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Remember the netbook craze that swept the computing world in the late 2000s?
Netbooks were lightweight, low-cost, highly portable Windows laptops designed for light computing: internet browsing, email and writing term papers.
Netbooks became an enormous hit, thanks mostly to their rock-bottom prices. And people often asked Apple why it didn’t make an equivalent machine.
But Steve Jobs was dismissive. He said netbooks were slow, clunky, cheap machines that were not “better at anything.”
"We don't know how to build a sub-$500 computer that is not a piece of junk," he said at the time.
Well, 15 years later, Apple just built a sub-$500 computer (if you take advantage of education pricing) that most certainly isn’t a piece of junk.
John Ternus, Apple’s SVP of hardware engineering, told ABC News that Apple "didn't want to do it until we could do it really, really well and build a Mac that we were proud of."
"That's why the bar is high," he added.
Here’s why the MacBook Neo isn’t a piece of netbook junk.
Also in today’s newsletter:
The new Neo is setting off alarm bells among Windows PC makers, with their offerings described as “e-waste!” OMG.
On the other hand, Apple cut a few corners to make the Neo very affordable. Personally, I think none of these limitations are showstoppers, or even that important, bar the allocation of RAM. But it’s a good idea to be aware of what you’re not getting with a Neo.
Scammers don’t choose victims at random. They target them using data from brokers and the open web. To help out a relative who was being scammed, I signed her up with Incogni, an automated service that scrubs personal data from the net. It’s working. The scams stopped completely.
After all this pumping the Neo up, you might be thinking it’s a better choice than the MacBook Air. But there are good reasons to consider Apple’s midrange machine (cough M5 cough). Here’s our Neo versus Air head-to-head comparison.
We spent hours yesterday in the Cult of Mac Slack discussing Apple’s education pricing. It’s somewhat confusing who qualifies and who doesn’t.
🔥 DEAL OF THE DAY: I bought this entry-level 4K action cam myself last year, and I’m very pleased with it. It may not be as capable as a GoPro, but it also costs just $60 (with a $10 off coupon code).
MacPaw’s Setapp is a great subscription service that gives you access to hundreds of apps at a reasonable price. But now you can buy as many as you want on the Setapp Marketplace. Try it for free.
Logitech’s got a crazy new gaming mouse that dispenses with clicks for a super-fast haptics system. It’s the first genuinely new mouse in years.
Belkin’s got a new, folding, 3-in-1 charger that pumps out 25W for fast charging your iPhone (and AirPods and Apple Watch, too). We put it to the test and found it well-designed for travel.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
A message from Incogni
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A message from MacPaw
Get apps your way, or try getting them “the Setapp way.” Buy as many as you want on the Setapp Marketplace, or access hundreds of apps for one price with a Setapp membership.
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
Cult of Mac’s buyback program
Tweets of the day
Wallpaper of the day
One more thing ...
I came of age at a magical time. Our consciousness was raised by Zen, and also by LSD.
Today’s poll
What's the biggest drawback of the new Neo?
Results from yesterday’s poll: How big a hit will the MacBook Neo be?
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