GoKawiilI bought my first Mac in 2007: a black polycarbonate MacBook. To this day, I think it’s the most consequential purchase I’ve made in my life.
Last week, Apple introduced MacBook Neo. It’s a fascinating Mac, and not just because of the price. After using it for the past six days, I think it’s set to drive a new wave of people to the Mac ecosystem. Here’s why.
Limited time: Pre-order MacBook Neo at Best Buy and score a $25 gift card.
MacBook Neo: Design
From a hardware perspective, MacBook Neo is rock solid. It has the same build quality you’d expect from an Apple-made laptop. It’s not plastic, but rather the classic Apple aluminum build quality. The only real difference is that the Apple logo on the back isn’t shiny, and there isn’t a notch on the display.
One of the demos at Apple’s experience in New York City last week was a direct comparison to an HP laptop in MacBook Neo’s price range.
The goal was to compare things like display quality and speakers to those of a similarly priced PC. What I noticed right away, however, was the difference in build quality. As the Apple representative demoed the HP laptop, it creaked and rattled with every press of the trackpad or keyboard. MacBook Neo, meanwhile, was silent.
It’s the same attention to detail and build quality that makes MacBook Neo stand out, just as any other MacBook would. Apple made compromises to keep MacBook Neo’s price down, but build quality is one thing it did not compromise.
MacBook Neo comes in four colors: silver, citrus, blush, and indigo. My review unit is citrus, and it’s caused quite a rift in my house the last few days. My wife is convinced that it’s green, while I’m convinced that it’s yellow. I don’t know who’s right (she probably is), but we both agree that it’s an incredibly fun color.
Apple could’ve shipped MacBook Neo in one or two plain colors under the guise of reducing the number of SKUs for efficiency’s sake. Instead, it shipped one plain color (silver) and three fun ones. Well done.
... continue reading