It's too expensive.

As a long time user ('91) I am fully aware how blessed we are with Macs' prices today. However, an M5 Air 16G/512 is $1,100 without any discounts and Airs are frequently discounted by $200 at least in the States.

$599 is dangerously close to $1,100. Yes, it's 40ish % diff before any discounts, but the Air is like 3x the value and the Air has much more runway in it. I would not recommend a Neo to anyone in my circles at this price.

They deleted the wrong things, imo. I'd rather it was plastic, with a backlighted kb and TouchID at $400. TouchID by default should be table stakes on Apple hardware today, it's that useful. Then, I'd have 3 right now.

I am just talking about surface level stuff, they thought of cannibalization, repair costs, upgrade ramps (8GB), etc, they are smart.

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rconti an hour ago | parent | next [-]

I'm pretty price insensitive myself. That said, I have an M1 air, and if someone gave me a brand-new air today, I wouldn't switch, because the M1 feels as good as new, and the hassle of switching machines simply isn't worth it.

No doubt a new Neo is faster than my M1 air. So I just can't really imagine how the Neo is 3x the 'value' of a brand-new Air, when I don't value the performance of the M4/M5 (?) Air above the hassle of swapping machines.

	▲	stasomatic an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I was saying that the Air is 3x value of Neo at being 40% more expensive. To piggyback on your M1 Air comment, if I hadn't spilled a coke on my own M1 2020 2 years ago, I'd still be using it. It's a legendary machine. Logic board repair would've been $700, so it sits on my shelf. I'm thinking of getting a rotary tool and cutting out the aluminum off of its case for some cyberdeck projects.

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killingtime74 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's not designed for your circles or for people where paying 40% more is a choice. Many products make no "sense" when you can hand wave the price away.

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

Nothing will ever be cheep enough. “599 is dangerously close to 1100”? It’s 1100 is nearly double! I bought the neo for my daughter to use in HS and it’s perfect. Fast, great build and great battery life. Ill be buying a second one for my son, and paying just a bit more for both than the one air you mentioned. You should just buy a chromebook and save the 100-200$ for a plastic laptop.

	▲	stasomatic an hour ago \| parent [-]
		My guy, I was just pontificating from the comfort of my backlit M5 MBP kb :) I do not need to buy anything. I am set for 3-4 years, but you will be shelling a couple of K$ 1-2 years from now. I think! Joking and sarcasm aside, I was talking about the value proposition. Pound for pound, I don't think the Neo's MSRP pulls its weight compared to the Air. As in performance for $ ratio. And, I am not looking down at people who do buy it, the more of us, the better.

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m463 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I could make a counterpoint: it's too cheap.

It will cannibalize the market for better apple products. Mac pro is already gone.

Sort of how $1.99 apps, then $0.99 apps drove the app price to free. Now apps are supported by advertising or trick subscriptions and the good/honest apps are pretty much gone. (except I do like and respect anything from omnigroup)

	▲	stasomatic 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Fair, but I thought I addressed this in my last paragraph. My gut tells me the Neo sits at an uncomfortable price spot, given its specs, in the line up. Geeks won't buy it as a daily because they know what an Air costs and brings. I am with Christina Warren who more than twice said on MBW that the Neo is not a good fit for students as it’ll run out of air a year or two in (pun intended :)).

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Jblx2 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Is there any purpose for a backlit keyboard for someone who can type?