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Comment by robinhood | Hacker News Reader

I can totally see many, many students and parents use that machine for daily tasks. Yes, base specs are pretty low: 8Gb RAM, 256 Gb drive - but the price tag is also low in the Apple world. I assume the trackpad will be excellent and the promise that the battery lasts all day is probably true (all day = 6-7h max). Good move from Apple, for once.

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I also know many professionals who have a work computer and just want a personal device for occasional things like personal web browsing/shopping/occasionally watching videos -- things that would be inappropriate on a work computer and inelegant on a phone. These people already basically use their phone for everything -- many of them have never upgraded from their college laptop, which is now obsolete. They'd value a well-built (design, feel, screen) computer but have no performance needs.

It looks like a perfect replacement for my 2011 MBP. I always figured I’d get a Chromebook when it croaked but this is a viable contender

A 2011 MBP is likely a better a general purpose PC, those early models had some great engineering. Wait for the reviews and benchmarks but the M1/M2 based MBPs are still great daily drivers.

Those old 2011 machines aren't really getting macOS security updates anymore, and compatible apps are dropping; I wouldn't recommend using anything but Linux on them. And even with a non-15-year-old battery, you'll be lucky to get half the battery life of Apple Silicon with a 2nd gen Core i5 CPU.

2011 is 15 years ago -- MacOs will not support that device, so it is a real security risk to use online.

This new offering seems comparable to the price of a refurbished M1/M2.

I thought Apple's RAM architecture/speed lets more than 8 GB be addressed, effectively letting it have 50-100% more operating capacity?

Doesn't stop it from shitting the bed when you try to run anything like Fusion or Docker

Fair but it’s probably not the thought to buy an 8GB laptop for docker in 2026 when we’ve known about it for a long time.

There was a post recently about apples built in virtualizer that might be useful.

Before fusion or docker I’d probably try something like UTM on a MacBook neo.

If you’re after a light terminal remote access to the house power (a Mac mini somewhere etc) is probably easier.

I was really hoping the Neo would be a replacement for the 12” MacBook retina - it’s only 2 lbs and the best form factor I’ve ever carried for travel. It’s the only device I’d be in line for tomorrow, and until then we can pretend to use MacBook airs or MacBook pros.

> the trackpad will be excellent

Nope. It is mechanical.

What do you mean, "mechanical"?

A mechanical trackpad is like an unpowered treadmill iirc. Sometimes they ship with a gimbal mount so you can scroll more than one direction.

This explicitly says "Multi-Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and support for gestures", so at most it's the clicking action that is mechanical (rather than the click being faked with haptic feedback, as it is on the current models)

Their mechanical trackpads were excellent too. It's only their keyboard which they messed entirely up.

The mechanical trackpad of my 2007 Macbook (the first unibody) is still better than any PC trackpad I've ever used.

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