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And I said MacBook Neo was wrongly priced since the beginning. I don't even remember how many sticks I got from it. >Just yesterday I saw people saying that Ap

by ksec 4mo ago

And I said MacBook Neo was wrongly priced since the beginning. I don't even remember how many sticks I got from it. >Just yesterday I saw people saying that Apple wouldn't increase prices until the next refresh. That was from Gruber, a person who claimed USB-C was invented by Apple, AirPod was sold at a loss. Generally speaking understanding of Margins, Supply Chain, Manufacturing and Hardware Business manufacturing is still very low across the internet.

copperx 4mo ago
> And I said MacBook Neo was wrongly priced since the beginning. I don't even remember how many sticks I got from it. I thought they were soldered to the motherboard?
- kube-system 4mo ago
  They mean stick as in criticism. And no, the memory in the Neo is not soldered to the motherboard, it is the upper part of the SoC sandwich package. https://3dfabric.tsmc.com/english/dedicatedFoundry/technology/InFO.htm https://3dfabric.tsmc.com/english/dedicatedFoundry/technolog...
choilive 4mo ago
Apple was on the USB Implementers Forum that designed USB-C so.. I would say they could definitely be credited as a co-inventor of USB-C, they also introduced one of the first devices that used USB-C.
- AlexandrB 4mo ago
  And then they went too far and introduced laptops that only used USB-C before finally setting at a (so far) happy medium.
  - SchemaLoad 4mo ago
    I think we needed Apple to do that to throw a lot of weight behind the standard so it didn't get stuck in an eternal migration that never ends. Though removing the SD card slot was dumb since USB-C was never an alternative to SD cards. Even today the desktop PC market is still stuck on USB-A since they have no Apple equivalent to just get things done.
    - vl 4mo ago
      I really don’t understand what SD card reader on MacBook Pro is for. All small cameras and devices use micro SD. Professional cameras don’t use SD since forever now. Basically I always need an adapter now.
      - mitchell209 4mo ago
        You can use an adapter for a micro SD but you can’t shrink the size of a normal SD card, is my only guess.
      - dutchCourage 4mo ago
        I don't think that's right, professional cameras still use full sized SD cards.
      - deleted 4mo ago
        [deleted]
- brookst 4mo ago
  In addition to being the sole inventors of lightning (the connector), which directly informed the USB-C spec based on learnings from field use. Apple doesn't get solo credit for USB-C, but they were certainly essential to it. Just compare the USB-C physical interface to the USB-3 micro or super speed type B ports and compare design sensibilities.
  - jaharmi 4mo ago
    Also compare the USB-C physical connector to the reversible power connector on Cinema Display models (circa 2004) and older Mac Minis. To me, there appears to be a strong through line to USB-C’s design. https://open.substack.com/pub/theelectronvault/p/apple-cinema-display-power-connector?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web https://open.substack.com/pub/theelectronvault/p/apple-cinem... USB-C can fulfill some/all of what I was using Thunderbolt 2 for with a MacBook Air and a Thunderbolt Display in 2013. Going back far enough, Apple combined video and data into the HDI 45 connector in the mid-to-late 90’s (but no one was going to use that for a laptop, even a laptop of the era). It was chunky enough even on a Power Mac 6100 and display then. USB-C / TB is the latest example of a direction Apple has been moving in for a long time.
  - fmajid 4mo ago
    I believe Nokia is responsible for the monstrosity that is Micro-USB, and unbelievably one of the arguments was that it would be more robust than Mini-USB.
- bel8 4mo ago
  That's not what Grubber claimed tho. They claimed solo inventor, which Apple is not.
stouset 4mo ago
> And I said MacBook Neo was wrongly priced since the beginning Given that the price change is broadly in line with the rest of the lineup, were all of those products mispriced since the beginning too? Or is it possible you’re simply cherry picking the one thing you want to be right about while ignoring the broader context of memory prices going up?
- AbsurdCensor 4mo ago
  Memory prices are certainly going up, but Apple already makes a 40% profit margin on their products. That $1 trillion+ bank account still gotta go up no matter what right?
  - stouset 4mo ago
    What does this have to do with my comment, or the one above it?
Kirby64 4mo ago
> That was from Gruber, a person who claimed USB-C was invented by Apple, AirPod was sold at a loss. I can't comment on the AirPod margins, but USB-C was, at least in large part, designed by Apple. That's absolutely true. They weren't the only people on USB-IF committees, but certainly played (and play) a very heavy hand in the USB-C spec.
- ksec 4mo ago
  The are at least 5 people on the initial USB-C design team on HN. They certainly tell a different story.
rootusrootus 4mo ago
> a person who claimed USB-C was invented by Apple That seems fair, I know plenty of people who think Apple only used USB-C because they were forced to. Lots of gut feelings out there.
- bel8 4mo ago
  But they were forced, at least for iPhones in Europe. It's a fact. Not a feeling.
  - simondotau 4mo ago
    Sure it was Europe. Meanwhile Apple got raked over the coals for being too early with USB-C on their MacBooks. Apple would have moved away from Lightning eventually. Did Europe force that move a year sooner than otherwise? Maybe. Maybe not.
  - rootusrootus 4mo ago
    Except they were steadily converting their devices to USB-C for years preceding the iPhone, and they had good reasons to make the iPhone the last device to get it. There is no indication that they were forced to do anything, and the best argument you have is a poster child for post hoc ergo propter hoc. A feeling.
    - ragazzina 4mo ago
      > There is no indication that they were forced to do anything The EU law forced them. The law is the indication.
  - stouset 4mo ago
    If anything, Apple was likely happy for this. It let them rip the band-aid off on the transition but shift blame to the EU for people annoyed by having to switch adapters and accessories. There is zero chance that Apple wasn’t going to do this themselves anyway in the next year or two. They’d been aggressively converting everything else in their device portfolio to USB-C and were doing so way ahead of everyone else. People who think this only happened because of the EU are high as a kite.
sandcat_ 4mo ago
The quote from Gruber in question (IMO, a little more reasonable than you give it credit for.) > For the same reason, I also do not think they’re going to raise the prices of existing products mid-cycle. ... But unlike with the MacBook Pros in March, I wouldn’t bet more than a beverage on my hunch here. However out of character it would be for Apple to raise prices midway through product cycles, the global RAM shortage is unprecedented. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple pushes price increases moments after I hit “Publish” on this post. https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/06/22/apple-device-prices-when https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/06/22/apple-device-pr...

by ksec 4mo ago

copperx 4mo ago

> And I said MacBook Neo was wrongly priced since the beginning. I don't even remember how many sticks I got from it. I thought they were soldered to the motherboard?

kube-system 4mo ago
They mean stick as in criticism. And no, the memory in the Neo is not soldered to the motherboard, it is the upper part of the SoC sandwich package. https://3dfabric.tsmc.com/english/dedicatedFoundry/technology/InFO.htm https://3dfabric.tsmc.com/english/dedicatedFoundry/technolog...

choilive 4mo ago

Apple was on the USB Implementers Forum that designed USB-C so.. I would say they could definitely be credited as a co-inventor of USB-C, they also introduced one of the first devices that used USB-C.

AlexandrB 4mo ago
And then they went too far and introduced laptops that only used USB-C before finally setting at a (so far) happy medium.
- SchemaLoad 4mo ago
  I think we needed Apple to do that to throw a lot of weight behind the standard so it didn't get stuck in an eternal migration that never ends. Though removing the SD card slot was dumb since USB-C was never an alternative to SD cards. Even today the desktop PC market is still stuck on USB-A since they have no Apple equivalent to just get things done.
  - vl 4mo ago
    I really don’t understand what SD card reader on MacBook Pro is for. All small cameras and devices use micro SD. Professional cameras don’t use SD since forever now. Basically I always need an adapter now.
    - mitchell209 4mo ago
      You can use an adapter for a micro SD but you can’t shrink the size of a normal SD card, is my only guess.
    - dutchCourage 4mo ago
      I don't think that's right, professional cameras still use full sized SD cards.
    - deleted 4mo ago
      [deleted]
brookst 4mo ago
In addition to being the sole inventors of lightning (the connector), which directly informed the USB-C spec based on learnings from field use. Apple doesn't get solo credit for USB-C, but they were certainly essential to it. Just compare the USB-C physical interface to the USB-3 micro or super speed type B ports and compare design sensibilities.
- jaharmi 4mo ago
  Also compare the USB-C physical connector to the reversible power connector on Cinema Display models (circa 2004) and older Mac Minis. To me, there appears to be a strong through line to USB-C’s design. https://open.substack.com/pub/theelectronvault/p/apple-cinema-display-power-connector?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web https://open.substack.com/pub/theelectronvault/p/apple-cinem... USB-C can fulfill some/all of what I was using Thunderbolt 2 for with a MacBook Air and a Thunderbolt Display in 2013. Going back far enough, Apple combined video and data into the HDI 45 connector in the mid-to-late 90’s (but no one was going to use that for a laptop, even a laptop of the era). It was chunky enough even on a Power Mac 6100 and display then. USB-C / TB is the latest example of a direction Apple has been moving in for a long time.
- fmajid 4mo ago
  I believe Nokia is responsible for the monstrosity that is Micro-USB, and unbelievably one of the arguments was that it would be more robust than Mini-USB.
bel8 4mo ago
That's not what Grubber claimed tho. They claimed solo inventor, which Apple is not.

stouset 4mo ago

> And I said MacBook Neo was wrongly priced since the beginning Given that the price change is broadly in line with the rest of the lineup, were all of those products mispriced since the beginning too? Or is it possible you’re simply cherry picking the one thing you want to be right about while ignoring the broader context of memory prices going up?

AbsurdCensor 4mo ago
Memory prices are certainly going up, but Apple already makes a 40% profit margin on their products. That $1 trillion+ bank account still gotta go up no matter what right?
- stouset 4mo ago
  What does this have to do with my comment, or the one above it?

Kirby64 4mo ago

> That was from Gruber, a person who claimed USB-C was invented by Apple, AirPod was sold at a loss. I can't comment on the AirPod margins, but USB-C was, at least in large part, designed by Apple. That's absolutely true. They weren't the only people on USB-IF committees, but certainly played (and play) a very heavy hand in the USB-C spec.

ksec 4mo ago
The are at least 5 people on the initial USB-C design team on HN. They certainly tell a different story.

rootusrootus 4mo ago

> a person who claimed USB-C was invented by Apple That seems fair, I know plenty of people who think Apple only used USB-C because they were forced to. Lots of gut feelings out there.

bel8 4mo ago
But they were forced, at least for iPhones in Europe. It's a fact. Not a feeling.
- simondotau 4mo ago
  Sure it was Europe. Meanwhile Apple got raked over the coals for being too early with USB-C on their MacBooks. Apple would have moved away from Lightning eventually. Did Europe force that move a year sooner than otherwise? Maybe. Maybe not.
- rootusrootus 4mo ago
  Except they were steadily converting their devices to USB-C for years preceding the iPhone, and they had good reasons to make the iPhone the last device to get it. There is no indication that they were forced to do anything, and the best argument you have is a poster child for post hoc ergo propter hoc. A feeling.
  - ragazzina 4mo ago
    > There is no indication that they were forced to do anything The EU law forced them. The law is the indication.
- stouset 4mo ago
  If anything, Apple was likely happy for this. It let them rip the band-aid off on the transition but shift blame to the EU for people annoyed by having to switch adapters and accessories. There is zero chance that Apple wasn’t going to do this themselves anyway in the next year or two. They’d been aggressively converting everything else in their device portfolio to USB-C and were doing so way ahead of everyone else. People who think this only happened because of the EU are high as a kite.

sandcat_ 4mo ago

The quote from Gruber in question (IMO, a little more reasonable than you give it credit for.) > For the same reason, I also do not think they’re going to raise the prices of existing products mid-cycle. ... But unlike with the MacBook Pros in March, I wouldn’t bet more than a beverage on my hunch here. However out of character it would be for Apple to raise prices midway through product cycles, the global RAM shortage is unprecedented. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple pushes price increases moments after I hit “Publish” on this post. https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/06/22/apple-device-prices-when https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/06/22/apple-device-pr...