1. The devil is in the details: How are those stats gathered? Many, if not most Linux users hide their OS affiliation via USER-AGENT

2. Missed it or perhaps blanked it. It really will not shake up the lower end because anyone wanting a lower end laptop (whatever that is) will insist on it running Windows and not Apples.

There is a really good reason why car manufacturers run multiple marques - the budget, standard and premium ones. Attempting to put the Apple "premium shine" on a budget effort may backfire spectacularly (and devalue the entire brand) or maybe they will somehow manage to re-invent marketing.

You really should learn about the new MacBook.

I’m not sure what market you are in, but this thing will absolutely upend the low end market in North America. This is a MacBook which handily competes with used/refurbished M1 airs for performance, but sells for less. Hell, it sells for less than an iPhone.

They have managed to keep the build quality without really sacrificing anything you would expect on an entry level computer.

My experience with the low end of laptops is that people can’t even tell you what OS they have (chrome or windows). People are going to see this and think that apple makes good phones, good tablets, and now good computers for affordable prices. The existence of the c model iPhones never “cheapened” the high end models. The existence of the iPad does not cheapen the iPad Pro. All the reviews and media basically are people wondering how they managed to create such a high quality product at this price point.

The ad on TV here tells me it will cost 599 quid and comes in multiple colours. No hints as to what it will actually do.

Personally, I advocate people to convert Windows 10 cast offs away from e-waste, rather than buying tomorrows e-waste.

The number of ex Win 10 machines will vastly outnumber however many of these things that budget Apples will ever sell.

It’s a general purpose computer that runs MacOS, just like every other Mac from the past few decades.

If you want an ad to tell you what that means, well...

There is great value to be had in reusing old hardware selling for a fraction of new pricing. There is great value to be had in an affordable machine with great battery life, light weight durable design, and a user friendly interface that will work and be supported for the better part of a decade. Knowing that some customers will be better served by the former or the latter is pretty valuable.

As an aside, if you are concerned about e waste, take a look at the teardown videos of this machine. This is being touted by many as the most repairable Mac in decades (admittedly, a low bar). Just about every component can be replaced in a few minutes with nothing more than a screwdriver

The Neo is a quality laptop. It's not a cheap laptop with Apple lipstick.

Apple made a significant number of tradeoffs to reach $500, but for a budget user, they're reasonable tradeoffs.

It's also not at all new that Apple's had a budget laptop

What was Apples previous $500 laptop?

Never quite that cheap, but budget is relative, and the Neo is certainly a new degree of meeting that category, but I think in those relative terms the polycarbonate macbook would have been quite a good value for money at the time, even at around ~$1000. You could get cheaper laptops, and you still can, but what you'd get for that money would truly be terrible for the amount you'd save, unless you literally just played solitaire on them.

Even after years of operation, they'd be a decent buy on the used market compared to comparably priced windows laptops that would literally fall apart at the hinges and overheat.

It doesn't have the haptic trackpad and I feel liek that's a dealbreaker.

For you maybe but seems a reasonable compromise to hit the price point and I bet you’d miss it less than you think

The trackpad still clicks better than 80% of all other non-Apple trackpads, for any price.

I’d say 100% with a fair share of confidence since Apple’s magic lies both in hardware AND software (as usual). The hardware is already phenomenal (and far above anything else in the market) but the Mac makes fantastic use of it in such a way that neither Windows nor Linux have managed to even start replicate.

True, I'm only considering the physical hardware clicking sensation in my 80% estimation :)

Tried one of those MacBooks Neos in a store a few days ago because I got curious.

As a Linux/windows user I was completely baffled that you actually have to click (at least in the default setting) to make a mouse click instead of just giving it a tap. Does anyone prefer that?

That’s configurable. That’s default on haptic-enabled Macs, but you can enable tap to click very easily.

I don't think anyone cares. I remember the switch from a MacBook with a (no-adjective) trackpad to a MacBook with a haptic trackpad. There was absolutely nothing earth-shattering about that switch, it was a great trackpad before and a great trackpad after.

True, I don’t think people care since Apple’s non-haptic trackpad is still far (and I mean FAR) better than anything else in the market. People who eventually move on to a higher priced Mac with a haptic trackpad will probably feel a difference and think of it as a nice bonus that came with their upgrade (and probably would not like to downgrade, if possible), but I dont think any newcomers would frown at its absence first-hand.