3 ms·

You have a point. They're not similar. OTOH, people do compare them. I think Apple realizes this and the Macbook Neo is a brilliant move. It doesn't cost $1000

You have a point. They're not similar. OTOH, people do compare them. I think Apple realizes this and the Macbook Neo is a brilliant move. It doesn't cost $1000 to get into the MacBook experience anymore, so drastically more people will be buying them for their kids and more families will have MacOS as their default.

bigyabai 7mo ago
In the long run, I think we'll see more iPad-only families. The home computer is practically non-existent outside gaming niches or work-issued machines. We've had $700-800 Macbook Air models on sale for years now, same for the Mac Mini - little has changed. As cutesy as the shared computer ideal is, I see most people gravitating towards their phones and away from general purpose computing.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 7mo ago
  The problem is work is done mostly on computers though. Will it evolve to be all on tablets? It's possible, but will make workers slower
- soco 7mo ago
  I thought the tablet space is pretty much dead? I don't see many on the shelves at the local hardware store (which I walk by mostly of curiosity). It seems all laptops, with a sizeable share of foldable - and even these are way more present than tablets. So no, I think the tablet train has long left (exception being the standing workers in some areas).
- AnonC 7mo ago
  One reason I stopped buying a new iPad was because the hardware is great but the software prevents multiple users. Not all families can afford or would like to have one phone per person as well as one tablet per person. IMO, Apple is losing money by crippling the iPad.
pjmlp 7mo ago
It would be a brilliant move if it wasn't castrated with 8 GB, even my netbook from 2009 got upgraded to 16 GB during its lifetime, which ended in 2024. A netbook from 2009, already had the capability to get RAM sticks up to 16 GB in total, go figure!
- kingkawn 7mo ago
  Is it a side effect of spiking ram prices and trying to meet their momentary price point?
  - pjmlp 7mo ago
    It is a hard limit of using a phone SOC, it has what it has.
  - deafpolygon 7mo ago
    the A18 has a hard limit of 8GB of addressable memory, iirc
- anakaine 7mo ago
  And they needed it. An 8gb macbook air is sufficient for browsing, writing, and viewing. These machines are aimed at low end users / high school / cheap college machines.
  - pjmlp 7mo ago
    Outside US those demographics will be buying cheaper PC laptops under 500 euro, with higher RAM. Open a couple of Electron crap apps, and the 8 GB are gone.
- AnonC 7mo ago
  But 8 GB on a Mac is way different (in a positive way) from 16 GB on a different OS. On Windows 11, I can’t even imagine anything lower than 32 GB being a decent experience.
  - 7mo ago

bigyabai 7mo ago

In the long run, I think we'll see more iPad-only families. The home computer is practically non-existent outside gaming niches or work-issued machines. We've had $700-800 Macbook Air models on sale for years now, same for the Mac Mini - little has changed. As cutesy as the shared computer ideal is, I see most people gravitating towards their phones and away from general purpose computing.

Fire-Dragon-DoL 7mo ago
The problem is work is done mostly on computers though. Will it evolve to be all on tablets? It's possible, but will make workers slower
soco 7mo ago
I thought the tablet space is pretty much dead? I don't see many on the shelves at the local hardware store (which I walk by mostly of curiosity). It seems all laptops, with a sizeable share of foldable - and even these are way more present than tablets. So no, I think the tablet train has long left (exception being the standing workers in some areas).
AnonC 7mo ago
One reason I stopped buying a new iPad was because the hardware is great but the software prevents multiple users. Not all families can afford or would like to have one phone per person as well as one tablet per person. IMO, Apple is losing money by crippling the iPad.

pjmlp 7mo ago

It would be a brilliant move if it wasn't castrated with 8 GB, even my netbook from 2009 got upgraded to 16 GB during its lifetime, which ended in 2024. A netbook from 2009, already had the capability to get RAM sticks up to 16 GB in total, go figure!

kingkawn 7mo ago
Is it a side effect of spiking ram prices and trying to meet their momentary price point?
- pjmlp 7mo ago
  It is a hard limit of using a phone SOC, it has what it has.
- deafpolygon 7mo ago
  the A18 has a hard limit of 8GB of addressable memory, iirc
anakaine 7mo ago
And they needed it. An 8gb macbook air is sufficient for browsing, writing, and viewing. These machines are aimed at low end users / high school / cheap college machines.
- pjmlp 7mo ago
  Outside US those demographics will be buying cheaper PC laptops under 500 euro, with higher RAM. Open a couple of Electron crap apps, and the 8 GB are gone.
AnonC 7mo ago
But 8 GB on a Mac is way different (in a positive way) from 16 GB on a different OS. On Windows 11, I can’t even imagine anything lower than 32 GB being a decent experience.
- 7mo ago