At a time when it was almost certain that laptop prices were going to skyrocket due to the impending RAM shortage during the second half of 2026, Apple, of all companies, came out with a $599 laptop that has not just the target audience excited, but also some enthusiasts as well. But it seems as though some of them got a bit too excited for the MacBook Neo.

Many on social media already declared that the $599 MacBook could destroy Windows laptops in the budget segment.

The argument goes that Apple’s entering the $599 tier changes everything, particularly in performance and build quality. But the idea that the Neo will suddenly wipe out Windows laptops in the $600–$800 range may be greatly exaggerated.

Ironically, Apple itself once mocked cheap PCs. During the late 2000s, Steve Jobs openly criticized $500 computers, arguing that Apple would never ship “junk” hardware just to hit a lower price point.

“We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk; our DNA will not let us do that.”

– Steve Jobs to Wall Street analysts in 2008 when asked about low-cost laptops

Well, it seems like Apple fans think otherwise. Sure, times have changed, but it was Apple that deliberately avoided the budget PC market because it wanted to be associated with a premium brand. There is no reason to doubt that Apple’s agenda has changed, as we said earlier.

Adjusted for inflation, $500 from around 2010 would land somewhere in the ballpark of $700 to $750 today. MacBook Neo is even cheaper than the territory Jobs famously dismissed!

Anyway, the question is whether the MacBook Neo truly threatens Windows laptops in the $600 market, as the internet hype suggests. Industry analysts believe that it’s not as straightforward as the “Windows is doomed” narrative.

The MacBook Neo targets a new buyer group, but it will not automatically replace Windows laptops

Technology analyst Ben Bajarin, CEO of market research firm Creative Strategies, says the conversation around the MacBook Neo is missing an important detail: the device is aimed at a very specific type of buyer.

“Given the target customer for this, RAM is not an issue, and any consumer who scrutinizes their RAM needs is not the target customer for this product,” Bajarin said, adding that the device is primarily aimed at entry-level consumers, education buyers, and students.

If it wasn’t clear already, the Neo is not designed for power users, developers, or enterprise environments. It is a basic computing device meant for people who want a simple laptop for everyday tasks like browsing, streaming, and light productivity.

The $600–$800 laptop segment already has a very well-defined buyer profile. They typically keep their devices for many years and rarely compare processor benchmarks or memory configurations.

More importantly, many people who have historically wanted a Mac but could not afford one did not automatically buy a new Windows laptop instead. A large portion of that demand has long been served by refurbished MacBooks, older MacBook Air models, or discounted previous-generation Macs sold through third-party retailers.

Apple itself has supported this behavior through its official refurbished store, where older MacBook models often sell in the same $600–$800 price range. So, a budget Mac market already existed long before the Neo.

But that’s not to say that Windows PCs are completely safe. People who had no choice but to buy budget PCs would definitely find the Neo attractive, considering the Apple branding and unmistakably good design and colors.

However, Bajarin believes PC OEMs will respond quickly, because they have no reason to let Apple take share uncontested. Windows laptops in this price range already exist in large numbers, often offering 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSDs, and upgradeable storage for between $499 and $699.

Unlike Apple, PC manufacturers have been building machines for this segment for decades, and they can easily adjust configurations and pricing to remain competitive. Now, that’s good news for customers, as we’ll get better designs and metal builds in even budget Windows PCs.

But if you strictly want a laptop for $600 and you expect the MacBook Neo to do the kind of stuff that a $600 Windows PC can do, then you have mistaken the Neo’s biggest limitation.

The 8GB RAM limitation could be the biggest weakness of MacBook Neo

Andrew Mark David and JustJoshTech, both of whom use MacBooks for their regular work, are among the honest YouTubers out there. Their unbiased, unpaid initial impressions of MacBook Neo clearly explain why it isn’t a big deal, as the mainstream media hype tells.

Let’s start with the processor used on the Neo. Apple’s A18 Pro is a seriously impressive piece of silicon, but the following CPU score from JustJoshTech clearly tells the issue:

The single-core performance is class-leading, but the multi-core is what determines the overall performance of the laptop, as most applications are tuned to use a number of cores efficiently. Here, the MacBook Neo ranks the lowest, even below Windows 11 PCs. It’s only as good as the 6-year-old M1 MacBook Air, which was honestly good for its time, but not anymore, because 8GB RAM is just not enough.

The latest MacOS, with the fancy Liquid Glass UI, uses around 4GB of RAM, so any application you run would eat into the rest of the 4GB RAM in the Neo. 6 years was a long time ago, and applications have gotten a lot more feature-rich.

Apple has handled lower memory configurations through aggressive SSD swapping. However, earlier 8GB MacBook Air models showed that heavy browser workloads could experience slowdowns compared to 16GB versions, due to the system constantly swapping data.

Don’t get me wrong, the MacBook Neo would be perfect for anyone who occasionally opens their laptop to fill out a form, 3 to 4 browser tabs, Office documents, social media, etc, all single core stuffs. But installing multiple apps, or games, or transferring files isn’t going to be its forte.

Remember that the 256GB base storage in the Neo may get used up quickly in about 6 to 12 months. Once the SSD gets crowded, the overall responsiveness can suffer. Apple does offer a 512GB upgrade for $699, but that immediately pushes the MacBook Neo to a different competitive landscape.

Windows laptops to buy instead of MacBook Neo

There are countless Windows PCs in the $600 to $800 segment, and the best ones are almost always on sale. So the right place to start would be to check sales prices and deals.

This Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is a great all-rounder that’s much more powerful than the Neo, owing to its good multicore performance and double the RAM at the same price as the Neo during sales, and luckily, it’s almost always on sale.

You can, of course, argue that the Neo can reach a $499 price tag with an educational discount, so here’s one from HP. The OmniBook 5 has an OLED display, which even the MacBook Pro doesn’t have, making it an easy recommendation for media consumption.

Sure, you may have to do some research before buying these, but if you do, you’ll get a powerful Windows PC with better RAM, storage, display, ports, keyboard, trackpad, more apps, and games (which is an understatement), that will last for years to come, and you can even upgrade or repair for cheap.

Not to mention the situation that Microsoft put itself in. While enraged power users criticize the company about AI, Windows 11 is now as smooth and reliable as ever. But Microsoft even promised to make the OS better this year.

As for hardware, this is the best time to bring back Microsoft’s Surface Go lineup, possibly powered by the Snapdragon X2 series for great performance and battery life.

The MacBook Neo is interesting, but Windows PCs are far from doomed

The MacBook Neo is an interesting product for Apple. It lowers the barrier to entry for people who have always wanted a Mac but could never justify paying $1,000 or more for one.

Of course, Apple’s target market for the MacBook Neo does not care about hardware specifications. They just wanted an Apple laptop to browse, stream, and edit documents, and that’s the only market that Apple is going for.

But the internet hype claiming that it will destroy the Windows laptop market does not hold up. The $600–$800 laptop segment has been one of the most competitive areas of the PC industry for decades, and Windows OEMs have been refining machines for that price range long before Apple decided to enter it. More importantly, the Neo simply formalizes a budget Mac market that already existed.

If anything, the MacBook Neo may actually benefit consumers the most. Apple’s entering this segment will likely push PC manufacturers to build even better budget laptops, which means buyers will have more options and better hardware across the board.

So yes, the MacBook Neo will sell well. It may even help Apple grow its Mac sales significantly. But the idea that it will suddenly wipe out Windows laptops in the budget segment is more internet hype than market reality.

The post Apple’s $599 MacBook Neo may challenge Windows 11 PCs, but it won’t dent market share much appeared first on Windows Latest

Microsoft Build 2026, the premier Enterprise conference for Developers, Data & AI Builders, & Solutions Architects is back… this year in San Francisco, CA! 

If you are interested in attending in-person in San Francisco OR if you’d simply like to join the FREE virtual/digital streaming experience, please take the time to register ASAP!

Over two days, you’ll get hands-on with cutting-edge tools, dig into real code, and connect with the engineers shaping the future of AI. Request to attend for a chance to: 

• Get trusted guidance for secure, reliable deployments. 
• Explore real-world customer stories. 
• Take part in deep-dive technical sessions and hands-on labs. 
• Engage with product and engineering leadership. 
• Network with your peers and technology leaders. 

Plus, hear from:

• Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO  
• Jared Palmer, VP of CoreAI, SVP of GitHub, 
• Scott Hanselman, VP, Member of Technical Staff, Microsoft/GitHub 
• Simon Willison, AI Researcher and Creator, Datasette
• Chip Huyen, Building at Stealth
• Priyanka Sharma, CXO, Thiink Inc.

Spots are limited. Act fast!

• Dates: June 2-3, 2026
• Location: Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA
• Registration: https://build.microsoft.com/en-US/home
• Frequently Asked Questions: https://build.microsoft.com/en-US/get-help

Why I built it

After refactors, Angular apps often end up with unused dependencies, dead exports, and lint drift. I wanted a single place in VS Code to run the usual code-quality tools and jump straight to the issues – without remembering CLI commands or switching to the terminal.

So I built Angular Code Quality Toolkit: a small VS Code extension that runs depcheck, ts-prune, ESLint, and stylelint from the editor and shows everything in the Problems panel and as squiggles in the code.

What it does

• Run depcheck — Finds unused and missing npm dependencies; results show in Output and Problems.
• Run ts-prune — Finds unused TypeScript exports; uses tsconfig.app.json when present.
• Run ESLint — Runs your workspace npm run lint and shows diagnostics in the editor (with a nudge to migrate from TSLint if needed).
• Add ESLint to Angular project — One-click run of ng add @angular-eslint/schematics.
• Run stylelint — Lints CSS/SCSS (uses your npm script or a default glob).

All results go to one Angular Code Quality output channel and into View → Problems plus inline squiggles, so you can fix issues file-by-file.

How to use it

1. Install from the VS Code Marketplace or search Angular Code Quality Toolkit in Extensions.
2. Open an Angular project (folder with package.json).
3. Ensure the tools are available in that project (npm install --save-dev depcheck ts-prune, plus a "lint" script and optionally stylelint).
4. Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P) → run Angular Code Quality: Run depcheck (or ts-prune, ESLint, stylelint).
5. Open Problems and the Angular Code Quality output channel; click an issue to jump to the file and line.

Extension + CI, not either/or

The extension is for fast feedback while you code. For team-wide enforcement, use CI (e.g. GitHub Actions) and git hooks (e.g. husky + lint-staged) with the same tools. The README has a sample GitHub Actions workflow you can copy.

Links

• VS Code Marketplace: Angular Code Quality Toolkit
• GitHub: github.com/Arul1998/angular-code-quality-toolkit

If you try it on a large Angular app or monorepo, I’d love to hear what works and what you’d improve.

Everyone's using AI for code review now. But is it actually good at it?

I ran an experiment. I took 5 real pull requests from my projects and asked ChatGPT (GPT-4) to review them. Then I compared its feedback to what a senior developer found.

The results were... mixed.

What AI Code Review Caught

1. Obvious Bugs (10/10)

AI is shockingly good at spotting basic errors:

// AI caught this immediately
func divide(_ a: Int, by b: Int) -> Double {
    return Double(a) / Double(b) // No zero check!
}

It flagged the missing zero division check, suggested a guard statement, and even wrote the fix. Faster than any human reviewer.

2. Naming Inconsistencies (8/10)

let usrData = fetchUserData()  // AI: "Consider renaming to userData"
let temp = process(usrData)     // AI: "What does temp represent?"

It consistently caught abbreviated variable names and suggested clearer alternatives.

3. Missing Error Handling (9/10)

func loadProfile() async {
    let data = try? await api.fetchProfile()
    // AI: "Silently ignoring errors. Consider logging or showing user feedback"
}

What AI Code Review Missed

1. Architectural Problems (2/10)

AI couldn't see that my ViewModel was doing too much, or that I should split a 500-line file into smaller components. It reviewed line by line but missed the forest for the trees.

2. Performance Implications (3/10)

// This causes N+1 queries — AI didn't flag it
for user in users {
    let posts = await fetchPosts(for: user.id)
    // ...
}

A senior dev spotted this in 2 seconds. AI said the code "looks clean."

3. Business Logic Errors (1/10)

When my discount calculation allowed negative prices, AI didn't catch it because it didn't understand the business rules. It only validated syntax and patterns.

4. Security Vulnerabilities (4/10)

It caught SQL injection basics but missed more subtle issues like timing attacks or insecure token storage.

My AI Code Review Scorecard

The Right Way to Use AI for Code Review

AI code review is a first pass, not a replacement. Here's my workflow:

1. Write code
2. Run AI review (catches 60% of issues in seconds)
3. Fix the obvious stuff
4. Send to human reviewer (catches the remaining 40%)

This cuts human review time in half because they're not wasting time on typos and missing null checks.

Tools I Actually Use

For my iOS projects, I use a combination of SwiftLint for automated checks and AI for deeper review. The combination catches more issues than either alone.

I've documented my entire dev workflow and AI tool setup on my Boosty page, including AI Workflow Blueprints.

More dev tips daily: t.me/SwiftUIDaily

Have you tried AI code review? What was your experience? Share below.

I've been building iOS apps for 3 years now. Started with UIKit, switched to SwiftUI, went back to UIKit, and finally settled on... well, it depends.

Here's my honest take after shipping 27 apps.

The SwiftUI Honeymoon

When SwiftUI dropped, I rewrote everything. Every. Single. App.

struct ContentView: View {
    @State private var items: [Item] = []

    var body: some View {
        NavigationStack {
            List(items) { item in
                ItemRow(item: item)
            }
            .navigationTitle("My App")
            .task {
                items = await fetchItems()
            }
        }
    }
}

Look at that. Clean. Declarative. Beautiful.

Then I hit production.

Where SwiftUI Still Falls Short (2026)

1. Complex Navigation

NavigationStack is better than NavigationView, but deep linking and programmatic navigation still feel hacky:

@Observable
class Router {
    var path = NavigationPath()

    func navigate(to destination: Destination) {
        path.append(destination)
    }

    func popToRoot() {
        path = NavigationPath()
    }
}

Works... until you need to restore state after a crash.

2. Performance with Large Lists

LazyVStack is lazy, but not lazy enough for 10,000+ items:

// This stutters on older devices
LazyVStack {
    ForEach(massiveArray) { item in
        ComplexItemView(item: item)
    }
}

// Better: manual pagination
LazyVStack {
    ForEach(visibleItems) { item in
        ComplexItemView(item: item)
            .onAppear {
                loadMoreIfNeeded(item)
            }
    }
}

3. Custom Layouts

The Layout protocol in iOS 16+ is powerful but the learning curve is steep.

Where SwiftUI Wins (Absolutely)

1. Rapid Prototyping

I can build a full screen in 20 minutes:

struct ProfileView: View {
    let user: User

    var body: some View {
        ScrollView {
            VStack(spacing: 20) {
                AsyncImage(url: user.avatarURL) { image in
                    image.resizable()
                        .scaledToFill()
                        .frame(width: 120, height: 120)
                        .clipShape(Circle())
                } placeholder: {
                    ProgressView()
                }

                Text(user.name)
                    .font(.title.bold())

                StatsRow(user: user)

                ActionButtons(user: user)
            }
            .padding()
        }
    }
}

2. Previews

Yes, they crash. Yes, they're slow sometimes. But they've saved me thousands of hours compared to building and running on a simulator.

3. Multiplatform

One codebase for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS. I shipped a watchOS companion app in 2 hours.

My Verdict for 2026

My recommendation: Start with SwiftUI. Drop down to UIKit via UIViewRepresentable when you hit a wall. This gives you 90% SwiftUI productivity with 100% UIKit escape hatches.

The Templates That Save Me Hours

After building 27 apps, I extracted my best patterns into reusable templates. Every new project starts with a proven architecture instead of boilerplate.

If you want to skip the setup phase and start building features immediately, check out my SwiftUI templates and components on my Boosty page.

For daily SwiftUI tips, join my Telegram channel: t.me/SwiftUIDaily

What's your take? Are you all-in on SwiftUI or still mixing frameworks? Drop a comment below.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.