Antonio G. Di Benedetto, The Verge:
Somehow, the PC makers still don’t see it coming. Here’s how
[Asus CFO Nick] Wu described the MacBook Neo, specifically its
8GB of RAM limitation:“I think when Apple positioned the product, it’s probably focused
more on content consumption. This differs somewhat from mainstream
notebook usage scenarios, because in that case, the Neo feels more
like a tablet — because tablets are mostly for content
consumption.”Hang on. Can we hold up for a second here? […]
The proof of the MacBook Neo’s performance for the money is in the
numbers. In single-core benchmarks tests — which most
accurately measure the kinds of everyday tasks you do on a
computer — the Neo’s A18 Pro chip beats out all manner of Windows
laptops, including the new flagship Intel Panther Lake chip
in Asus’ own $2,400 Zenbook Duo. Is a Zenbook Duo more
capable than the MacBook Neo for heavier tasks, like photo and
video editing or playing more graphically demanding games? Yes,
and it’s part of why I loved that dual-screen laptop when I
reviewed it. But the Zenbook Duo also costs four times as much.
And, again, the Neo can hang with it for most common tasks, even
with its 8GB of RAM.
This idea that because it’s “an iPhone chip” the Neo is not capable of, say, editing 4K video is utterly ignorant. You know what computers are fully capable of editing 4K video? iPhones. So of course the same chip that enables smooth 4K video editing in an iPhone can do the same in a Mac.
