From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.advocacy

On 3/4/26 23:51, Alan wrote:

On 2026-03-04 18:27, rbowman wrote:

On Wed, 4 Mar 2026 18:58:04 -0500, -hh wrote:

On 3/4/26 16:33, Joel W. Crump wrote:

On 3/4/2026 3:59 PM, -hh wrote:

On 3/4/26 08:24, Joel W. Crump wrote:

On 3/4/2026 6:56 AM, -hh wrote:

On 3/4/26 00:36, Joel W. Crump wrote:

On 3/4/2026 12:15 AM, Alan wrote:

Which still doesn't address that there is a performance increase >>>>>>>>> (a speed increase) in switching from the 256GB SSD to the 512GB >>>>>>>>> SSD.

OK, and it costs $800.

False; the performance increase being discussed happened at +$200. >>>>>>

What is 600+200?

That $800 is the total cost isn't germane to the context, which was
the $200 incremental cost for going from 256 to 512GB.

Bullshit, Apple demands cash, people pay.

That people do pay ... and often enough that Apple stays in business ... >>> is proof that their marketplace pricing isn't far from correct.

How the Macbook Neo performs in the market will be interesting. $600
certainly is a low entry price for an Apple computer but there are many
choices in the x64 world in that range too. Will it attract the
Chromebook and bottom shelf laptop crowd that is spending less than $400?

Agreed. On the surface, it initially seemed to me to be merely an iPad
with an attached keyboard, but it is also de-contented in that it
doesn't have a touchscreen. Looks like the product line segmentation
that Apple set for adding a touchscreen & detachable keyboard is ~$100.

When I bought the Swift 3 6 years ago it was $680 so that is in the same
range. However it has 16 GB of RAM and double the SSD.

The customer segment for both appears to be more the EDU market, for
which the use case is similarly quite light duty like what Joel is
apparently content with.

But when comparing costs, that's become a harder challenge as the AI
surge has driven up hardware costs already, so that has to be baked into
any new product offering today, including their component price
expectations for the next year. For example, I thought I read this
spring that Apple's price for memory from Samsung has reportedly doubled.

Personally, I've noticed that an SSD that I bought ~17 months ago is now selling for roughly twice what I bought mine for. Similarly, on HDDs, I needed a new backup spare and just spent $280 for a 12TB...versus three
years when a 14TB was $183: that's +50% more for 15% less capacity.

Oh, and the fingerprint reader wasn't a $100 option.

To be completely clear, the extra $100 gets you the fingerprint reader... ...AND a 512GB SSD.

So it's a better deal than you gave it credit for.

I overlooked that on my first quick read-through on the product; its an interesting bundling choice.

-hh

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.advocacy

On 2026-03-05 04:34, -hh wrote:

On 3/4/26 23:51, Alan wrote:

On 2026-03-04 18:27, rbowman wrote:

On Wed, 4 Mar 2026 18:58:04 -0500, -hh wrote:

On 3/4/26 16:33, Joel W. Crump wrote:

On 3/4/2026 3:59 PM, -hh wrote:

On 3/4/26 08:24, Joel W. Crump wrote:

On 3/4/2026 6:56 AM, -hh wrote:

On 3/4/26 00:36, Joel W. Crump wrote:

On 3/4/2026 12:15 AM, Alan wrote:

Which still doesn't address that there is a performance increase >>>>>>>>>> (a speed increase) in switching from the 256GB SSD to the 512GB >>>>>>>>>> SSD.

OK, and it costs $800.

False; the performance increase being discussed happened at +$200. >>>>>>>

What is 600+200?

That $800 is the total cost isn't germane to the context, which was >>>>>> the $200 incremental cost for going from 256 to 512GB.

Bullshit, Apple demands cash, people pay.

That people do pay ... and often enough that Apple stays in
business ...
is proof that their marketplace pricing isn't far from correct.

How the Macbook Neo performs in the market will be interesting. $600
certainly is a low entry price for an Apple computer but there are many
choices in the x64 world in that range too. Will it attract the
Chromebook and bottom shelf laptop crowd that is spending less than
$400?

Agreed.  On the surface, it initially seemed to me to be merely an iPad with an attached keyboard, but it is also de-contented in that it
doesn't have a touchscreen.  Looks like the product line segmentation
that Apple set for adding a touchscreen & detachable keyboard is ~$100.

That's probably quite accurate. I mean, the processor IS an A18 Pro.

:-)

When I bought the Swift 3 6 years ago it was $680 so that is in the same >>> range. However it has 16 GB of RAM and double the SSD.

The customer segment for both appears to be more the EDU market, for
which the use case is similarly quite light duty like what Joel is apparently content with.

But when comparing costs, that's become a harder challenge as the AI
surge has driven up hardware costs already, so that has to be baked into
any new product offering today, including their component price
expectations for the next year.  For example, I thought I read this
spring that Apple's price for memory from Samsung has reportedly doubled.

Personally, I've noticed that an SSD that I bought ~17 months ago is now selling for roughly twice what I bought mine for.  Similarly, on HDDs, I needed a new backup spare and just spent $280 for a 12TB...versus three years when a 14TB was $183: that's +50% more for 15% less capacity.

I don't think Apple expects to make much money on these, but they don't
need to if it encourages a lot of new customers whose next computer will
then (very probably) be a better Mac.

:-)

Oh, and the fingerprint reader wasn't a $100 option.

To be completely clear, the extra $100 gets you the fingerprint reader...
...AND a 512GB SSD.

So it's a better deal than you gave it credit for.

I overlooked that on my first quick read-through on the product; its an interesting bundling choice.

John Gruber (Daring Fireball) observed that the 256GB version without
TouchID makes a lot of sense for the education market.
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