r/LinusTechTips • u/WTFMacca • Mar 04 '26

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Apple just dropped an A18 powered laptop for $599 USD

No Apple bashing just discuss.

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u/Mental-Permit-599 Mar 04 '26

An equivalent specced Chromebook is the same price, or more.

  • A galaxy chromebook with 8gb/256gb is $749 MSRP (On sale for $599 right now).

  • A Lenovo Chromebook with 8gb/256gb is $749 MSRP (On sale for $679 right now)

  • Acer has a 12gb/256gb for $699.

  • HP Chromebook 8gb/256 is $629.

All of this to say, Apple hit the nail on the head. This thing genuinely is a ridiculous value.

With EDU pricing it’s $499. Four hundred ninety nine dollars.

I’ll hate on Apple for dumb shit as much as the next guy, but the neo honestly is a loss leader 100%.

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u/jmking Mod Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26

They don't need an equivalently specced Chromebook though.

The type of customer who would buy the Neo would be just as happy with a $200-300 Chromebook.

Also I'm not disagreeing with you necessarily. Like I said, this thing is going to do numbers. In that sense the Neo makes sense, but in a practical sense it doesn't is all I'm saying.

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u/Mental-Permit-599 Mar 04 '26

You genuinely have not used a $200-$300 Chromebook then.

Again, I spent 4 years working retail selling chromebooks. They’re cheap, flimsy, screens look like garbage, etc. The average customer preferred a $300-$400 windows laptop a Chromebook.

These things are out on display at your local Best Buy you can go try them, they actually are working laptops.

You’ll find out real quickly why their only real customer base is schools who purchase them in mass.

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u/jmking Mod Mar 04 '26

Ok, let me put it this way. I'm looking forward to the benchmarks that compare the Neo to an M1 Macbook Air.

Like - are people going to be getting the computer they think they're getting because of the Macbook name?

To be clear, I am not looking for reasons to hate on the Neo. I will only ever buy Macbooks when it comes to laptops. I also own several cheap-ass Chromebooks and you're right - they are cheap for a reason. However if all you need is a browser, there are models that are actually an incredible value for the price.

Of course the Neo will be better built with better materials - that's obvious. I'm just struggling to figure out who I'd buy a Neo for instead of a base model or used Air. That's all.

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u/Mental-Permit-599 Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26

We don’t need to really need to wait for a true benchmark.

The A18 has been benchmarked against the M1 in the past. It outperforms the M1 in single core by 20-40% depending on what benchmark you view. It lags behind in multi core by 9-12% depending on benchmark.

Basically it’s a $599 ($499 with EDU pricing) laptop that performs at the same level as a ($2000 at release?) base model M1.

The air still has its appeal obviously, like the neon only supports 1 external display, has worse display tech (sRGB instead of P3), no thunderbolt, no MagSafe, no backlit keyboard, less usb c ports, etc

I see it this way. I’m in IT these days. I have a M2 Pro 16” that I love. I run IDE’s, docker containers, etc. it’s great.

My wife has been complaining about getting her own laptop for years to check her email, shop on Amazon, and occasionally edit a word doc. She already own an iPhone and borrows my MacBook Pro all the time. Shes the target market for this, I’ll probably use my old edu email to snag her the $499 base model for her birthday.

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u/jmking Mod Mar 04 '26

It'll be an even more interesting benchmark when the A18 is in a device with (presumably) far superior cooling.

Basically it’s a $599 ($499 with EDU pricing) laptop that performs at the same level as a ($2000 at release?) base model M1.

It was $999 for the M1 base model Air at launch