Mastodawn

(I actually think it looks pretty good. I just thought this was funny.)

@maxleibman

cheaper than most of their phones...how much ram does it have?

@noondlyt @maxleibman 4GB /jk idk

@catsalad @maxleibman

I see many apple MacBook shells strewn along the beach

@catsalad @noondlyt The would be the MacBook Margin.

@noondlyt 8 GB. Which does give me pause—on a modern Mac, I'm not that worried about that now (I used an M1 Mac mini with 8 GB from 2020 through 2024 without issue. It's not like trying to use Windows 11 on 8 GB), but it isn't very heavily future-proofed.

@maxleibman

Yeah, I think it's ridiculous especially considering how AI loaded it probably is.

@noondlyt I don’t think it would bog down much if you aren’t using local AI for anything (at least not from AI). The nice thing about Apple Intelligence (so far, anyhow) is how easy it is to ignore, and it doesn’t just run off and do things in the background. Yet.

Good point.

@noondlyt That said, while I think 8 GB isn’t ridiculous for who this is intended for, I also don’t want to imply that I think it’s great. I was *really* hoping for a 16 GB BTO option alongside the storage upgrade.

But Cook & Co. must have their margins, I suppose. (Also, I think the phone chip they are using forn the Neo might only support 8 GB.)

Raineer

🦆Mar 5

@maxleibman @noondlyt this is the reason

(I am not defending Apple in literally any way, just verifying the details)

The phone chip they chose for this only supports 8gb of ram. This year’s chip would have supported 12gb.

I think it’s a fairly right-sized attempt to go after the Chromebook market. I do appreciate trying to follow up on the success of the M1 sales of the Walmart model and keep the price point by some possible method.

FeloniousPunk Mar 5

@maxleibman @noondlyt It’s a pity party for the poors.

Look, I was a die-hard apple guy my whole life until that shit Cook pulled for trump. I have given that company THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of dollars over the years because I believed in them, their mission, and their approach hardware and software design.

But I’ll be damned if I will support a bootlicker.

@FeloniousPunk @noondlyt It's definitely time for Cook to go.

(I don't have any inside information or insight that suggests John Ternus will necessarily be better, but we can hope.)

FeloniousPunk Mar 5

@maxleibman @noondlyt The board needs to toss him to the curb, pronto.

FeloniousPunk Mar 5

@maxleibman @noondlyt But it’s too late for them, I pulled the trigger, went to Linux and not looking back. I’m working hard to de-platform from apple ecosystem asap. And yes, I admit it - the accoutrements on Linux are FAR worse. But it’s still better than tasting boot leather. Hopefully a lot more apple devs jump ship as well.

@FeloniousPunk @maxleibman @noondlyt

David H. McCoy Mar 5

Bootlicker is a bit strong. Let’s be reasonable.

Ballgargler is more apropos.

Prairie_Dog Mar 5

@noondlyt @maxleibman The MacBook Neo has 8GB of RAM with no option to upgrade.

@digitalrodent @maxleibman

Thank you. That's ridiculous.

Full Metal Archaeopteryx Mar 5

@digitalrodent
Sooooo... 2010 specs at a 2010 laptop price, just in time for 2026! Does it come with a new U2 album?
@noondlyt @maxleibman

@DelilahTech @digitalrodent @noondlyt In 2010, Apple also introduced a thin-and-light laptop that was at the bottom of their price list, but it started at $999, and the base configuration was 2 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage, and a two-core Intel (not Apple Silicon) processor.

If the Neo comes with U2’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ installed, though, I’m sending it back.

Full Metal Archaeopteryx Mar 5

@maxleibman
😂
@digitalrodent @noondlyt

@maxleibman @DelilahTech @digitalrodent @noondlyt

Michael Kohlman Mar 6

How about Edie Brickell's 'Good Times'?

lol

@maxleibman all of the book with none of the mac

@exchgr It definitely sounds like they did a lot of de-contenting to hit that price point. But the hands-on reports make it sound like it's still very Mackity. I don't know if Apple struck the right balance or if using it will be a nonstop parade of tiny papercuts.

(Spoiler alert: I will find out next Wednesday.)

@maxleibman 8GB of ram is just simply not enough for my use cases. on iPad? yeah sure. but not on mac. i’m starting to think about upgrading from my 2020 m1 macbook pro and i’m even wondering if i should break my 14 year streak of getting macs with 16GB of ram

@maxleibman that said, it’s wild to see macOS running on an a18 pro, even if it’s just for lightweight tasks

@exchgr I still have a daydream of Apple releasing their version of Microsoft's Continuum/Samsung's DeX, where you plug a Thunderbolt cable from an iPhone to a dock or a Studio Display and it becomes a Mac.

I can't imagine Apple actually doing that. But, then again, a year ago I couldn't imagine Apple releasing a new laptop under $600.

@maxleibman yeah that price is astounding. and also if they do a dex-like thing, i seriously hope it’s something like a tri-fold iPhone-to-iPad mini that turns into a mac when docked

Some Guy's Thoughts Mar 5

@maxleibman @exchgr I’ve had the “plug the iPhone in and get a full desktop experience” dream for a long time, if Apple one day did that it would be an immediate purchase for me.

@exchgr Totally. There will *definitely* be people this won't work for. I think 8 GB is probably fine for many people on macOS *today* (I ran a M1 Mac mini with 8 GB for four years, and it was shockingly good), but I worry about future-proofing. And I wasn't rendering video or editing bajillion-track audio files or building huge projects in Xcode.

@maxleibman sometimes i run safari, intellij, and lightroom at the same time, which brings my mac to a crawl because the “memory pressure” in activity monitor is in the yellow zone