Apple's MacBook Neo is causing sleepless nights for the entire PC industry.

Laptop users seem to love the MacBook Neo. But perhaps the people most obsessed with this device are the PC manufacturers themselves.

The MacBook Neo , upon its release in early March, generally received a rather lukewarm reception from critics.

However, the past week was truly the "golden week" for this product, even though Apple didn't release any announcements or promotional campaigns.

Instead, Google and Microsoft inadvertently helped Neo stand out even more through their rather clumsy attempts to undermine it.

The MacBook Neo comes in a variety of youthful colors. Photo: Apple

Both companies tried to prove they weren't "obsessed" with Apple, but the more they explained, the more they seemed to be admitting the opposite.

Google and Microsoft have "inadvertently" boosted the MacBook Neo.

It all started when Google introduced the Googlebook, a device focused on Gemini AI that a PC World writer called " the world's first computer that defies the concept of a personal computer."

GoogleBook's software philosophy revolves around AI-first, placing artificial intelligence at the center. However, in terms of design and hardware orientation, it bears a very clear resemblance to the MacBook Neo .

This was practically a public attempt to replicate the hit that Apple had created just a few months earlier.

Google has not yet released detailed specifications, only stating that this will be a more "premium" product than a Chromebook.

However, the concept of "premium" in the Chromebook world is quite relative, as many current Chromebook models cost less than $200.

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Given its primary role as a device for AI and Android emulation, it's unlikely that manufacturers like Acer or Dell will equip the Googlebook with top-of-the-line components.

Instead, observers predict the product will go in the direction of being thin, lightweight, fashionable , yet still affordable, and a price of around $599 sounds very reasonable.

Interestingly, instead of creating an entirely new product philosophy, Google seems to be trying to "bottle up the lightning bolt" that Apple created with the MacBook Neo .

While Google chose to implicitly acknowledge Apple's success by emulating it, Microsoft reacted in a completely different way: trying to prove that the MacBook Neo was actually unremarkable.

Ironically, Microsoft even commissioned a "whitepaper," a type of academic research document, to analyze this issue in an extremely serious and "objective" manner.

The document concludes that users were mistaken in thinking Neo was an excellent budget laptop. According to the "researchers," a better choice would be much more expensive laptops, made of plastic, pre-installed with a host of bloatware, or a combination of all three.

It's worth noting that Microsoft seems to believe that releasing the document will benefit them.

Because if a company has to hire experts to write entire studies to convince users not to buy a competitor's laptop, it's almost like they've already lost from the start.

And when they have to pay to prove something is "unimportant," it inadvertently reveals that they actually see it as a major threat.

The entire PC industry is in turmoil over the MacBook Neo.

In fact, the awkward reaction from PC manufacturers is not entirely surprising. The MacBook Neo not only sold well in the budget laptop segment, but also sent unease through the entire PC industry.

The MacBook Neo not only sold well in the budget laptop segment, but also sent unease through the entire PC industry. (Image: Tom's Guide)

From its launch, numerous comparisons showed that Neo performed more effectively in what was traditionally the domain of Windows laptops. And since then, PC manufacturers have seemingly been in a state of panic.

The most interesting thing is that the industry can't decide whether Neo is such a good product that it needs to be copied, or a terrible device that's not worth worrying about.

Sometimes, a single company simultaneously presents two contradictory arguments.

Shortly after the MacBook Neo's launch, Asus CEO SY Hsu admitted that the product was "a shock to the entire industry," revealing that the entire PC ecosystem had been constantly discussing how to compete with it.

But just a few sentences later, he said that Neo was essentially just a device for entertainment and content viewing, so it wouldn't have a huge impact.

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Clearly, you can't simultaneously consider a product a "shock to the industry" and dismiss it as insignificant.

Ultimately, the responses from PC manufacturers and even operating system developers reveal vast differences in philosophy.

Apple's competitors seem captivated by the MacBook Neo . They don't really understand why the product is so successful, nor do they understand how Apple achieved it.

That's why, for many years, no company has been able to completely replicate the "Apple formula."

But they still couldn't stop watching. And time and time again, tech companies made Apple the centerpiece of their marketing campaigns.

Meanwhile, Apple almost always focuses on itself. The company understands what its competitors are doing and certainly learns from others' innovations.

Apple acquires startups, recruits personnel from other tech companies, and leverages emerging trends to accelerate product development.

However, Apple views its competitors' products as merely a starting point, something to surpass rather than to copy.

Perhaps that's also why the company consistently creates devices that others can imitate. And more importantly, these are products that customers are willing to spend money on.

(According to Macworld, Tom's Guide, Gizmochina)

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/macbook-neo-cua-apple-khien-ca-nganh-pc-mat-an-mat-ngu-2517097.html