The MacRumors Show: MacBook Neo First Impressions
In this week’s episode of the MacRumors Show, we discuss the first impressions of the MacBook Neo, Studio Display XDR, and the iPhone 17e.
After its announcement last week, the MacBook Neo arrived this week. Unlike all other Apple silicon Macs, the MacBook Neo is powered by the A18 Pro chip built for the iPhone 16 Pro, making it the first Mac to use an iPhone-class processor instead of an M-series chip.
To reach its lowest price point, the MacBook Neo makes compromises. Unlike the MacBook Air, it doesn’t include a keyboard backlight, haptic trackpad, wide color P3, True Tone, ambient light sensor, LED camera indicator, MagSafe charging, Thunderbolt connection, or a 12-megapixel camera with Center Stage, and it doesn’t come with Touch ID as standard. It’s also thicker with slightly reduced battery life, and has larger bezels around a thinner display.
That said, it’s $500 cheaper than the MacBook Air and designed to compete with lower-cost Windows laptops and Chromebooks, while expanding the Mac lineup with a more affordable option. We talk about the real-world impact of some of these compromises, including performance with the A18 Pro chip and 8GB of memory.
The iPhone 17e keeps the same design and price as the iPhone 16e but adds the A19 chip, MagSafe support, Apple’s second-generation C1X modem, and 256GB of basic storage. Apple also introduced a new Studio Display XDR model, which replaces the Pro Display XDR. The new model offers a 27-inch 5K mini-LED panel with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, HDR brightness up to 2,000 nits, and a Thunderbolt 5 connection. We compare both of these new products with their predecessors, as well as the iPhone 17e and iPhone 16 as the two most affordable iPhones sold today.
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If you haven’t tuned in to a previous episode of the MacRumors Show, tune in to hear our discussion about Apple’s busy week of announcements that saw the launch of 10 new products.
Subscribe to The MacRumors Show for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the hottest breaking news here. MacRumorsoften joined by interesting guests such as Kayci Lacob, Kevin Nether, John Gruber, Mark Gurman, Jon Prosser, Luke Miani, Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp, Mike Bell, Sara Dietschy, Justine, Jon Rettinger, Andru Edwards, Arnold Kim, Marcus McKane, Lewis, Lewis, Ben Sull Tyler Stalman, Sam Kohl, Federico Viticci, Thomas Frank, Jonathan Morrison, Ross Young, Ian Zelbo, and Rene Ritchie.
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