I got Opus 4.6 to one shot it, took 5-ish mins. "Write me a python program that outputs an svg of a fleur-de-lis. Use freely available images to double check your work."
It basically just re-created the wikipedia article fleur-de-lis, which I'm not sure proves anything beyond "you have to know how to use LLMs"
Just for reference, Codex using GPT-5.4 and that exact prompt was a 4-shot that took ten minutes. The first result was a horrific caricature. After a slight rebuke ("That looks terrible. Read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur-de-lis for a better understanding of what it should look like."), it produced a very good result but it then took two more prompts about the right side of the image being clipped off before it got it right.
Same, I used Sonnet 4.6 with the prompt, "Write a simple program that displays a fleur-de-lis. Python is a good language for this." Took five or six minutes, but it wrong a nice Python TK app that did exactly what it was supposed to.
I was wondering how long it'd take for someone to bring Apple up. I'm clearly behind.
The MacBook Neo is the opposite of pg's "Brand Age". It's very subtly branded, the Apple is no longer shiny and "MacBook" isn't written anywhere in it. There are no identifiably-Apple design quirks, no notch. It's just the platonic ideal of a laptop. Screen, keyboard, trackpad. Nothing extra.
The cutesy intro video will be the main driver of ~0 sales for it.
Except for the gigantic Apple logo plastered all over the lid?
Don't get me wrong, I like Apple design (and I adore early Braun), but subtly branded it is not. You're supposed to recognize it instantly at any distance. Apple knows their brand value.
Claude Opus 4.6 couldn't figure out how to use it to write to a Google Sheet (something to do with escaping the !?) and fell back to calling the sheets API directly with gcloud auth.
Since it's just $100 to get 250 -> 500 GB and Touch ID, I think it's okay.
It means people who need the cheapest computer can get it, and people who want to upgrade pay a small amount and get all the upgrades in a package without jumping up to the MacBook Air, etc. for much more.
My experience with students (outside of engineering) is that the most common show stopper for MacBooks is price. They’re not nit picking about keyboard backlighting.
Most people have no problem using a keyboard in the dark or with light from the screen.
Backlit keyboards are a nice-to-have, not a showstopper.
I think different people will have one feature they feel should have been kept (other than the ram which is universal). For me not so much the Touch ID but the backlit keyboard.
Their challenge is, how do we halve the price and yet deliver twice the quality? I think they are going to realize they can't. Some of them will leave the market.
Dell has 50% more market share than Apple and HP 2x Apple's market share in the PC space. I doubt they'll be exiting the market because Apple launched a cheap laptop with 8gb of ram and using USB 2.0 ports. Most corporations are still tied to Windows apps and the MS ecosystem in general.
Both of which look identical with no obvious markings which is which. I'm sure this will generate no confusion amongst consumers who will have no issues whatsoever with this. /s
"you're plugging it wrong" will become the new version of the classic "You're holding it wrong"
Yes, the Mac Neo will tell you you’re plugging in to the wrong port!
And while the ports aren’t labeled, if you plug an external display into the “wrong” port, you’ll get an on-screen notification suggesting you plug it into the other port. [1]
What are the odds the notification functionality was only tested to work with Apple's overpriced first party accessories like 79$ USB cables, and will have countless issues and edge cases with third party accessories?
It basically just re-created the wikipedia article fleur-de-lis, which I'm not sure proves anything beyond "you have to know how to use LLMs"
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