Apple released a new MacBook last week, the Neo. And for all the talk of “not enough power, not enough ports” - I’m really impressed, and (not very) secretly want one.

And I’ve got previous form here. My first Mac was their entry level device, an iBook G4 in 2004.

Folks grumbling that touch ID is an extra cost option? I almost had to pay extra for a Wifi card on my iBook… but I spent ages agonising over how to specify my Mac - and then thankfully for me Apple saw sense and added the wifi card to the standard spec (but it was still a removable extra module!)

Apparently, Power PC chips were much faster and ran much cooler than equivalent Intel chips…

…but we’re looking at 256 MB of RAM (megabytes, not gigabytes) and a 30 GB spinning rust hard drive running at 4200 rpm - my iBook was sloooow. Not that I knew any better.

I’d bought it to join the Apple ecosystem (such as it was in 2004) - and so I could learn about OS X to better support end users at Imperial College, but also because, quite frankly, the iBook G4 was a thing of beauty.

I mean, I still have it.

Standout design decisions were:

• the magnetic screen latch that was recessed into the screen surround,
• the gently pulsing sleep light,
• the translucent Apple logo on the back of the screen that lights up when the thing is powered on -

It just didn’t look like ANYTHING else - and in a world of dull grey PC laptops, that meant a lot.

Not only that, it really did manage 5 real world hours on battery for the first couple of years. Which was a big deal in 2004/5.

Less standout? Whilst mine’s never been apart, getting into one to replace a hard drive was basically impossible - you had to pull the mainboard out (once you’d got the screwless case apart) - a complete contrast to PC laptops with neat little hard drive caddies - replaced by undoing a couple of screws…

But enough of my 22 year old laptop (get off my lawn) - what about the Neo?

I went to have a play with one at the Apple Store today. And it’s a really impressive device. It sits on display next to the more expensive Macbooks - and it’s not immediately obvious it’s the “cheap” one. You get an aluminium case, a decent looking screen, a standard Apple keyboard (albeit not backlit) - and a choice of colours

However, repairability aside (and hey, the Neo is apparently the most repairable Macbook yet…) I’m getting serious iBook vibes from the new Neo. With the difference being that an iPhone chip paired with an SSD is going to have perfectly solid performance for most general online workloads. And indeed, the A18 chip is faster in single core than M1 and M2 devices - the reviews are in, and for the price, the Neo flies… Indeed, it’s far too much performance for me, as I’m the kind of idiot who uses antique hardware on a regular basis - between ChromeOS and Open Core Legacy patcher.

Where the Neo is nothing like my iBook? It’s going to be a huge success. (The internet claims the iBook line was a success, but no-one in the UK was buying PowerPC hardware back then.) It’s more than enough laptop for a lot of workloads, is well built and keenly priced.

I can see a Neo as a fantastic mobile companion to a Mac Mini M4 - a low cost (but powerful) desktop for heavy lifting - and a lightweight low cost device for use when out and about - and all for about the same money for both devices as a more powerful Macbook.

I’m also interested in what this means for operating system support lifecycles. Will Apple run extended support for versions of macOS for A series chips? Will there be forked builds? Will everything just converge in a big mess of iOS/iPadOS/macOS?

Regardless, I cannot justify buying one in any way. So I’m going to be good. But, oh so tempted.