Simulated image.
Apple’s newest budget laptop feels less like a traditional MacBook and more like a tablet running macOS.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, it was hard to miss Apple's latest offering in the laptop world, the MacBook Neo. With a retail price starting at $599, it’s going to grab some attention, but I think everyone is smart enough to know that price is going to come with a pretty hard hit from the cripple hammer. Before I naysay it too much, let's take a look at what this new laptop has to offer.
Between the MacBook Neo and the $599 Mac mini, Apple seems serious about competing at the entry level.
Specs:
The specs on the Neo aren’t amazing; the A18 Pro chip is more akin to an iPad than a MacBook. That said, the base model will be able to deliver some power with a 6-core CPU (2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores) and a 5-core GPU, along with 8GB of memory. The teaser video had the computer running GarageBand, which isn’t exactly a lightweight program. It will be interesting to see how far this computer can be pushed before it simply falls apart.
Production environments rarely reward minimal connectivity, and the two USB-C ports on the MacBook Neo—one typically used for power—can quickly become a limitation.
The wins
The price, for a no-frills computer, is not bad. It really is more like a tablet running Mac OS. I can see this being great for schools and light office work. If your senior pastor just needs a web browser, Word, and ChatGPT, the Neo is probably perfect for that. This laptop will easily lend itself to office work. I don’t know that it’s going to have a great place in the production side of the house.
Where it falls apart:
The price point is pretty amazing. Unfortunately, when you have an M4 Mac mini comparably priced (minus the screen, keyboard, and mouse) right out of the box with more power and more ports, the Mac mini is going to win every time. In fact, the ports are going to be the huge limiting factor on this laptop, it only has two USB-C ports; one USB 3 and one USB 2. Keep in mind, one of those is going to get taken up by power, so really only has the one USB-C port, depending on how much you trust that 16-hour battery life. So, for production use, that will be a huge limiting factor. Which is likely fine; this computer wasn’t really designed for road-hard production in mind.
If the MacBook Neo can run ProPresenter smoothly, it might find a niche in portable church setups.
Where it might fit in:
As previously mentioned, office work is where the computer really shines. If you consider this laptop more of a tablet with a built-in screen, that may set your expectations appropriately. For production, hardware with web control interfaces will likely run great, especially for interfaces where a touchscreen isn’t a value add. Also, if you don’t need all the connectivity and you are in a portable church situation, this could be a nice fit. Not having to break down and carry a keyboard may outweigh the lack of overall power and connectivity. And the Find My app will let you know just where in the school you left if the Neo after you put your church back in the box.
Honestly, if the laptop can run ProPresenter directly to a projector, I can see this being useful in a portable church. However, I would be interested to see what hoops you would have to jump through to get a confidence monitor running when you only have the one USB-C port. I know we have all done it with a splitter before, and none of us felt good about it. I just don’t know if this lightweight laptop will have enough processing to handle that much video. While I probably wouldn’t want to edit a feature film on it, if the computer can handle a 4K timeline, compositing, color grading, and graphics without slowing down too much, I could see this being useful for location work or mission trips. I think the biggest news about this computer is that it seems to codify that Apple isn’t aiming just for the top of the market; between this and an M4 Mac mini coming in at a $599 price tag, it seems the lower end of the market will be stoutly represented in future offerings.
