It looks like Macs are becoming the value option

As a result, the number of people Apple can offer a Mac to is growing as rapidly as the product matrix. Future Ultra Macs will take that reach all the way up to the very, very top tiers currently served by furiously expensive PC workstations, while the Neo range (which I’m willing to bet gets a backlit keyboard and more memory next year) extends its hand all the way to students and general purpose computer users.

General purpose doesn’t mean average

Don’t neglect that — despite being an entry-level, $599 system — the MacBook Neo is faster for general purpose (single-core) tasks than the M3 Macs Apple introduced in October 2023. Here are the Geekbench numbers:

MacBook Neo: 3,467 single-core, 8,668 multi-core.

M3 Mac: 3,135 single-core, 12,042 multi-core.

The M3 retains the edge for complex tasks, of course, and it will always be true that if your work involves anything more than casual video or image editing, you should aim for a more advanced Mac than a Neo.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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