I just want to link this teardown; it is a suitable companion to this article:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k7Lv7f-5CQ

On a rational level it isn't surprising that the "compute" part is so small, given its origins, but for some reason it still caught me by surprised seeing something barely larger than a Raspberry Pi.

But, yeah, this thing is crazy modular. I particularly want to call out how trivial it is to replace the ports, given how common of a failure point they are. With the keyboard/monitor being more involved, but absolutely still approachable.

I believe he finds just a single piece of light adhesive keeping a cable in place, everything else (inc. the battery) is screws only.

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ggreer 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It looks like it's still bigger than the logic board on the 12" MacBook from 2015.[1]

I really wish Apple would resurrect that form factor, as every other MacBook since has seemed bulky in comparison. Thanks to OpenCore Legacy Patcher[2], I still haven't gotten a newer mac. With a modern M series chip, it wouldn't have such rough tradeoffs in battery life and performance. I'd definitely buy it.

1. See step 11 on https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+MacBook+2015+Teardown...

2. https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher

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simonh 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The Neo actually has similar dimensions to the 12” overall, though not as tapered. That’s possible because it has a much slimmer bezel. The Neo is about a third heavier though.

	▲	retired 21 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		If you account for the taper, the Neo has about 50% more volume than the 12” I sometimes travel with backpack only (cheap European airlines) and that is a big difference.

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46493168 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What version of MacOS are you running on yours? I have a 2017, 16GB, 1.7ghz and it's DOG slow on Ventura, even with reduce motion and reduce transparency. I have considered downgrading just to see if there's improvement.

	▲	ggreer 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I'm on Sequoia (v15.7.4). I have the original 2015 model (1.1Ghz Core M-5Y31, 8GB of RAM). It's a little slow, but fine for what I use it for (web browser, syncing music/photos to/from my phone, simple coding tasks). My main gripe is the battery only has 60% of its original capacity. Apple won't replace the battery, and doing it yourself is pretty tricky. At some point it'll break or no longer get security updates, and then I'll probably get a MacBook Air. If you're using OpenCore Patcher, it's important to install the root patches to enable graphics acceleration. Otherwise it'll be ridiculously slow.

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Eric_WVGG 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I just helped a friend replace her eleven year old 11" Macbook Air with a new M4 Air.

her review: “this thing is HUGE :( :P ”

	▲	Jtsummers 31 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		By dimensions, assuming the 2015 ("eleven year old") version, the 13" M4 MBA is 0.17" wider, 0.9" deeper, and 0.32 lbs heavier. Where it's harder to compare is thickness. The M4 is 0.44" thick where the Intel one was tapered (0.11"-0.68"). Kind of hard to see that as "HUGE" in comparison. Bigger? Yes, but not really huge.

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jeffbee 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It seems like a normal-sized motherboard? For comparison here is the ifixit teardown of a PixelBook Go (happens to be the laptop I am using right now). https://guide-images.cdn.ifixit.com/igi/LT6YEIeE1Svh4WCk.hug...