Windows PC makers typically haven't had to compete with Apple on the low end, but that changes with the Neo, says S.Y. Hsu. The memory shortage might complicate things, though.

The Apple MacBook Neo’s $599 starting price is a “shock” to the Windows PC industry, according to an Asus executive.

Hsu said he believes all the PC players—including Microsoft, Intel, and AMD—take the MacBook Neo threat seriously. “In fact, in the entire PC ecosystem, there have been a lot of discussions about how to compete with this product,” he added, given that rumors about the MacBook Neo have been making the rounds for at least a year.

Despite the competitive threat, Hsu argued that the MacBook Neo could have limited appeal. He pointed to the laptop’s 8GB of “unified memory,” or what amounts to its RAM, and how customers can’t upgrade it.

  • vane@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    17 hours ago

    He also described the MacBook Neo as a “content consumption” device, similar to an iPad. “This is different from the use case of a mainstream notebook," which can handle more compute-intensive tasks, Hsu said.

    I don’t know what Windows have out of the box but is MacBook really content consuming device ?

    Free build in OS offline office apps Word = Pages, Excel=Numbers, Power Point = Keynote, Notes, Calendar, Email, Reminders, PDF viewer = Preview, movie editor = iMovie, Journal, Password Manager = Keychain, Maps app ( yes you can download parts of map to use offline), Garage band where you can connect your midi devices and record them.

    • carpelbridgesyndrome@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      101·
      15 hours ago

      It has a mobile SOC which thermally throttles pretty aggressively, memory capped at 8gb, and a pair of confusing USB-C ports one of which is limited to USB 2.0 speeds.

      • boonhet@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        3·
        2 hours ago

        It’s actually a bit faster than the M1 and most M1 owners are still not upgrading because there’s no real need. So you could reasonably do productivity things that aren’t heavy ass 3D modelling or video editing. But with 8 gigs of RAM it’ll swap a lot, wearing down the SSD eventually.

    • Squizzy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      16 hours ago

      I wouldnt have said content consumption but it is going to be a hit with students who will basically use a browser for everything. They have cloud office suites by default and apple has student subscriptions to offer.