At the end of last month, my new MacBook Neo arrived. This is my first new computer since 2018, and specifically my first new Apple computer since 2010. In this (rather long) post, I’m going to go through my rationale for going back to Mac OS after 8 years on Windows, and review the computer.
My Mac origin story
I originally switched from Windows to Mac OS in 2005, with the purchase of a Mac Mini. The year before, I had bought my first Apple hardware device, an iPod Mini, and was sufficiently impressed to switch away from Windows. This first Mac Mini came with a PowerPC G4 processor, but it wasn’t long before Apple announced it would switch to Intel processors going forward.
I wrote several blog posts at the time about how I was adapting to Mac OS (which was version 10.4, or Tiger, back then). There were some hiccups – I remember it being a pain to get Mac OS to recognise a UK PC keyboard layout, for example. But, on the whole, I preferred it, and my next two computers were both Macs too. This was an Intel MacBook in 2006, and an Intel Mac Mini in 2010.
The Windows interlude
By 2018, Christine needed a new laptop for a university course that she was completing part time. Christine is more of a Windows and Android person, and at the time, our budget didn’t stretch to having a laptop each. We were paying £800 for full-time childcare, on top of our mortgage – back then, there was no government financial support for parents of under 3s, apart from tax exemption through childcare vouchers.
Christine’s previous Windows laptop was very old – I helped her buy it in 2009 in the early days of our relationship, and my Mac Mini was also not doing well. So, with there only being enough money for one laptop, we bought a cheap Lenovo Ideapad running Windows.
Back to Mac
Fast forward to today, and we’re in a better financial position. Christine bought a new laptop earlier this year, as she’s started another university course. Meanwhile I’ve also had a bit of money to put aside, so that I could have my own computer again. That Lenovo Ideapad that we bought in 2018 has had a good innings, but it can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. Microsoft has just announced another year of extended support for Windows 10, but by that point, I’d already made up my mind that I needed a new machine. And as Christine now has her own computer, I decided that the time was right to go back to Mac.
The MacBook Neo fits my needs well. Bearing in mind that I’ve managed with a budget Lenovo laptop for 8 years (seriously, it cost less than £400 new), I don’t need a powerful MacBook Pro. I just need something with reasonable performance for blogging, researching and buying things online – i.e. the tasks that I find easier on a big screen with a full keyboard, rather than on my iPhone or iPad.
Having those Apple mobile devices also made choosing an Apple computer an easier decision. Apple devices (usually) work well together, with things syncing via iCloud and features like Handoff. That’s something that I’ve missed during my Windows interlude.
I’m also not entirely happy with how Microsoft is trying to foist Copilot+ on new laptops.
MacBook Neo specs
It’s clear that Apple has made some compromises to make the MacBook Neo a more affordable computer. There are two models – the standard one comes with a 256 GB solid state drive (SSD), and for £100 more, there’s a premium model with a 512 GB SSD and support for Touch ID. Otherwise, the two models are identical: same processor, RAM and features. I went for the 512 GB model, partly for the extra storage, but also because Touch ID makes authorising things much easier, and I’m used to it from my iPhone and iPad.
The processor in the MacBook Neo is from Apple’s ‘A’ family, normally found in its iPhones and cheaper iPads, rather than its computers. This first generation MacBook Neo has an A18 Pro processor, which is the same as the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max – so not even the latest version of the A series processors. It also only comes with 8 GB of RAM, which, as the A18 Pro processor is a ‘system on a chip’, can’t be upgraded. The dash to expand data centres for AI has meant that RAM prices have rocketed, and so whilst this is disappointing, it’s not surprising in a budget model like this.
The screen is 13 inches across, with a narrow bezel meaning that overall, it’s a small device. There’s a 1080p webcam, built in microphone, and speakers on either side of the keyboard. There’s no built-in optical drive or SD card reader.
Ports and connectivity
For wireless connectivity, there’s Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 – so not the latest versions of either but still fine. Unlike some of Apple’s newer devices, there’s no Thread radio for connecting directly to Matter and HomeKit devices.
Wired connectivity is another area where the MacBook Neo offers a compromise. Indeed, it’s the first home computer I’ve used since 1999 that doesn’t have a USB-A port. Instead, there are just three ports: two USB-C ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Both USB-C ports support Power Delivery (PD), so you can use either to charge using the included USB-C cable. However, it’s quite a short cable – about a metre long, and seemingly the same cable as my iPad Air that I bought in August. And, like with my iPad Air, there’s no AC adaptor, so you’ll need to provide your own USB-C PD adaptor that supports at least 45 watts, or buy one from Apple at extra cost.
A further compromise is that the two USB-C ports are not identical. The top one, closest to the screen, supports USB 3, so delivers higher speeds and can carry a DisplayPort signal for plugging in an external screen. The second one just supports USB 2, so it’s slower and can’t be used to plug in an additional external screen. This confused me at first as I plugged my docking station into the second one, and then wondered why it couldn’t see my external screen. So whilst my work laptop supports three screens, the MacBook Neo only supports two.
MacBook Neo Battery life
I’m writing this blog post on my MacBook Neo whilst on battery power, with a USB pen drive plugged in and copying several gigabytes of files off it. It’s been running for two hours, and still has 85% charge left. That’s pretty good going, and implies that it should be capable of all day battery life for mild to moderate usage. ARM processors, like those now used by Apple, are well-known for generally offering superior battery life to Intel and AMD processors. It’s also completely silent, with no fan – all the cooling is passive.
Most of the time, I use a laptop with an external screen, keyboard and mouse, but this MacBook Neo is particularly small and light and so I might use it on its own more often. It weighs just over a kilo, and is a full half kilo lighter than my previous Lenovo laptop.
Keyboard and trackpad
I like the MacBook Neo’s keyboard, which is apparently Apple’s ‘Magic Keyboard’. My normal keyboard is a mechanical USB gaming keyboard, which works fine with the MacBook Neo, but I wanted to test out its built-in keyboard. It’s good – decent-sized keys that are responsive and allow for quick and accurate typing. However, the small size of the MacBook Neo means that there’s no separate numeric keypad.
I’m less keen on the trackpad. My previous experience has been mainly with Lenovo trackpads, where a single tap anywhere on the left side registers as a left click. This multi-touch trackpad doesn’t support that by default – left clicks must be done in the bottom left, unless you enable a setting. But, it’s good for scrolling and zooming. Meanwhile, I’ll be using my Logitech mouse with it.
As for my external keyboard, which uses a standard UK PC layout, I didn’t have the same issues as I did back in 2005 with my Mac Mini. I was able to tell MacOS that it uses a PC layout, and can switch between layouts using the menu bar.
Mac OS Tahoe
The last version of MacOS that I used was version 10.11, El Capitan, so I’ve missed 9 major versions before version 26, Tahoe, which is what the MacBook Neo comes with. The changes are moderate – the Settings app looks more like the iPad version, and iTunes is now a series of separate apps like it is on iOS (something I wrote about 10 years ago). Something else that’s new is that some apps are now universal across iOS, iPad OS and MacOS, and so I’ve installed a few of these.
I deliberately didn’t opt to migrate my data from either my current Windows laptop or previous Mac Mini (which, besides, is tucked away in a drawer somewhere). However, I was given the option of migrating settings from my iPhone. This only took around 10 minutes, and meant that my iCloud account was set up and all my Wi-Fi settings copied across. After that, I could start installing my third-party apps.
MacBook Neo Pricing
I ordered my MacBook Neo three weeks ago, and so I got lucky; last week, Apple raised their prices by £100 for each model. That means the 256 GB model now costs £699, and the 512 GB model costs £799 in the UK.
As I work in education, I was able to take advantage of Apple’s lower education pricing, and so instead of £799, I paid £599 for my 512 GB model. Or rather, I will be paying that in due course – I was able to opt for interest-free credit with PayPal and will be paying £150 each month for the next four months.
At £699 for the 256 GB model, that’s a little over half the cost of the MacBook Air, the next model up after the Neo (since Apple seemingly don’t sell a plain vanilla MacBook anymore). So, for an Apple laptop, the MacBook Neo is cheap. There are, of course, cheaper Windows laptops out there; I can’t remember exactly how much Christine paid for hers but it was less. But Apple products usually attract a premium, and this MacBook Neo makes a premium product just that bit more affordable. The fact that it comes in a choice of colours also suggests that it’s aimed more at home users and students – I went for the blue one, to match my iPhone.
All of this has been written within 24 hours of me opening and unboxing my MacBook Neo, and so I’m sure I’ll have more to write about in the near future as I get used to it.
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