Apple shipped 1.1 million MacBook Neo units in the first quarter of the year, according to IDC, making it one of the strongest Mac debut performances in recent memory (via TechCrunch). The figure is particularly striking given that the laptop was only available for roughly three weeks of the period, having gone on sale in mid-March. Shipments began spiking from early April, suggesting the March tally understates underlying demand.
Me. I’m a scientist and need access to my tools wherever I am. I often move between two labs and keeping all my work with me is essential.
At home, I sync the data to my desktop, and work from there.
As per Mac Neo specifically, I believe students massively benefit from it. For starters, it’s likely their primary computer, as you wouldn’t normally carry an entire desktop PC to the dormitory (assuming you move to study somewhere). Then, a laptop is very useful during studies - making lecture notes, corrections, checking additional info, using computational software for advanced math, completing digital assignments, etc.
I never had a laptop through the entirety of my four year degree and the thought of lugging one around to every lecture just seems baffling to me. If I had someone sat next to me clacking away at a keyboard during a lecture I’d be pissed off.
Me too, I went through my bachelors with nothing but pen and paper. Yet, when I had a laptop during my masters, it helped a lot, not least because we were working with some software, and I’d rather have my machine for that. For postgraduate studies, a laptop is straight up a must, as it’s used pretty much everywhere for everything.
Also, modern laptops typically have their keyboards on a quieter side.
I like to be able to just do things on a proper full-sized interface. In theory I could do everything on my phone but it’s just so much easier having access to keyboard shortcuts that unless you’re doing something as simple as just email and web browsing you need a full computer.
Especially if you want to do anything high powered like image editing or 3D modelling. Of course I wouldn’t get a Macbook Neo for that, I would need something with an actual GPU in it.
I’d say that’s more of an argument against laptops. If you need the horsepower then a desktop PC is much more suitable. Laptops like the Macbook Neo seem to fit in this weird middle ground where they don’t have the power to compete with higher end stuff and don’t have the pocketability of a phone.
This would have been a baffling question to me just a few months ago. But lately as I’ve been expanding my self hosting journey, I have realized that most people don’t use computers anymore except for at work. I just assumed everyone needed and wanted a PC, but my kids only care about them as game consoles, any other task is handled by phones or tablets.
So, these days I’m putting more effort into stuff that can be used for both. Im trying to de-big-tech myself and the cloud stuff is where we are mostly locked in. Evaluating Nextcloud at the moment and it’s maybe what I need; works great everywhere I’ve tried it so far. I do worry about enshittification though.
Who is actually buying laptops in 2026? What’s the use case these days? Don’t most people just use their phones for email and web browsing?
dO yOu gUyS nOt hAvE pHoNeS?
Adults.
Quite the opposite in my experience. Those that use a computer for work have a desktop supplied for them in the office.
Me. I’m a scientist and need access to my tools wherever I am. I often move between two labs and keeping all my work with me is essential.
At home, I sync the data to my desktop, and work from there.
As per Mac Neo specifically, I believe students massively benefit from it. For starters, it’s likely their primary computer, as you wouldn’t normally carry an entire desktop PC to the dormitory (assuming you move to study somewhere). Then, a laptop is very useful during studies - making lecture notes, corrections, checking additional info, using computational software for advanced math, completing digital assignments, etc.
I never had a laptop through the entirety of my four year degree and the thought of lugging one around to every lecture just seems baffling to me. If I had someone sat next to me clacking away at a keyboard during a lecture I’d be pissed off.
Me too, I went through my bachelors with nothing but pen and paper. Yet, when I had a laptop during my masters, it helped a lot, not least because we were working with some software, and I’d rather have my machine for that. For postgraduate studies, a laptop is straight up a must, as it’s used pretty much everywhere for everything.
Also, modern laptops typically have their keyboards on a quieter side.
I like to be able to just do things on a proper full-sized interface. In theory I could do everything on my phone but it’s just so much easier having access to keyboard shortcuts that unless you’re doing something as simple as just email and web browsing you need a full computer.
Especially if you want to do anything high powered like image editing or 3D modelling. Of course I wouldn’t get a Macbook Neo for that, I would need something with an actual GPU in it.
I’d say that’s more of an argument against laptops. If you need the horsepower then a desktop PC is much more suitable. Laptops like the Macbook Neo seem to fit in this weird middle ground where they don’t have the power to compete with higher end stuff and don’t have the pocketability of a phone.
I can’t really lug around a desktop all day
This would have been a baffling question to me just a few months ago. But lately as I’ve been expanding my self hosting journey, I have realized that most people don’t use computers anymore except for at work. I just assumed everyone needed and wanted a PC, but my kids only care about them as game consoles, any other task is handled by phones or tablets.
So, these days I’m putting more effort into stuff that can be used for both. Im trying to de-big-tech myself and the cloud stuff is where we are mostly locked in. Evaluating Nextcloud at the moment and it’s maybe what I need; works great everywhere I’ve tried it so far. I do worry about enshittification though.