Apple’s long-rumored budget MacBook is official, and the “RIP Windows” chants have begun. Never mind the fact that it uses a 2024 smartphone chip that no one has ever tested in a laptop. Apple made it, and therefore it must be good.
Right?
Look, I’m not here to tell you that the MacBook Neo is a bad product, or that you shouldn’t buy it. I’d never do that for a product I’ve not tested, especially when no one has tested it. I do think I’ll be saying that in a few weeks, but that’s neither here nor there.
I will, however, make the case that no one should preorder the MacBook Neo, unless, perhaps, you’ve just got $600 to burn on curiosity.
It won’t sell out
No need to preorder
Let’s start with a softball. When the MacBook Neo comes out on March 11, you’re going to be able to walk into an Apple Store and buy one. This isn’t like an iPhone launch where you have to get your preorder in before any reviews are allowed to go live.
MacBook Neo reviews will go live, and the reviews will be positive. Reviewers will say that it’s great for the “average user”, a person that doesn’t actually exist. It’s a code for “I wouldn’t spend my own money on this, but maybe you should.”
Luckily, there will be reviews that show actual testing data. Look at that data that’s published, make an informed purchasing decision. There is absolutely no reason to preorder this product.
The Mac market has never seen a product like this
A laptop that isn’t targeted at everyone
I’ve reviewed hundreds of laptops, and I’ve recommended loads of products to friends and family. The “average Joe” that the MacBook Neo seems to be aimed at doesn’t really exist. Very, very few people buy a laptop that they’re only going to use for checking Facebook and email. You might buy an iPad for that, but laptops tend to be more of an investment, something you use to make money by using it to either work or go to school.
Moreover, that investment should last three to five years. For Mac users, customers tend to upgrade a bit more frequently, so they might be closer to that three-year range. But people that spend $599 on a laptop tend to expect more life out of the product.
Apple’s never sold a product like this, and the fact that people are going to expect the MacBook Neo to generally be good at everything it does and last for five years is a liability.
Apple already sells a product that’s right for everyone. It’s the MacBook Air. You can go buy the latest MacBook Air, it’ll last you a good five years, and it’s generally good at everything you throw at it. That’s what I consider to be a Good Laptop.
I’ve seen products like this constantly in the Windows world. When people ask what laptop they should buy, they usually try to qualify it with what they’re going to use it for. The problem is that they always underestimate what they’ll use it for, so they go and buy a budget laptop, and a year later they complain that it doesn’t do what they wanted.
And life changes a lot in three to five years. Think about where you were five years ago, what you’d have wanted from any kind of tech and how that’s different today. In that time, you could change careers, go back to school, switch majors, get married, have kids, and more. Throughout all of that, your needs from your tech change.
But I digress. The MacBook Air is a product that is proven to be versatile enough to last through those changes. Cheaper laptops that aren’t as versatile are fine too, but Apple’s never sold a product like that before, and it’s not known for making products like that.
The announcement is filled with red flags
No one has used an A18 Pro
In my career, I’ve read hundreds of laptop / silicon press releases. The MacBook Neo press release has tons of red flags. And no, that does not mean that this is a bad product. None of what I’m saying mean it’s a bad product. But you should be skeptical of it, and you should wait for testing data before spending your hard-earned dollars.
First of all, no one has used an A18 Pro in a laptop. This is a 2024 smartphone chip being used in a PC 18 months later. No one should assume that it’s going to be a good experience.
Let’s break down some bits. The highlights of the A18 Pro section of the announcement include “enabling users to power through things they do every day, like browsing the web, creating documents, streaming content, editing photos, and taking advantage of AI”.
That’s a red flag, and I’ve frequently called out companies like Qualcomm for using similar language for its Snapdragon X base model chips (also targeted at the $599 segment). When companies call out the most basic tasks as strength, it usually means that the product isn’t good for much else.
“Users can seamlessly work between their favorite apps, like Messages, WhatsApp, Canva, Excel, Safari, and more.” Same thing. The first app highlighted is…Messages?
“MacBook Neo with A18 Pro is up to 50 percent faster for everyday tasks than the bestselling PC with the latest shipping Intel Core Ultra 5.” This is the one red flag that’s not as related to historical Windows device announcements, and more to Apple’s own. It’s classic Apple misdirection, offering the most vague promises of better performance on undefined tasks, and comparing it to some “bestselling PC”.
Sometimes, Apple will tell you which bestselling PC it’s comparing it to, which would be helpful because we also have no idea which Core Ultra 5 it’s being compared to.
People are going to think that the A18 Pro is fine because hey, it’s a MacBook, right? And Apple Silicon is great, which it is. I’d actually be a whole lot less skeptical if I hadn’t read through that section of the blog post.
If it’s good, just buy it when it comes out
The MacBook Neo might be a fantastic product, and it might end up being extremely disruptive to the Windows market, but there are actually no signs of that yet. The only thing it has going for it so far is that it’s made by Apple, and therefore it’s probably good.
Despite some public sentiment otherwise, it’s not a Chromebook competitor either. Educational Chromebooks are way cheaper than this, and consumer Chromebooks aren’t very successful at all these days.
And remember, MacBooks aren’t necessarily good. They’ve been amazing since the M-series started shipping in 2020, but don’t forget about the Butterfly keyboard saga that preceded that. The Cupertino firm was more than happy to spit in the face of its users that were begging for a decent keyboard on their Macs. Apple has shown that it’s more than willing to make a bad Mac, and it will sell it to you. It’s wonderful track record of the last six years is still short.
So maybe, just wait and see some real testing data before buying a MacBook Neo.
