alt Hacker NewsMacBook Neo
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Many governments and large companies issue burner laptops when traveling to the US or China. This is a perfect candidate for that
Has MacBook chassis been locked for a while? When was the last exciting design change?
Yikes, if I had known Apple was going to release a new budget laptop I would have gotten my mom this instead of a $1000 Air.
I find it really fascinating that this is priced identically to an iPhone 17e. Speaks to it essentially being a big iPad with a keyboard attached running macOS.
I guess it’s to be expected, but i’m sad there’s no 16gb RAM upgrade option. $699 for a brand new Mac is nice and 8gb will work for the netbook/student audience but i’d personally want a teensy bit more.
This is an iphone 16pro chip. That's the phone I have and don't love it. I am not sure if this is a useful config.
Interesting.
It's been a while since we've had excitement at the "cheap and cheerful" end of the spectrum.
Anyone remember the initial Eee PC... and the problems it created for MSFT during the Vista transition?
This is great, to me this is a far better deal than buying an iPad with an extra keyboard.
Bit of a strange choice of name if I may say so!
We are back to colors! https://appleclamshell.wordpress.com/color-guide/
the market segmentation is nice, it'll do well with the colors and all -- but the unified memory thing is the literal only reason to want to dip a toe in apple whatsoever; with these numbers id rather just spend ~300 on a Chuwi or equivalent white label 'ultrabook' with double the specs.
although it IS hillarious to read a group of enthusiasts in 2026 screaming "8GB IS FINE!" -- meanwhile people want more ram on their RPis..
With only 8 GB of RAM would this be usable even for web browsing?
Feeling glad I got a 2nd hand air M1 (16gb+512gb) for ~400 GBP last October, rather than waiting out for this.
No idea how the processors compare, but that RAM isn't a good sign
This could be amazing for running Asahi Linux one day. Probably will be quite a while before Asahi works on it though.
I can open iphone on my macbook? Wish I had it working on my macbook pro, because I was supposed to be able to do that a long time ago (I'm in EU).
Will it be true macOS or will they use this excuse of using an “iPhone chip” to lock down everything like they do on iPads/iPhones?
I'd like to bring to your attention the 2026 irony of how much things now cost: this thing has nearly the same chip, way bigger display,a keyboard, extra USB port, a touchpad, lots of copper inside and aluminum outside, way bigger battery and yet it is same price as entry level iPhone with same RAM and storage. Go figure!
PS. Wonder why they didn't use A19 in this? Imagine they thought "yeah, that A18 will do for an entry-level laptop", but the entry-level iPhone 17e with A19 needed more kick? What for, our social media apps and mobile websites? This is soooo absurd!
For 800 euros, with 8 GB RAM, and a mobile GPU?!? No thanks.
I imagine this will be popular in other countries too. Such an incredible product for the price. Does anyone have benchmarks comparing the A18 to an M1 say?
Oh dang. No 16GB option at all, I thought 8GB was just the base.
Anyone else thinking of using this as a homelab server?
Given how incredibly bloated OSX is now and that everything else is CEF, how can they possibly justify 8gb of ram? Even my ancient w7 box has 64gb
How much extra is it to add DVI out and an ethernet port?
How will the A chip fare for LLM-based use cases, compared the M series?
And will we have software compatibility issues because of A versus M issues?
Whoever added the pause button on the image carousel on that page, I applaud you.
That's a pretty slick video where the block of aluminum transforms into the finished MacBook in the presenter's hands.
Tiny, silly, no good, minor, tedious complaint: can you visibly tell which port is USB 3 vs. USB 2 or do you have to just remember?
Why don’t they just allow MacOS on iPad Pro. It’s what people want.
I think this is a very niche product or a potential Chromebook competitor. This is good enough for students and kids.
If anyone makes Linux running on this thing, it's a major gaming changer!
seems nice. I imagine the strategy here is going for expanding user base so Apple can sell more software services?
Why do all the low-end Apple laptops not have USB-C ports on the right?
That's one of the main reasons I had to get a MacBook Pro.
Can I virtualize Windows 7 and PostgreSQL in it?
Woah... a mobile processor and enormous bezels... definitely feels like Jobs would have never let this ship
Wow $499 for students
It's like the crack dealer giving free samples to the young ones
Is that plastic
Would definitely consider for my next laptop. What’s the best solution for “Mac Subsystem for Linux”?
Its wild watching Apple change. They lost their luxury brand and have pivoted to general population.
Today, every unemployed teen and stay at home mom has a $40/mo iphone. It lost its status.
These are some final nails in the coffin. As an Apple stock holder, I might exit my position. They have no growth left, they are just another Blue Chip now..
I was hoping they'll revamp the 12" MacBook. I liked a lot that design and form-factor.
very good product app man
Every Apple post for the past 2 decades has brought out of the woodwork experts with armchair analysis of price points, market segments, product positioning, and target demographics. It's so funny. X'D Carry on.
Oh neat!
8 gig cap though? That seems strange... But, for a $600 Mac for the kids' homeschooling though, maybe I can forgive them.