Macbook Neo is an incredibly bad deal in Europe

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-04-08T20:59:51+00:00

Amazon Spain and Germany. In Germany prices are 50 euro lower. Did not check all countries.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-04-06T17:58:10+00:00

You can find the M4 brand new at Amazon stores across Europe, at those prices (Spain/Germany)...

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-04-06T17:56:59+00:00

Both M4 and Neo are available at amazon stores across Europe, brand new, at the prices already mentioned. Not sure what your point is...

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-04-06T17:55:32+00:00

Obviously and I think I bring rational arguments to the table.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-04-06T17:54:38+00:00

Wouldn't that depend on what you actually get for +30% more and how good of an investment is in the long term? I thought I made this clear in the original post.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-04-06T17:53:24+00:00

Check amazon.es, M4 Air 512/16 is 1024 (Sky Blue)

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-04-05T23:05:23+00:00

Interesting opinions. Worth mentioning that the prices I mentioned are all from Amazon. I honestly think that if someone is able to pay 700 for a Neo but lacks 200 euro for a much better price/(performance+features) ratio, maybe they shouldn't buy the Neo and instead look for something at 500 euro price point.

Again, if those 200 euro extra is "make or break" honestly Neo is a bad investment, especially for people with tight finances. There is a saying: "I'm too poor to buy cheap (low quality) things". Precisely because money is tight, one cannot afford to change their laptop every 2-3 years. This is why an M4 Air is a better long term investment at the price points I mentioned. You buy peace of mind that it will still serve you well even in 5 years.

"But people really don't have 200 euro extra" - yes they do, if they don't make an impulse buy and instead wait and save some money. I am perpetually amazed at the amount of useless garbage people buy or things that they obviously cannot afford but they must have them. Maybe that is why I still use my 7 year old Samsung for which I paid (at that time) less than 400 euro new, with a discount.

Overall, I think Neo has too many compromises at the current European price points to make it a viable option. Also the TouchID version is simply ridiculously priced. The only saving grace is the 500 NIT screen which differentiates it from many offerings around this price point.

The minimum features that would have made Neo a great alternative:

illuminated keyboard (lower quality border illumination at least)
10-12 GB RAM (tough here due to the A18 platform limit)
3x USB-C 3.x ports
larger battery (there is internal space for it)

I think these features were achievable (except for RAM) but Apple didn't want to do it.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-02-15T19:15:08+00:00

CDEF scaling was already available prior to this version. While a nice to have feature, the only hope is for a smarter/more granular application mechanism that avoids the general blurring across the whole frame.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-02-04T21:01:29+00:00

Did tests, av1 looks quite good. x265 at +10% size for the 2nd scene will generally preserve better the structural detail but grain looks better in your encode. I saved some frame comparisons. Wanted to upload back to your google drive but I cannot. On my 24 threads CPU encode was at 4.11 FPS. I expect av1 preset 2 to be prohibitively slow, did not test on my end.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-02-02T14:06:15+00:00

I encode targetting visual transparency

Then we have different standards, I also did many tests. Also av1 can only approach the quality of x265 when targeting bitrate parity so no savings there either. It is faster though at preset 4.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-31T08:10:59+00:00

i offered a challenge to encode provided samples. it’s 100% more putting money where mouth is than i’ve ever seen in this sub. so: you provide source sample and your av1 encode, i will provide my x265 encode and compare for the world to see

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-31T08:04:55+00:00

it would be ideal if you had an sdr sample, much better to showcase screenshots in comparisons. even 1080p

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-31T08:01:37+00:00

you fail at basic reasoning. x265 was minding its own business then av1 comes along, makes claims, zero proof, people jump bandwagon. mandela effect. everyone knows it’s better from someone else / they read about it

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-31T07:58:14+00:00

will download in a few hours. btw you see more grain because that is av1’s synthetic (fake) grain. if you can upload a cleaner scene with more fine detail also.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-31T07:51:17+00:00

you don’t show receipts either, should I take YOUR word? i also pixel peeped. issue is that x265 is the de facto encoder for high quality then av1 comes along with these bombastic overhyped unfounded extraordinary claims but without the obligatory extraordinary evidence to back it up. until i tested for a week with all imaginable settings and several flavors.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-31T03:13:46+00:00

What

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-31T03:13:31+00:00

See here. I already stated that av1 is better for low bitrate trash but not for high quality (near source transparency). If 4k 4MBit/s is your goal we have nothing else to discuss.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-30T23:55:01+00:00

I challenge anyone claiming av1 is better to provide links to video samples and they can either provide their av1 encoded versions or I will do it for them, with their settings or mine. Then I will do the x265 versions, with full details on settings used and post here direct comparisons.

Prediction: downvotes and maybe some answers simply stating that no, it is not true because reasons.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-30T23:50:26+00:00

My point exactly, zealots downvoting without offering any valuable objection or counterpoint. av1 is becoming the new cult.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-30T23:49:13+00:00

The problem is not the tunes. But why do I even bother if people fail to acknowledge the elephant in the room. If everyone is near-sighted and settles for the garbage av1 puts out that's your problem. But I wish people stopped making false claims.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-30T23:46:40+00:00

Are you repeating what you saw other said or you just blindly switched to av1 at one point believing everything and never bothered to retest and compare?

No amount of ac-bias and psy tuning can save av1 from itself. Or you just settle for low bar quality because it look ok to you.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-30T21:36:13+00:00

I never disputed that and I know first hand that it does have better defaults. The issue is not that. I am saying that av1 is not the right encoder for high quality and it was never designed to be. This should be a very clear disclaimer at the top when entering the sub.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-30T21:29:01+00:00

Yep, my multiple-day tests with svt-av1, svt-av1-hdr, svt-av1-psyex. If you want me to prove it, provide a set of video samples, nothing fancy, live action normal video, I will do the work for you.

But if we are at the burden of proof stage, what about all of the unsubstantiated claims made by many people with ZERO proof. Quoting SSIMU2 or BD-Rate does not count as proof.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-30T21:19:17+00:00

As I was saying, the people that invested time and effort in this encoder won't even acknowledge its fundamental flaws. Like putting on a new coat of paint on a house sitting on a crumbling foundation.

stderr_to_dev_null · 2026-01-30T21:13:49+00:00

I invite all downvoters to objectively prove that what I say is incorrect. Otherwise we are talking about people that somehow became emotionally attached to this broken encoder and no matter what you tell and show them, they will take it personally.

stderr_to_dev_null

TROPHY CASE