Daring Fireball
The MacBook Neo’s Price, Looking to the Past and Future
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/03/06/macbook-neos-price-past-and-future
The MacBook Neo’s Price, Looking to the Past and Future

Link to: https://x.com/ethan_is_online/status/2029331836137291941?s=42

Daring Fireball
Mar 6 at 3:56pmDF Tootbot
Show threadMartin the paranoid androidMar 6
@daringfireball @gruber +shipped #dftypo
Show threadScott LairdMar 6
@daringfireball so today's Macbook Neo costs the equivalent of $190 in 1984 dollars. Which is basically what the #Commodore64 sold for at the time.
Show threadavmaktMar 6

@laird @daringfireball
$190?! My parents paid a lot more for the #C64 11yo me got for xmas. Spent years saving enough for the 1541. Still worth the money though!

As for the Neo I think it'll be a huge success, stealing the spotlight from chromebooks and cheap (and useless) windows computers.
My biggest gripes with it are that useless second USB port, and that it supposedly only supports a single external monitor. Not too worried about the memory, most browsers are do aggressive saving.

Show threadJohn GruberMar 6
@avmakt If you need support for more than one external display, the Neo is not the MacBook you want.
Show threadavmaktMar 6
@gruber From a pricing point of view it is the macbook I want, as I'd love to be able to replace our cheap chromebooks that DO support our dual monitor setup.
Show threadDelricMar 6
@avmakt @gruber well ya, we’d like a $100 mac, too, but that isn’t the product offering. chromebooks are cheaper than Neo because they’re crummier, full stop
Show threadNitMar 6

@avmakt @gruber If you need a dual setup the refurbished M4 Air is a pretty good deal. But it is $250 more.

Along with dual external monitor support, it gets you a bunch of other improvements… Double the RAM, better screen - P3 and TTone, better speakers, better mics, Touch ID, backlit keyboard, better USB - T4, MagSafe and some other bits.

As a package that $250 covers a lot of value IMO.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/fw0y3ll/a/Refurbished-13-inch-MacBook-Air-Apple-M4-chip-with-10%E2%80%91Core-CPU-and-8%E2%80%91Core-GPU-Starlight

Refurbished 13-inch MacBook Air Apple M4 chip with 10‑Core CPU and 8‑Core GPU - Starlight

Originally released March 2025 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone¹ 
12MP Center Stage camera 16GB unified memory 256GB SSD² Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID MagSafe 3 charging port Two Thunderbolt 4 ports

Apple
Show threadRay KelmMar 6
@laird @daringfireball the original price for the C64 was $595. I couldn't afford one at the time, so I bought a used one that needed repair.
Show threadScott LairdMar 6

@rayk @daringfireball IIRC, it had fallen to $199-ish by some point in 1984, and Wikipedia seems to agree -- Commodore and TI got into a price war.

I ended up with a VIC-20, because the C64 was too expensive. Followed relatively quickly by an Apple //e.

Show threadTodd Heberlein (social)Mar 6

@daringfireball When I see people talk about the high price of the Vision Pro, I often think of the 128K Mac.

With the Neo's A18 Pro delivering roughly the same power as the M1, I wonder if an A19 Pro could deliver similar power as the M2 Vision Pro. Could Apple use the same cost discipline they show with the Mac Neo in a Vision Neo and bring it down to $1000-1500?

"the original Macintosh with a price of $2,495 (which works out to ~$7,800 today.)"

Show threadChris LeaderMar 8
@daringfireball the MacBook Neo would have cost $387 in 2008 dollars, the year the MacBook Air shipped. Mind-blowing