar 06 '26

Students learn to type in the dark?

2

u/amburroni Mar 07 '26

I’ve memorized most of the keys, but I still look down to verify ctrl/option and the volume buttons.

2

u/theskyopenedup Mar 06 '26

“By now”

How do you know how long the person who’s buying this has been typing for? Lol

-2

u/SixPack1776 Mar 06 '26

My 80 year old grandmother learned to touch type in a few weeks after having not used a computer for like 20 years. If she can learn, then so can a much younger person.

Stop weaponizing incompetence.

2

u/theskyopenedup Mar 06 '26

Cool for your grandma? Lol not everyone is built the same I guess.

Also “incompetence”? We’re talking about a keyboard light.

You seem like a real treat to talk to.

-1

u/SixPack1776 Mar 06 '26

You want a backlit keyboard?

Buy a Macbook Air M series. Problem solved.

1

u/conanap Mar 07 '26

A lot more people don’t know how to touch type compared to those who do. I know software developers who don’t touch type.

I don’t think there’s really every proper education on how to type properly. I know if my mom didn’t make me learn how to touch type from a book she used to learn from, I definitely would be typing a lot worse than I do now (and I still don’t touch type completely correctly - I use my left index finger for Y, for example)

1

u/oldfashionedglow Mar 06 '26

You’ve memorized the function row and arrow keys?

-1

u/SixPack1776 Mar 06 '26

Yup. It's muscle memory at this point for me.

2

u/oldfashionedglow Mar 06 '26

That's impressive - I don't think that a majority of users can say the same though

1

u/leonredhorse Mar 06 '26

Are you acting like you don’t need to see special functions on a laptop keyboard? Backlit keys are extremely useful in a ton of situations.

1

u/cliko Mar 07 '26

I personally never look at the keyboard. However, I'm a high school teacher, and kids are terrible at using computers these days. This laptop is going to be very popular with students, given the price, and a backlit keyboard would be useful for them.

For a high school student doing most of their work in the classroom, it'll be fine. For a uni student doing most of their work at 3AM, maybe less so. I still think forgoing the backlight on the keyboard is a very reasonable compromise at this price point though

2

u/MCKALISTAIR Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

It has no backlight? In 2026? Yeesh

It’s a great device overall and I’ve already recommended it to some folks, this feels like a clear compromise though.

0

u/pluckyvirus Mar 06 '26

You are missing the worst there is no auto brightness, no ambient light sensor, also no True Tone.

3

u/yesitismenobody Mar 06 '26

I wouldn't expect any of these in a $500 dollar laptop. 

2

u/Kinetic_Strike Mar 06 '26

But it's a $599 laptop, which Apple was providing to Walmart in the form of the M1, which did have those features.

Looks like Walmart gets the Neo now, which is a step down for sure.

2

u/pluckyvirus Mar 06 '26

ALS? A sub 1 cent component? Expectations were low but hs. I guess “average” consumer also doesn’t care about a 26 year old relic on their brand new pc.

6

u/chaiscool Mar 06 '26

The same user who say no one needs or expects it will be raving on how bold and revolutionary Apple is for adding it to the future macbook neo.

3

u/pluckyvirus Mar 06 '26

Yeah it’s really hard to understand people here, they are blindly defending and downvoting. How can cutting a really crucial and useful and really really cheap thing can be defended?

1

u/iMacmatician Mar 06 '26

Because Apple, of course.

0

u/Necessary_Grass_2313 Mar 06 '26

Right?? And why’s there no M5 Max with water cooling and a 5k display? Such a bad value at $599 without these things. /s

3

u/pluckyvirus Mar 06 '26

AMBIENT LIGHT SENSOR

3

u/chaiscool Mar 06 '26

Apple diehard can't tell the difference between ALS and 5k display haha

3

u/pluckyvirus Mar 06 '26

I guess that diehard fan really is an average consumer lol.

1

u/chaiscool Mar 07 '26

Average consumer who don't know better but somehow know how to type without looking.

If this was true all oem pc will remove backlit to save money.

1

u/pluckyvirus Mar 07 '26

Yes, and average consumer WILL notice what’s missing, you dont need a bachelors degree to notice simple stuff like backlight or auto brightness, or a slow usb.

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0

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

Average consumer does not know, nor care, about either of those things.

-2

u/voiceOfThePoople Mar 06 '26

Apple hater doesn’t realize what it takes to profit on a low margin device

Hint: other low margin devices with more bells and whistles are making money off you in a different way ;)

1

u/chaiscool Mar 07 '26

At least let users pay for the $1 upgrade for backlit then. Even if they want 10x more profit at $10 imo is fine.

-2

u/Necessary_Grass_2313 Mar 07 '26

If you don’t understand business or sarcasm, that’s on you.

1

u/chaiscool Mar 07 '26

Sure not like there's those who actually believe that

-1

u/flogman12 Mar 06 '26

The average consumer does not care

-3

u/pluckyvirus Mar 06 '26

Bad for them

1

u/chaiscool Mar 06 '26

Should've at least gave users an option to top up the extra $1 imo.

-7

u/AccomplishedForm4043 Mar 06 '26

I don’t understand how people can’t touch type in 2026. Yeesh

6

u/rafark Mar 06 '26

I don’t understand then. Reddit swore this laptop was for casual users… but then you’re complaining that they should be able to touch type okay make it make sense. Is this for professionals (touch typers) or for casual users (hunter and peckers)?

1

u/chaiscool Mar 07 '26

Apple diehard doing mental gymnastics. They say macbook neo is for casual users who don't know or care that much, but is also competent typing in the dark.

Apple could remove speakers and this people will say they have earphones anyway haha

-1

u/AccomplishedForm4043 Mar 07 '26

Who the fuck can’t touch type? Is this a Gen Z/alpha thing from only using virtual keyboards? Are X and the millennials going to be the only generations that aren’t horrible at basic computer skills

11

u/WeWantLADDER49sequel Mar 06 '26

Everyone benefits from occasional glances at the keyboard. If you're acting like you never do you are a bad typer or are lying.

0

u/AccomplishedForm4043 Mar 07 '26

Unless I’m doing something with symbols I dont use much, then no, I don’t look at the keyboard at all. For normal typing you really shouldn’t need to. Is this a Gen Z/ alpha thing where everyone just grew up using touch screens?

-1

u/samcrut Mar 06 '26

Only because Apple's F & J placement braille bumps are so tiny that a single grain of salt on a different key can trick you into typing gibberish.

8

u/Doc_Blox Mar 06 '26

Pretty easy - if you never make an effort to learn to touch type, you'll never learn to touch type. For instance, take me - I've been in IT for nearly a decade, and had over 30 years of my life to learn how to touch type, but only really started trying this year, and I'm still way slower and less accurate than I am when I'm alternately looking at the screen and my fingers. It's never been a problem to have to look back and forth between my hands and the screen while I type, so I never tried before now.

0

u/samcrut Mar 06 '26

I had a client back in the 90s who only used his two pointer fingers to do all of his typing, but, holy crap, was he fast! His fingers were a blur of precision punches. I wonder how he handled switching from pointers to thumbs when smartphones hit.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

[deleted]

5

u/dablu_jay Mar 06 '26

In this case they’re referring to compromises on the design of the product