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The Chuwi Unibook is the $450 Windows laptop that aims to take down the MacBook Neo. The problem is not the specifications

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The Chinese manufacturer Chuwi has given the surprise with the presentation of its Chuwi Unibook, a mid-range laptop that surprises with its price of $449 and that has undoubtedly been created to compete with the new rival to beat: the MacBook Neo from Apple. The truth is that on paper the proposal seems really attractive, but the problem is precisely that: that this computer, like all those that will soon appear based on Windows with similar specifications, will have to comply with what is important. The user experience will be everything. The MacBook Neo still has no response. The PC industry was used to not having too many concerns in the mid-range. The manufacturers had accommodated themselves and proposed proposals without much ambition, modest but functional. Then came the MacBook Neo from Apple and revolutionized the sector: For the first time it was possible to access the Cupertino laptop ecosystem and its experience for a much more affordable price. There are sacrifices to the MacBook Neo, of course, but the device’s appeal is evident to many users. Apple has the A18 Pro, Intel has Wildcat Lake. The striking thing about the MacBook Neo is that Apple demonstrated that the iPhone chip was more than enough for a mid-range laptop. To compete with it, Intel has launched a new family of low-cost processors called Wildcat Lake. These chips, made with Intel 18A photolithography, are promising, and according to some benchmarks one of their variants It is 21% more powerful than the Apple A18 Pro of the MacBook Neo. The spec sheet rocks. If we look at the pure specifications of the Chuwi Unibook, the difference is notable. The equipment is not only cheaper, but it surpasses the Apple model in almost everything. For example, it has a theoretically more powerful processor, keyboard backlighting, better connectivity and more battery. The sacrifices required by the MacBook Neo are fewer sacrifices in this equipment. On paper, the Chuwi Unibook is really promising. On paper. Source: VideoCardz Project Firefly. Intel’s Chinese division recently announced this initiative. With it, they hope to help manufacturers reduce manufacturing complexity by offering reference designs that reduce production costs. Intel has already done things like this in the past (I’m sure many of you will remember both the Centrino branding and its Ultrabook program), and the idea here is precisely to provide certain tools to manufacturers to develop more competitive models in a market. shaken by the Apple model. Manufacturers wait their turn. The launch of Intel processors from the Wildcat Lake family has caused several manufacturers to begin announcing laptops based on these chips. Lenovo is already preparing some models IdeaPad Slimand so much Asus as HP They also prepare their plays. The Chuwi Unibook seems to be just another variant of those proposals, and in all of them the specifications, although modest, seem to surpass those of the MacBook Neo. Lots of advertising, little real product. Almost all major manufacturers have shown their intention to develop mid-range laptops that compete with the MacBook Neo in that price range. The announcements have been varied, but none of them have communicated the price or availability date of these devices, probably because everyone is waiting to see how the memory crisis evolves. It is reasonable to think that the imminent Computex fair is the perfect occasion to definitively present all these proposals. But. The problem with the Chuwi Unibook, like that of other manufacturers waiting their turn, is not the specifications. The problem will be the benefits and above all the real experience that these teams offer. Windows PC manufacturers have not done well with cutting features in the past, and if that experience is not good we could witness a new phenomenon like netbooks: affordable equipment, but too limited and that ended up condemned to oblivion. In Xataka | “We arrived too soon, but we were right”: The MacBook Neo is everything Microsoft dreamed of with the disastrous Windows 8

carry your laptop in “taco mode” through airports and offices

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The video is, the truth, weird. It shows a hand carrying a closed laptop while climbing some stairs. A few moments later, the shot changes, and that same hand is carrying the same laptop slightly open, held only so that it does not close completely, as he descends the stairs. The question, of course, is why. And then you look at who posted and you start to understand what’s happening, because that video is from OpenAI. People carrying laptop slightly open. With it, the AI ​​company wants to imply that there is a new fashion in Silicon Valley: that of going with your laptop everywhere, but not like before, when you carried it closed. Instead, people are carrying it slightly open because that allows the laptop to continue operating normally and not go to sleep or activate power saving modes. And the people who carry their laptop like this are people who do not stop using AI. @openai iykyk but we may be in for a treat soon 👀 ♬ Cant Go Broke (Remix) – Zeddy Will What seems strange or an oversight is actually a technical necessity imposed by AI agents to program. Both Claude Code and OpenAI Codex are used non-stop by Silicon Valley AI engineers, but to keep them running you have to prevent your computer from going to sleep. So what engineers who don’t stop working on AI projects with these agents do is, when moving from one place to another, they carry their laptops slightly open to prevent work from being interrupted. The code must survive. The problem is simple but compelling: many of these AI agents are used for long programming processes that work autonomously but depend, for example, on an active WiFi connection or on AI models that run locally. If one closes the lid completely, operating systems often go into sleep mode, killing the active session and even losing accumulated progress. The solution for many is that “taco mode”: they hold the hinge with a finger so that the operating system keeps the screen and the session active. A symbol of the times. In Business Insider they stood out how this way of carrying the laptop from one place to another is increasingly common in all types of scenarios. Not only do engineers and professionals in the technology segment in Silicon Valley do it, but it is also used by students and fans of AI who are working on all types of projects with these types of agents and do not want their work to be interrupted. There are other options… On Reddit some users they criticized to those who carry their laptops like this, remembering that there is no reason to carry the laptop in cue mode so that it does not go to sleep. It is possible to change the power options of macOS, Windows or Linux so that when you close the laptop everything continues to function normally, but there are also tools such as Caffeinate that allow it even without changing energy options. …but companies rule. The problem is that the professional reality is usually somewhat different: most corporate employees are forced to use “capped” laptops by the policies of the IT departments of those companies. It is usually impossible to install new tools beyond those “validated” by the company, and it is also not possible to change system preferences. The half-open laptop thus becomes a “physical hack” that solves the problem. Virtual machines or agents in the cloud. There was also criticism of the fact that those same developers could simply have these AI agents running in the cloud, where the machines run 24/7. This would allow these processes to remain active regardless of the state of the laptop, and would also solve possible connection interruptions if one travels by plane or is in a place with a poor Wi-Fi or data connection. However, these intensive AI users prefer to carry the laptop in tow and have that immediate and total control of the situation. Silly or prestigious? Fashion has become something that, according to BI testimonies, is increasingly common in Silicon Valley. Although some users feel a little strange and try to hide this way of carrying the laptop, others say they feel good because they see that more people do it. It is in some ways a sign of a certain professional prestige, because it seems to identify these people as heavy users of AI who are probably “on the crest” of the technological wave. In Xataka | AI models already have their new obsession: before it was vibecoding, now it is cybersecurity

Two men thought it was a good idea to lend their houses to a North Korean laptop farm. It went wrong

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Teleworking has accustomed us to a very comfortable idea: if someone delivers work, attends meetings and responds to messages, perhaps it doesn’t matter too much where they do it from. The problem appears when that distance becomes an advantage to hide identities, move money and enter companies that believe they are hiring a legitimate professional. North Korea has been exploiting precisely that rift. And the case of two men convicted of hosting laptops in their homes shows the extent to which the plot could rely on domestic infrastructure. Two men condemned. Matthew Isaac Knoot, of Nashville, Tennessee, and Erick Ntekereze Prince, of New York, have been sentenced in the US to 18 months each in prison for their role in fraudulent schemes involving remote IT workers linked to North Korea. according to the Department of Justice. The house as a piece of the plot. The mechanism was more domestic than one might imagine. Companies shipped corporate laptops to American addresses because they believed the contracted workers were there. Once received, the computers were housed in those homes and configured with remote desktop applications installed without authorization. This allowed the fake workers to operate from abroad while, to the companies, the connection appeared to come from an address within the United States. What did each one do?. Prince, according to official information, facilitated at least three North Korean IT workers to obtain remote employment in US companies between June 2020 and August 2024, and used his company Taggcar Inc. to fraudulently supply “certified” workers, despite knowing that they were outside the US and using false or stolen identities. Knoot, for his part, operated a laptop farm from his Nashville residences between July 2022 and August 2023. Money, companies and damages. The Justice Department maintains that the two schemes together generated more than $1.2 million for North Korea and affected nearly 70 U.S. companies. In the Prince case, the companies paid more than $943,069 in salaries to IT workers linked to the file. In Knoot’s case, the payments exceeded $250,000. More than labor fraud. The US justice system presents the sentences as part of a specific line of action against facilitators located in the US. The note itself highlights that these are the seventh and eighth convictions of “laptop farmers” obtained in the last five months within their efforts to interrupt North Korea’s illicit generation of income. It is an important nuance: the focus is not only on those who connect from abroad, but also on the local network that makes the operation viable. Expansion into Europe. As we have seen in the pastthese cases are also present outside the United States. The Record discovered in April 2025 an investigation by Google Threat Intelligence Group according to which North Korean operatives had increased their activity in Europe following US police actions against laptop farms and financial networks. At the center were job searches linked to the United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal, in addition to the use of local facilitators to support the alibi of a work presence in the corresponding country. AI and fake identities. One of the most current layers of this story is not only in the laptops, but in the ease of building increasingly credible profiles. BISI points out that North Korean operations combine stolen identities, manipulated professional profiles and AI tools capable of writing localized CVs and cover letters. In the Old Continent, platforms such as Upwork and Freelancer are usually used, in addition to Telegram. The consequence is obvious: detecting the fake candidate can become much more difficult before the company even ships the equipment. What started with laptops housed in private homes ends up having something much bigger than a criminal conviction. The companies were not attacked from outside in the classic sense, but ended up opening the door to workers they believed to be legitimate. So everything seems to indicate that in these times it is no longer enough to protect servers, credentials or repositories, but rather to review the processes that we consider normal, such as the hiring of personnel. Images | Xataka with Grok In Xataka | The ‘vibe coding’ promised to democratize software. Your first gift is 5,000 apps with open sensitive data

A user has been powering his house with 1,000 laptop batteries and solar panels for 10 years. Others are already trying to copy the idea

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Second Life Storage is one of those places that seems to belong to another era. In the era of Reddit and Discord, this is a forum, one dedicated to a single topic: batteries. One of its users is Glubux, and it has been sharing progress on a most curious DIY project for years: a house powered by more than 1,000 batteries. The key is that they are recycled laptop batteries. And he has created a school. Glubux Powerwall. On November 9, 2019, Glubux opened a forum entry in which he shared some photos and detailed his project: he had started collecting laptop batteries years ago, he had collected about 650 and was doing tests to check stability, performance and possibilities. Little by little he was sharing news such as the packs – cells – that he was creating with dozens of interconnected batteries with a great objective: to power the house with standard lithium batteries. These cells are not created by chance: after dissecting each laptop battery, it classifies the units by capacity and rebuilds them into stable modules. This is how it started in 2017 | Photo: Glubux The idea was to create a large system that would work together like a conventional battery, but using those recycled ‘batteries’. He tried it and ended up connecting several packs to the home power. Less than a month later, Glubux commented that it had even successfully connected a vacuum cleaner for a total of 1,200 W of power and that there were no symptoms of heating. It was time to move on. This is how it was in 2024 | Photo: Glubux The shed. But of course, if batteries have taught us anything, it is that handling them is complicated and dangerous if something goes wrong. No matter how much care we take, something so homemade is likely to fail at some point, which could start a major fire. Having something like this inside the house is crazy, so Glubux created a very small shed on his plot, but enough to house the growing collection of more than 1,000 batteries. Last year we already commented that the latest of their reports was that none had shown signs of deterioration (such as swelling) and, after eight years, they had not had to change any cells. Now, his house was running on solar panels that sent power to homemade recycled battery cells. Photo: Glubux Feeding… everything. After expanding the solar installation (24 panels with 440 W), the storage capacity increased to 56 kWh and the system, which operates at 24 volts to feed A 3 kVA converter can power the house with its lights and appliances without problem. But it is not the only thing, since it also charges both a Tesla and an electric Nissan. Creating school. Glubux hasn’t participated in his thread for a while, but that doesn’t mean he’s dead. Other users have been sharing their adventures when creating similar systems. Some were even more veteran and had more batteries, and the most interesting thing is that they have created a space in which advice is given about the cells, the capacity of each of the cells or how to join batteries so that the systems are stable. Other similar projects | Photo: Daniel88 Not so homemade. These projects are almost as exciting as finding yourself in 2026 a furo so rudimentary that it still has an active community, but it must be said that powering the house with a wall of conventional batteries is not so exotic. In fact, Panasonic recently said it was reaching the limit of its capacity to produce battery cells for data centers. These are cells very similar to those of the Glubux project although, obviously, initially created to power systems such as data center racks. They are still systems made up of packs made up of hundreds of ‘batteries’. And now I can only wonder if Glubux’s silence is because it is building its own data center next to the shed. Images | Glubux, Daniel88

the cheapest laptop in Apple history with iPhone chip

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It was expected like May water by fans of the firm with the bitten apple and, last week, Apple finally cleared up the rumors and presented the MacBook Neothe cheapest laptop in its entire history. Now, you can buy from 699 euros. This is the price for the 13-inch model with 256 GB, although the 512 GB variant with touch ID is available for 100 euros more: 799 euros. Apple MacBook Neo 13-Inch with A18 Pro Chip, 256 GB The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Apple MacBook Neo 13 Inch with A18 Pro Chip 512 GB and Touch ID The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A cheap Apple laptop perfect for less demanding users It is true that for an Apple laptop, the MacBook Neo It is modest in specifications, but it is true that it presents a excellent value for moneyideal for those who want a computer from the firm of the bitten apple without having to pay 1,000 euros for the base model. The MacBook Neo is perfect for those who want enter the Apple ecosystem without paying more. This is a move in which Apple has been trying to succeed for a long time with the launch of cheaper devices such as the iPhone 17e or the Apple Watch SE 3. This MacBook Neo is designed for everyday use, with more than enough features for a standard user. Its screen is type 13 inch IPS LCDwith a resolution of 2,408 x 1,506 pixels and a brightness of 500 nits. The surprise of this laptop is that, unlike all other Apple models, it mounts the chip Apple A18 Prothe same as the iPhone 16 Pro and that is more than enough for browsing, checking email, editing an image and everyday work tasks. Its light weight 1.2kgmakes it an inseparable companion for those who have to carry the office on their backs every day. In addition, it stands out for its battery that, according to company data, lasts up to 16 hours, so you can forget about charging it while you work. Of course, despite some advantages, it is true that there is an unwritten agreement by which you assume that by buying a MacBook for 699 euros you have to give up some things. For example, The keyboard does not have a backlight nor does it come with a wall charger. In terms of connectivity, it only has two ports USB-CWiFi 6E, Bluetooth 6.0 and 3.5 mm headphone jack. Finally, one of the things that is also striking about this cheap Apple laptop is that you can buy it in four different colors. ⚡ IN SUMMARY: macbook neo laptop ✅ THE BEST The price: It is the first Apple MacBook for which you have to pay less than 700 euros at launch. Very light and portable: Weighing only 1.2 kg, it is a perfect laptop to take with you every day to the office or university. ❌ THE WORST Oh, the RAM… 8 GB of RAM may be a bit short for intense multitasking and the worst thing is that it cannot be expanded. Yesand they miss some things… With no backlit mouse, no wall charger and only two USB-C ports, these are some of the things you have to sacrifice if you want to pay little for a MacBook. 💡 BUY IT IF… You want a cheap Mac for studying, browsing, watching videos or even everyday work. ⛔ DON’T BUY IT IF… You are a person who wants a laptop to edit video, program many apps or who wants a device that will last for many years. Some accessories that may interest you for this MacBook Neo BENFEI Laptop Stand with Docking Station USB C 6 in 1 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links tomtoc 360° Case for 13 Inch The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Pedro Aznar (Applesfera) and Apple In Xataka | MacBook Air M4 vs MackBook Air M3: these are the main differences between the two models In Xataka | MacBook Air Vs MacBook Pro: we explain which one to choose

We already know how much laptop prices are going to rise this year: absolute nonsense

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If you were waiting until 2026 to renew your equipment, trusting that interesting offers would appear, we have bad news. The laptop market prepares for a perfect storm that threatens to burst retail prices. A reasonable budget until now of about 900 euros will very soon become one of 1,300 euros, and it will do so without the product being better than last year’s. damn memories. The first big culprit of all this is the DRAM memory crisis and NAND storage chips. Supply and demand have remained absolutely unbalanced with the rise of AIand that has caused a tragic situation for end users. If previously these components represented 15% of the manufacturing cost, in 2026 they will represent more than 30% of those costs. Making a laptop is simply much more expensive today than it was yesterday. Intel doesn’t help. As if this were not enough, processors are also rising in price. Intel has already made a move by increasing the cost of its entry-level and previous generation CPUs by more than 15%. In fact, it is likely that things will not stop there: it is expected that by the second quarter of 2026, its mid- and high-range processors will also follow the same path, which will further suffocate manufacturers’ margins. And of course that will end up having the same impact: even more expensive equipment. The dictatorship of profit margins. Manufacturers are governed by elementary but unassailable financial mathematics: profit margins. So that both brands and stores continue to earn the same, the increase in costs ends up being passed on entirely to end users. The result is devastating: a 900 euro laptop could see its price increase by 40%. And here it is not that brands want to earn more: it is that manufacturing that laptop costs 58% more just in CPU, memory and storage. Manufacturers and stores therefore assume part of the impact, but of course most of it is received by users. According to TrendForce, the combined price increase of memory, SSDs and CPUs will cause the “bill of materials” for manufacturers to increase by 58% compared to 45% in the first quarter of 2025. Source: TrendForce. Technological eviction. For months we have been talking about how this fever for AI data centers has caused DRAM and NAND chip manufacturers to completely change focus. Before they manufactured for humans, now they do it for machines. This has caused a “technological eviction” effect in which chips for PCs and laptops are left without room in factories. The offer is reduced to the minimum expression because what is really profitable now is Micron, SK Hynix or Samsung is to make memories for AI chips. Small brands in danger. This crisis does not affect everyone equally. Large manufacturers can negotiate better prices and secure inventory thanks to their purchasing volumes, smaller and local brands are suffering especially. They face volatility that could leave them without inventory or with prices so high that they would be out of the game against large manufacturers. AMD is no longer the refuge of yesteryear. Historically, when Intel rose in price or had stock problems, AMD emerged as an even more relevant alternative. Now the situation is so critical that the shortage is also affecting the firm led by Lisa Su. It is true that AMD has gained market share thanks to its competitiveness, but there are already reports of lack of supply in its entry range. The uncertainty continues. The TrendForce study is clear: the coming quarters will be decisive to be clear about how this unique segment will turn out. With weak demand and skyrocketing production costs, the consumer is faced with an unsustainable situation: buy what’s left in stock now, or accept that the “standard” laptop may have risen in price forever? The era of the cheap PC could have come to an end, although there are striking surprises, such as the one Apple has proposed with the MacBook Neowhich goes just against the grain: it is modest, yes, but also an affordable option at a time when users are most stressed. Good play by Cook and his boys. The alternative: used equipment and components. Faced with this situation, users can resort to a plan B that is not ideal, but that offers them a certain escape. This is where refurbished products could make more sense than ever, and where the second-hand market may mean that users may prefer not to go for the latest of the latest – from this year – and opt for the latest of the latest – from last year. If many do it, of course, there is the other danger: that even those reconditioned and second-hand products also rise in price. In Xataka | RAM manufacturers have grown tired of technology companies buying “just in case.” So they got serious

The MacBook Neo is the biggest existential threat to the Windows laptop market. And the manufacturers have no answer

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Catacrac. This is how the announcement that Apple made with the MacBook Neo. They are modest in specifications, yes, but they have a surprising price/performance ratio if we take into account that it comes from Apple. The company, which seemed like it would never “humiliate itself” with a “cheap” product, has ended up doing just that. And in the process, it has posed an extraordinary threat to Windows laptops with a product that is a missile to the waterline of many manufacturers. A perfect team for many people. We’re all looking for the best product at the best price, and the MacBook Neo is a fantastic balancing act. It is not by far the best laptop one can find, but it is a device with a very reasonable configuration for many people. And it is because many people use the laptop for tasks that do not need more power or features. Apple has also hit the nail on the head with the price: being an Apple product, those 700 euros almost seem like a bargain. A textbook masterstroke. While Windows laptop manufacturers get tangled up in justifying why a laptop It should cost 1,500 euros to do everything you want (not to mention the AI ​​options), Apple has on its hands a product that overturns the perception of value. The MacBook Neo does not seek to win performance races, but rather to be the equipment that any student, administrator or home user buys without looking at another alternative. In 2026, true innovation is not to include an incredible NPU, but to offer a product that solves a need and do so at a price that previously seemed an insult by Apple’s standards. Remembering netbooks. Almost 20 years ago the industry tried to move in this direction with netbooks. These Windows laptops were (very) modest, crude and cheap and generated a lot of expectation, but realities soon arrived. Its limitations were so obvious that they were not worth it, and the concept of the “modest, cheap and functional laptop” was perhaps ahead of its time. Cupertino has arrived on time. Apple seems to have arrived at the right time, because we have been saying for years that mobile chips were already extraordinarily powerful and were wasted both in our smartphones and (especially) in iPads. The MacBook Neo is what netbooks should always be—well, maybe a little expensive for a netbook—with the difference that here the features promise to be much more adequate. Slap for Windows on ARM. The appearance of this team is also a very hard blow for all those teams that have tried to Windows on ARM it made sense. We have seen several throughout these years and everything seemed to indicate that Microsoft and the manufacturers they had a chancebut they have ended up making computers that were basically clones of their variants with Intel/AMD in almost everything. With more autonomy and many AI functionsYes, but with often high prices and with some software limitations because the Windows ecosystem on ARM architecture is not nearly as prepared as Apple’s with macOS, which completed that transition after the launch of the M1 in 2020. There is hope for Microsoft and its users. Manufacturers of Windows equipment will now have to react and come up with competitive options. And they certainly have the potential to do so. Qualcomm has its Snapdragon Meanwhile, NVIDIA already has its SoCs for laptops almost ready —we saw them at CES— so we may be looking at a “second era of netbooks” in which the MacBook Neo competes with Windows/ARM machines on price and features. Of course, it remains to be seen what the real performance, autonomy and reliability of these future devices, including Apple’s, are. Suddenly Apple has a catalog of “affordable” products that puts its competitors in trouble. Beyond the Chromebook. The MacBook Neo could be seen as a “Chromebook killer”, but Google has stopped promoting them and manufacturers no longer lend them either so much attention. In fact, the future of Google laptops It seems to go through Android, not ChromeOS. While the MacBook Neo can certainly be a very reasonable device for students, it is actually an attack on the conventional “home laptop” with which HP, Dell or ASUS have always triumphed. Apple’s prestige plays a lot in its favor here, and it may win over not only young people, but also many other users who saw Apple as an aspirational brand that was too exclusive for their budgets. Memory makes everything more expensive… except the MacBook Neo. Furthermore, this launch moment could not be more cruel for Windows laptop manufacturers. All of them have already been warning that they will have to raise prices due to the RAM memory crisis, but Apple has done just the opposite: instead of presenting more expensive products—well, has also done it—, the firm has uncovered a functional and affordable bet that does not punish consumers. Sacrifices must be made, yes, but they are reasonable, especially in view of events. Apple has shown that you can be “humble” in price without losing your identity, and now it remains to be seen what the response of Windows equipment manufacturers is. Because what is clear is that that answer will come. And it is likely that after all this launch it will end up being very good news for us, the users. In Xataka | Apple made a splash with its cheapest iPhone. And the iPhone 17e is coming to repeat the play

Apple has only found one option to make a cheap laptop: make it a mobile

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The new MacBook Neo It costs 699 euros because it has the iPhone 16 Pro chip inside. Not the M4 from a couple of years ago, neither the M3 nor the M2. The A18 Pro: the same processor as many people have in their pocket. Apple has solved the price problem by doing something that until recently would have been unthinkable in its own mental architecture: reuse a mobile chip in a laptop. They put it in an aluminum case with a keyboard and hinge, gave it a new name, and sold it as if it were a different category. It is not. It is something more similar to an iPhone without a touch screen, with a trackpad and keyboard, and with macOS on top. For years, Apple has maintained (implicitly but consistently) that the Mac and iPhone were worlds apart, with different chips, for different uses. ARM architecture unified the foundation six years ago, but the M family and the A family followed separate paths: one for the desktop, the laptop and the tablet; another for mobile. That separation has sustained an entire product hierarchy. The Neo just killed it. Apple is admitting that the mobile chip is sufficient for most customers’ laptops. It is a recognition that has more implications than the price. If the iPhone chip is good enough for a Mac, what exactly the hell were we paying for before? The answer is… Apple’s margin. And the name. And the feeling that a Mac was something qualitatively different from a mobile phone with a keyboard. Now that feeling has a reference price: 600 euros difference between the cheapest MacBook and the most expensive iPhone. And the Neo’s USB-C ports don’t support Thunderbolt because the A18 Pro It doesn’t support it, so that’s not a product decision, it’s an original limitation that Apple has accepted as sufficient. The Neo isn’t exactly a strategic bet either. It’s more like an admission.. Apple had spent years without anything really competitive below 1,000 euros and it knew it, which is why sold the M1 in the United States for $700 as an emergency maneuver. On this side of the Atlantic, the empire of reconditioned and second-hand goods was taking away too many sales. The iPad with keyboard did almost the same thing as the entry-level MacBook Air and cost less, with the disadvantage of iPadOS but with greater versatility due to the touch screen and the option of using it undocked. The only way down was to cross the internal borders that Apple itself had built between its chip families. And there is what the Neo leaves in the air, more interesting than any specification: if the mobile chip is already sufficient for the work laptop of the majority, the convergence between both categories is not a future hypothesis. This is what Apple just put in its window for 699 mutts. In Xataka | Apple made a splash with its cheapest iPhone. And the iPhone 17e is coming to repeat the play Featured image | Apple

The laptop is still important in the age of AI

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Samsung has reserved the Mobile World Congress to announce the arrival in Spain of its new batch of laptops: the Galaxy Book6 series. This family is made up of three models, namely Book6, Book6 Pro and Book6 Ultra, and its objective is not so much to compete in specifications and price, but also to position itself as one of the fundamental pillars of the AI ​​ecosystem that the firm is developing. The news. Samsung has announced the launch in Spain of its new laptops. The Galaxy Book6 will start at 1,149 euros, the Galaxy Book6 Pro will start at 1,799 euros and the Galaxy Book6 Ultra will start at 3,399 euros base. It will be available from March 11 and its specifications are as follows: Galaxy Book5 Galaxy Book5 pro Galaxy Book5 ultra SCREEN 14 inch IPS Anti-Glare WQXGA+ (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) 350 nits brightness — 16 inch IPS Touch WUXGA (1920 x 1200 pixels) 350 nits — 16 inch IPS Anti-Glare WUXGA (1920 x 1200 pixels) 350 nits 14/16 inch Touch AMOLED Anti-reflective panel 16 inch Touch-AMOLED Anti-reflective panel WQXGA+ (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) 1,000 nits DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT 14 inches: 313.4 x 221.1 x 14.9mm 1.48 kilos — 16 inches 357.1 x 248 x 16.8mm (touch) 357.1 x 248 x 16.8mm (non-touch) 14 inches: 314.2 x 220.6 x 11.6mm 1.24 kilos — 16 inches: 356.9 x 248 x 11.9mm 1.59 kilos 356.9 x 249 x 15.4mm 1.79 kilos PROCESSOR Intel Core Ultra 5/7 Intel Graphics NPU up to 49 TOPS Intel Core Ultra X7/7/5 Intel Arc Graphics/Intel Graphics NPU up to 50 TOPS Intel Core Ultra X9/9/X7/7 Intel Arc/RTX 5060/5070 Graphics NPU up to 50 TOPS RAM 16/32GB LPDDR5x 16/32GB LPDDR5x 16/32/64GB LPDDR5x STORAGE Up to 1TB PCIe SSD Expansion port Up to 1TB PCIe SSD Expansion port (16″) Up to 1TB PCIe SSD Expansion port (16″) FRONT CAMERA 2MP 2MP 2MP BATTERY 61.2Wh 45W USB C fast charging 14 inches: 67.18 Wh 16 inches: 78.07 Wh 65W fast charging 80.2Wh Fast charging 100/140W OPERATING SYSTEM Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Home CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth v5.4 802.11ax 2×2 USB Type-C x2 USB Type-A x2 HDMI microSD RJ45, S-Lock combo jack Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth v5.4 802.11 be 2×2 Thunderbolt 4 x2 USB Type-A HDMI 2.1 port (8K@60Hz) combo jack Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth v5.4 802.11 be 2×2 Thunderbolt 4 x2 USB Type-A HDMI 2.1 port (8K@60Hz) combo jack OTHERS Stereo speaker Double microphone Dolby Atmos Stereo/quad speaker (16″) Double microphone Dolby Atmos 6x speakers Double microphone Dolby Atmos Haptic trackpad PRICE From 1,149 euros From 1,799 euros From 3,399 euros The mobile as the center. Galaxy phones, especially Galaxy S and, more specifically, the Galaxy S Ultraare the central axis around which Samsung’s product strategy pivots. The thread that unites the entire ecosystem, that is, tablets, watches, headphones and, of course, computers, is artificial intelligence. This is how Samsung makes money: the secret is in the IPHONE Samsung Galaxy Book Series6 | Image: Xataka Samsung’s idea is that our devices know us better and anticipate our needs, being proactive when it comes to suggesting data or taking action. In that sense, the more complete the ecosystem is, the more capacity to react it will have. It is something that Motorola and Lenovo They have also understood and that companies like Apple, in their own way, have been working for years. Samsung wants to connect everything and knows that in its enormous ecosystem it has a great competitive advantage, so it makes sense that it wants to continue exploiting it. And it works for them. According to internal data shared by the company, the laptop market grew by 9% in value in Spain last year. Samsung, for its part, has been the brand that has grown the most, with 88% in value and 93% in units. It is possible that AI PCs have not taken off as the market would have liked, but perhaps that is because the real value It is not in the execution of AI models locallybut in how products integrate with each other in the age of AI. Samsung Galaxy Book Series6 | Image: Xataka The role of AI in Book6. Samsung’s new laptops integrate Galaxy AI and Microsoft Phone Link. What does that mean? That the user can use the mobile phone from the PC, transfer files and synchronize devices to, for example, use a tablet as an external monitor. You can also use AI features such as generative editing, AI Select, voice file search, writing assistant, as well as all the Copilot+PC options. To do this, Samsung relies on the cloud, but also on the NPU of the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 that the three laptops mount inside. Roughly speaking, this allows certain functions to be executed locally, which increases privacy. The Ultra model, for its part, mounts NVIDIA RTX 5070/5060 GPUs, so, at least on paper, it should also excel in gaming and graphic tasks. Samsung Galaxy Book Series6 | Image: Xataka The importance of the laptop. And, although AI has proven to be a valuable ally in mobility, when it comes to productivity the laptop continues to be the reference device. The mobile phone is fine for doing things on the go, but when it comes to being really productive, a larger screen and a proper keyboard win out. Brands, aware of this, are working to ensure that their devices understand each other better and better and have found a way to achieve this in AI. AI cannot and should not be seen as something isolated, but as a common thread between devices that, for better and for worse, are condemned to understand each other. Images | Samsung In Xataka | Samsung has a plan for all its factories: have humanoid robots controlled by a central AI work

El Corte Inglés leaves this top LG laptop with 1 TB and 32 GB of RAM at more than half the price

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If you were looking for a very top laptop to work, study or even play, we have found a very interesting offer during the “Save the VAT” campaign of El Corte Inglés. It’s about this LG gram 14Z90Sa 2024 model but still a very good purchase option. Although when entering the product page, it appears available for 881.06, everything seems to indicate that it is a price errorsince when the product is added to the basket, it costs 1,078.33 euros. However, it is a good offer, considering the LG official websitethis laptop is available for about 1,200 euros (similar price to what it has in other stores). Furthermore, before, this device cost 2,649 euros, so now you can take it with almost 60% discount. LG gram 14Z90S-G.AD78B laptop, Intel Core Ultra 7-155H, 32GB, 1TB SSD, 14″, W11 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links A very top laptop at a totally unbeatable price now The screen of this ultrabook of the Korean firm is one of its main hallmarks. It is of type 14 inch IPSs with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels and anti-reflective treatment. In addition, it features a 16:10 format and a wide DCI-P3 color range of 99%. Your brain is the processor Intel Core Ultra 7-155Hwhich is accompanied by 32 GB RAM and internal storage SSD of 1 TB. In the graphics section, it comes with an Intel Arc graphics card, which will allow you to work with 4K UHD content with maximum fluidity. This laptop is ultralight, so It only weighs 1.1 kgso you can carry it comfortably anywhere backpack. In addition, its battery is another of its highlights, as it offers a range of up to 29.5 hours. You may also be interested in these accessories ZINZ Slim and Expandable Laptop Backpack The price could vary. We earn commission from these links BENFEI Laptop Stand with Docking Station USB C 7 in 1 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | LG In Xataka | This is the gaming tower that I would buy. The computers with the best quality-price ratio for gaming recommended by Xataka In Xataka | Best gaming laptops: which one to buy and eight recommended computers from 770 to 3,000 euros

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