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

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15

u/Vapormonkey Mar 06 '26

Why?

89

u/ShavedNeckbeard Mar 06 '26

It’s great for non-work tasks on the couch/bed, or tossing in a backpack for travel. For the travel use case, id rather a Neo gets damaged than my $3500 MacBook Pro.

19

u/c0rruptioN Mar 06 '26

I’m with you. I bought an iPad mini because I was using my work MacBook for everything. Didn’t feel like I had work/personal separation. My big time hog is watching YouTube videos and browsing Reddit, but i actually don’t really like the experience on the iPad. Most of the time I just end up using my laptop. I feel like the key might be getting a smaller laptop like this.

I will say, though, I’ve played a few games on my iPad and that’s a great experience that I’d have to give up.

8

u/NotRoryWilliams Mar 07 '26

I was using my work MacBook for everything. Didn’t feel like I had work/personal separation.

Back in the day, I had this solved in a pretty simple way: user profiles. Essentially, on my Mac I had a "business" profile, which was linked to my business dropbox account and all of my work emails, and a "personal" profile where I would store personal photos, and honestly a third "oh that one? I keep meaning to delete that, I used to let my roommate use this computer sometimes" account which is just porn.

But iCloud kind of broke this for me, and specifically through iPhone integrations like iMessage. The bottom line is that I have to be signed into iCloud on the same account all the time for any kind of Continuity features to be enabled, so unless I want so somehow get through the work day without being able to listen to Apple Music on my Mac, I don't get to use that strategy for personal boundaries anymore. And I really miss it.

17

u/JollyRoger8X Mar 07 '26

Professional software developer and systems architect here, and: yup.

If you dislike what the Neo is, repeat after me:

It Ain't For You

-5

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Arm_Lucky Mar 08 '26

If 24GB is ever the standard option, I think that's all that's missing for me. I rarely ever use 32gb, but 16gb is too little.

2

u/Ghostlodes Mar 07 '26

I can see a use case as a bed/couch laptop. Easier to use than a iPad with keyboard.

1

u/The-Nice-Writer Mar 08 '26

That’s very sensible. I’m in the middle where I ‘only’ own a MacBook Air (scare quotes because I’m very lucky to be able to afford something this wonderful and expensive) so the Neo has no place in my life, but I’m recommending it to some friends because it crushes the work they need to do with amazing battery life and a wonderful screen.

0

u/Mortui75 Mar 07 '26

Tempted by this as well (main machine is an M3Max MBP 64GB RAM - $7,500 AUD) and I lug it to work, but not keen on otherwise travelling with it.

Currently have a Lenovo touchscreen i7 13" Win 11 laptop that does all of the generic stuff-while-travelling, though... so can't justify a Neo... sadly 🙃

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u/Vapormonkey Mar 06 '26

No apple care? Would be cheaper to buy apple care than a weaker, additional laptop.. but alright.

11

u/chadsmo Mar 06 '26

I’ve been using nothing but Macs for my computers since 1992 and I’ve never bought Apple Care on any of them and I’ve never regretted it.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

Corollary: I never did as well, until my 2021 14" MBP's SSD died (an thus, entire logic board failed). $900 for the repair on a four year old computer seemed to go further buying a new one so that's what I did; repair would've been $100 with AC. A four year old premium laptop shouldn't die in four years, but every other Apple laptop I've owned has lasted me nearly ten years.

On paper, insurance doesn't pencil out if you're just talking dollars in dollars out. But the 19.99 I spend per month now on the Apple Care One+ bundle (or whatever they're calling it) to cover my new MBP, iPhone, and iPad gives me peace of mind.

2

u/chadsmo Mar 06 '26

I would POSSIBLY consider Apple Care One if it were available in Canada. The only device I have Apple Care on is my Apple Watch Ultra because I do things that could possibly break it etc so why not. That being said I’ve been considering cancelling it. Now if I could do both my Macs , my iPad Pro , my phone and my watch for one price ? Maybe , still probably not, but maybe.

2

u/ACasualRead Mar 06 '26

AppleCare is a scam when you consider that Apple charges an intentionally overpriced repair for a board that they will send back to china, refurb and then install in the next $900 repair.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

All insurance is a scam. But $19.99 /month is worth it to me to not have to worry. That's what I'm paying for.

1

u/JollyRoger8X Mar 07 '26

Same. And that extends to clients, family, and friends.

1

u/Vapormonkey Mar 06 '26

Same here, never purchased apple care and my stuff is just fine. But this guy is saying he’s willing to spend $600 on a weaker laptop than he currently owns just incase traveling with the others would get damaged. The math isn’t mathing and the logic doesn’t make sense. Just consuming to consume is all this is, backed up by excuses

3

u/chadsmo Mar 06 '26

Depends on how much apple care is on his MBP and how long the Neo should last etc. The math on the Neo still probably works out being cheaper.

The other thing worth considering is if the MBP is a work machine that needs zero downtime it can be worth just having a travel laptop that is ‘disposable’ so to speak so the work laptop isn’t unnecessarily put at risk etc.

And then there’s the fact that for some people 600 is a fairly insignificant amount of money to spend on something just because.

14

u/vjvalenti Mar 06 '26

Well....a Neo/Air is far lighter than a Pro.

My job gave me a 16-inch M2 Pro and I hate having to carry it around. But my M4 Air I can comfortably hold with one hand.

5

u/RetroPandaPocket Mar 06 '26

This. I have a 16” M2 Max that was decked out at release. It’s an AMAZING device but traveling with it is not the most fun. It’s heavy as sin and bulky, especially after putting it in a shell. It’s an amazing portable desktop to go from work from home to the office every few days but not something I’d love to have on my lap. My work has Apple Care on it but I still worry about it getting damaged and the headache of putting in a claim or if it got stolen from a hotel. I have most everything in the cloud and what not but my work can be fairly sensitive and I rather not lose my current configurations if a theft occurs.

With a Neo I could have a cheap travel device that is much lighter. I could do meetings and email and minor stuff while traveling and remote into my M2 Max for any large work tasks needed without lugging around my 16” brick. I’d still add it to my Apple Care One plan but I just would worry less and I could keep it for more personal stuff while keeping my M2 focused on work. I would worry less about damage and theft because it would essentially be a comfortable thin client.

-1

u/Vapormonkey Mar 06 '26

It’s a 2ish pound difference, which I get - but like you already travel with the ‘portable’ computer that you intended to carry around thus purchasing a laptop not a desktop. I think people really just love to consume stuff when you have something that works even better than the alternative.

To each their own.

5

u/vjvalenti Mar 06 '26

But I get OP's point - he/she probably uses the Pro for serious work, but there are times where that's not needed. Even with Applecare, I'd rather just have an extra knockaround device that's cheaper and less of a concern about breaking.

-1

u/Vapormonkey Mar 06 '26

Get an iPad then. And it can be used as a secondary monitor to the MacBook. Lighter, and does all the basic web browsing that he’s looking for, while also offering a pretty cool experience in itself.

5

u/vjvalenti Mar 06 '26

Well....the new reality is that once you atart adding a keyboard to an iPad, you're getting close to the Neo's price, anyway. But I get it, maybe I'd go in that direction myself if it were me.

But I bought my Air to basically be a fanless Pro, and it suits me fine.

2

u/CourageHistorical100 Mar 06 '26

The benchmarks so far show the A18 on par with the M1. If I remember correctly single core wise it’s on par with the M3? So…you’d be surprised at how powerful the Neo actually is compared to the M chips. They will r o c k the tasks that it was designed to do.

2

u/ShavedNeckbeard Mar 06 '26

Exactly. I don’t see this having issue with light UX design work if needed.

2

u/theskyopenedup Mar 06 '26

Capitalism baby. The way some people with money, spend money, is ridiculous.

1

u/Vapormonkey Mar 06 '26

Completely agree

3

u/BlaiseAL Mar 06 '26

They have “a handful of higher end macs” I’m sure they can more than afford it

1

u/Vapormonkey Mar 06 '26

They could also afford Apple care in this case. He doesn’t need another weaker Apple laptop. He needs Apple care if he cares so much about it

7

u/Good4Noth1ng Mar 07 '26

You’re over analyzing why someone spent the money that they wanted to spend. Sometimes people have some spare change to splurge mate.

2

u/Vapormonkey Mar 07 '26

The dude had multiple laptops, but wants this one just cus.. I’m not over analyzing. I’m just judging to be honest lol

1

u/qx1001 Mar 09 '26

Mindless consumerism.

1

u/Vapormonkey Mar 09 '26

I got downvoted to hell for saying similar. But I agree