Apple announced the MacBook Neo earlier this month, and in my opinion, it completely disrupts the MacBook lineup as we know it. If you bought a MacBook Air before and don’t need 16GB of RAM for heavier multitasking, why not buy a MacBook Neo now?
In my eyes, the MacBook Neo is just as good a general-purpose laptop as the MacBook Air, and aside from more RAM, a much faster processor (though still limited thermally), and a larger display, I don’t see much of an advantage over the MacBook Air, at least for now. Here’s how to improve it.
better display
Fortunately, this is already a rumor and is not a distant dream.
The MacBook Air is rumored to switch to OLED in 2028, just two years after the MacBook Pro. This is Apple’s fifth major product, following the iPhone, iPad Pro, this year’s iPad mini (rumored), and the redesigned MacBook Pro.
And like the MacBook Pro, it will have OLED, but it probably won’t get touch support. From Bloomberg’s Mark Garman:
At this time, Apple has not decided whether to introduce touch functionality. Any A Mac better than the MacBook Pro (a model expected to arrive as early as the end of this year). So it’s highly doubtful that touch is being considered for Apple’s lowest-tier Macs. It makes sense that the popular MacBook Air would come first, but it’s still not expected to have an iPhone-style OLED screen for at least two years.
Nevertheless, this is a pretty significant improvement for the MacBook Air and puts it a notch above the MacBook Neo.
One thing the rumors don’t reveal is whether it will have 120Hz. To me, this feels like an easy addition to the price range. People end up buying a MacBook Pro for the best performance, better heat dissipation, and the best of everything. And the MacBook Air can easily include 120Hz without cannibalizing the MacBook Pro.
better thermals
The MacBook Air is a passively cooled machine and should be left alone. That being said, there are plenty of things Apple can do to improve MacBook Air performance without adding fans.
For example, the iPad Pro uses graphite sheets and a copper heatsink that dissipates heat through the Apple logo. The iPhone 17 Pro utilizes a vapor chamber, which is also rumored to be included in the iPad Pro. It would be nice to see some form of thermal improvement for the MacBook Air, which currently doesn’t deal with heat in an effective way.
push the design
Finally, I feel that the MacBook Air could be more radical. It’s possible that Apple will push its design further, as it’s not focused on being the cheapest Mac, as it has been for the past decade or so. It’s thinner, more portable, and more experimental.
Many people aspire to something like a 12-inch MacBook, and I think the MacBook Air, starting at $1299, has the potential to push the boundaries of what’s possible in a laptop form factor.
What do you want to achieve with your MacBook Air? Turn off the sound in the comments.
My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
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