macOS Post–MacBook Neo
I wonder what will happen with millions of extra Mac users.
Will the Neo help the Mac become a proper gaming platform?
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Will the popularity of the MacBook Neo be an opportunity for Apple to mobilise more third-party developers to build apps for MacOS, now that the potential user base can be significantly larger? How many of these new apps will be truly native, and how many will be built on top of frameworks like Electron, since the majority of these new users probably won’t care?
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How many of the new Mac users, brought to the platform via the Neo, will eventually become MacOS enthusiasts?
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I am a little worried that a never-seen-before popularity for the Mac would encourage Apple to make MacOS look and behave more like iOS.
Microsoft Teams is using 45% CPU while doing absolutely nothing.
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I applaud Apple for the Neo, which is really putting heavy cross-platform framework developers on notice.
Curiously, despite all the praise for Apple Silicon hardware, the Mac has not gained meaningful share since its introduction. On StatCounter’s worldwide desktop OS figures, Apple’s combined desktop OS share was 16.54% in November 2020, when the first Apple Silicon Macs arrived, and has dropped to 12.22% in February 2026 if you combine its current OS X and macOS categories.
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I keep running into these problems myself when I show up to a hot desk with a Mac, and I keep seeing them when other people use my Mac. The interesting people are not anti-Apple diehards, but longtime iPhone users who otherwise like Apple products and still get tripped up by Macs. I wrote about many of these same issues when Ventura came out in 2022. The striking part is how many of the same screenshots and complaints still apply now almost half a decade later.
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These docks are also much cheaper than Thunderbolt docks. US Amazon prices I found were roughly USD 40-50 for MST adapters, and USD 270-330 for Thunderbolt docks. That matters for something like a MacBook Neo, a cheap Windows laptop or Chromebook with an ordinary USB-C port can plug into one of these multi-display docks and use the setup just fine, while a new MacBook Neo user cannot.
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Macs are not losing on CPU performance, battery life, thermals, security, or browser compatibility. They are losing on the cumulative cost of workflow mismatches that create rollout exceptions, retraining, accessory replacement, and extra support overhead.
Via Pierre Igot:
Maybe the MacBook Neo is a first step. But there are many more steps required, most of which involve… software. Sigh.
Despite SoC limitations for multiple displays, my M1 MacBook Pro could push enough pixels to run two 1080p displays easily, yet it can’t. Our even older, less-powerful HPs from our loaner pool can, despite struggling at a lot of other things. I don’t see why Apple couldn’t bake in DisplayPort MST and proper DisplayLink support (instead of forcing you to use a third-party driver.) This gets an easy win for working in a PC environment.
The people most against Liquid Glass are the people who are really afraid of macOS becoming more closely aligned with iOS and iPadOS, which is perhaps why they’re overindexing on the little things and silly, fixable bugs instead of talking about the larger picture — the Mac is evolving to serve a different audience makeup (wait for the Neo effect), and some people are simply going to be left behind.
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I’ve heard multiple Apple people call it ‘iOS Developer Edition’ in jest, but I’m not convinced they’re joking.
Previously:
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"I am a little worried that a never-seen-before popularity for the Mac would encourage Apple to make MacOS look and behave more like iOS."
What does he think the last ten years of macOS degradation have been?
“ The people most against Liquid Glass are the people who are really afraid of macOS becoming more closely aligned with iOS and iPadOS, which is perhaps why they’re overindexing on the little things and silly, fixable bugs instead of talking about the larger picture — the Mac is evolving to serve a different audience makeup (wait for the Neo effect), and some people are simply going to be left behind.”
Or it could be that they are just people who don’t fall for that kind of patronizing BS and who would just like that their expensive computer just works, instead of being plagued by millions of bugs.
