The Neo is pretty great, and the compromises are totally reasonable at the price point. But if they do a second generation with A19 Pro (and thus 12GB RAM) and a slightly better cooling system then it would really be fantastic.
The Neo is pretty great, and the compromises are totally reasonable at the price point. But if they do a second generation with A19 Pro (and thus 12GB RAM) and a slightly better cooling system then it would really be fantastic.
I am rather hoping they put vapour chamber tech in the next MacBook Air.
And just give even a metal plate on top of Neo SoC would have increased its thermal capacity.
You can use a small thermal pad on the current Neo to bridge to the case, which helps with temps quite a bit.
I do this with my old 2017 MacBook Air and while the case gets pretty hot, it reduces throttling on the old Intel processor a lot. It felt like a new computer after replacing the thermal paste and adding that pad.
Apparently the neo doesn't really get hot enough to really notice to the touch with the pad to the case.
> if they do a second generation with A19 Pro
I'm pretty sure it's a "when", not "if".
Probably true. I hope they do it next year, but I suspect it might the following one.
Idk, I think they are regretting the unit economics of the Neo, and it is likely cannibalizing the Air sales.
Maybe some... but they're likely picking up a lot of people that would have gone with a $500-700 windows laptop instead.. and the margins are similar, so they're probably well ahead.
intentionally cannibalizing their own sales is iirc the official apple policy: iphone destroyed ipod and was one of the best business mives of all time
iPhones were more expensive than iPods though
I miss the iPod right now lol. Give me a nano!
If they can use this product to lock more people into their ecosystem it'll work. As a lifelong windows/android user, I've been eyeing up the neo.
Also, the Neo is just cheap enough that it's a product I'd consider buying that I don't need. I'm not in the market for a new laptop and certainly not an Air. So I'm a demographic considering this product that is not going to cannibalize their existing sales. There's gotta be at least a dozen people like me!
Do it. I've used Windows, Linux, and macOS over the years. Apple may be walled garden, but damn do they take care of their garden. It's worth trying out.
It’s a nice hardware. But that garden is full of bugs, not much less than if you have open windows.