Two weeks with the MacBook Neo

April 21, 2026 is when Apple made the MacBook Neo available in my side of the globe. I ordered from the Apple online store to avail of the education discount -- got an indigo 512GB model. I have been using it as my every day carry (EDC) device. It used to be just the iPad Mini or M1 iPad Pro, along with the iPhone 17 Pro. Now, the Neo joins the iPad Mini and iPhone, although sometimes it is just the Neo and the iPhone. :) Apple did a great job with the Neo. This device practically provides 90% of my compute needs. Yes, that 8GB unified memory and previous iPhone chip is plenty powerful. For the remaining 10%, I have other Macs for those. Xcode? Complex photo and video editing? Local LLM? I have a Macbook Pro and a Mac Mini for those. Two ports? I am not even bothered by that. It is an iPhone, minus the touch screen, with a bigger screen, full physical keyboard and runs a full macOS! What is there not to like? Two weeks of use reminded me of an issue I had with the first, original MacBook Air -- scratches on the palm rest. This was caused by my metal watch band. Today, my OG Apple Watch Ultra is usually worned with the Ocean band, and the metal on the band could scratch the Neo's palm rest. This is something that I need to be reminded of - good thing I have other bands to use. Overall, I am loving the MacBook Neo, which I christened as "Indi". As a throw in your bag MacBook, it is perfect! So what are you waiting for?