Microsoft’s very serious MacBook Neo whitepaper is a joke

The MacBook Neo has certainly gotten a lot of attention from Apple and the Mac. But if you’re on the outside (i.e. a dedicated Windows PC user) watching, you’ve probably shrugged it all off as the usual Apple hype.

But Microsoft seems convinced that this hype is real, as it recently “commissioned” a report from Signal65 to convince everyone that Windows PCs offer the best value for money. Billed as a serious white paper, “Windows 11 PCs Compared to MacBook Neo” takes the MacBook Neo and compares it to four different Windows laptops, and explains the “total value each system brings to the table.”

Two of the laptops featured in Sigal65’s report, the Lenovo Yoga 7i and the HP OmniBook X Flip, cost $1,199 and $949, ​​respectively. “The Yoga 7i occupies a category in which the MacBook Neo does not compete,” says the report, which also concludes that the actual market for the Yoga and OmniBook is the same as that for the MacBook Air. We don’t even know why they’re in the study, so let’s move on.

The other two laptops are the HP OmniBook 5 and the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x, $599 and $449, respectively, according to the study (although we couldn’t find an IdeaPad at that price). Both laptops are 16-inch models and their large form factors play a role in their ability to outperform the 13-inch MacBook Neo. For example, the report touts the battery advantage of these laptops over the Neo, but the report doesn’t mention that the OmniBook 5’s 60 watt-hour battery and the IdeaPad Slim’s 52 watt-hour battery are much larger than the Neo’s 36.5 watt-hour battery. If anything, it’s a relief that these larger batteries offer longer battery life.

Foundry

Of course, Signal65’s benchmarks show that PC laptops outperform the MacBook Neo in most of its tests. And it also shows how they offer better specs: more ports, more storage, and more robust external display support. Advantage to PCs in these aspects. As for the claim that these PCs’ 16GB of RAM is better than the Neo’s 8GB, PCWorld rightly points out that “the extra memory may not improve performance as much as you’d hope in Windows 11.”

As for the display, our sister site PCWorld said that the IdeaPad Slim 3X’s screen “is the weakest part of the experience” and that “in real life it not only looks unusually dim, but also dull.” As for the OmniBook 5’s LED display, PCWorld reported that “the contrast ratio is limited, and darker scenes in movies and games can appear washed out. Brightness is mediocre; it’s sufficient in many situations, but a sunlit window can start to overwhelm the screen. Outdoor use is largely out of the question.” So bigger is not necessarily better.

And there’s one major aspect that the report doesn’t cover at all, and that’s the build quality of these laptops. The OmniBook 5’s body is made entirely of plastic, while the IdeaPad Slim 3X features a combination of aluminum and plastic. (PC users love plastic, apparently.) Meanwhile, the MacBook Neo offers an all-aluminum body available in four fun colors and a top-notch display that looks as good as, or better than, the screens on more expensive laptops.

Would you be willing to sacrifice a bit of processing speed for a screen that’s pleasant to use and an equally beautiful and durable build? Apple understands that many people would do this. Microsoft, on the other hand, wants you to read a full article explaining why this doesn’t matter.

The platform advantage

Then there’s the “platform advantage” offered by Copilot+ and Windows 11. Which I assume is because Windows is the dominant operating system in business. Windows certainly has an advantage with “bloatware, ads, and other grossness” (PCWorld’s words). In its review of the IdeaPad Slim 3X, PCWorld found that “the laptop’s software is a bit obnoxious, as is typical on mainstream Lenovo laptops. For example, McAfee antivirus pops up and encourages you to purchase a subscription.” This is a “platform advantage” I can live without.

Microsoft

As for Copilot, PCWorld recently called it “the new Internet Explorer,” which isn’t a compliment, in case you’re too young to remember Internet Explorer. Another PCWorld article opines that “Copilot simply looks like a garbage buffet of artificial stupidity, licensing issues, and design decisions that don’t put users first.” ” Yeah. I mean, what do you expect from something that Microsoft says is intended solely for “entertainment purposes”?

The report also describes the “value” Microsoft offers students, which includes a free year of Microsoft 365 Premium. This seems like a good deal, until you realize that Apple includes its own iWork apps on every Mac for free. Additionally, many colleges and universities already offer free access to Office 365, whether you use Windows or Mac. Additionally, there is Google Workspace, Libre Office or another online office suite. Overall, the value of Office 365 isn’t much of a benefit.

The laptops also include one year of free access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, but after that you have to pay $23 per month to keep it. Students can also get a free Xbox Design Lab wireless controller. OK, I admit that Apple can’t compete with PC dominance in gaming, and PCs have an advantage here. But try playing on one of these laptops, I’ll wait.

But let’s not be too hard on Microsoft; after all, as PCWorld says, “the $600 MacBook Neo is Microsoft’s nightmare,” and it had to be done. something to live up to the MacBook Neo hype. But if you have to publish a dodgy white paper to convince people that your laptops aren’t great, you might have a bigger problem.