alt.hn

3/16/2026 at 7:05:03 PM

MacBook Neo can be modded to run faster, but you probably shouldn't

 https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/03/16/macbook-neo-can-be-modded-to-run-faster-but-you-probably-shouldnt

by gslin

3/16/2026 at 8:59:12 PM

I really don't get why Apple hasn't got into the dock game at all. With full vertical integration, they could literally make a doc that has cooling interface built in which can make laptops able to run faster.

by ActorNightly

3/16/2026 at 11:49:01 PM

Good lord you people truly don’t have any understanding of what normal people like or why Apple is so successful.

by 4fterd4rk

3/17/2026 at 5:43:23 PM

Apple is literally making a plebe-tier laptop, which is very far from their normal products that are designed to be fancy and expensive.

by ActorNightly

3/17/2026 at 12:58:43 PM

The design. Nobody can design a brick like Apple. /s

by hulitu

3/17/2026 at 5:00:18 AM

That's a very un-Apple idea. Their philosophy is that the user shouldn't have to think about things like thermals. You buy the system that can handle your workload. They don't want you buying the cheap option and hot rodding it.

Maybe this makes more sense in 2026 with the focus on local AI models, but I think Apple would prefer to sell high end desktops AND high end laptops to people who want both portability and maximum performance.

by simulator5g

3/17/2026 at 5:42:39 PM

They wont. Most professionals who use a mac end up plugging a usbc cable at work or home to use a bigger screen, keyboard/mouse, e.t.c. A dock would just replace that, while allowing higher performance and more cooling

by ActorNightly

3/17/2026 at 12:00:33 AM

I remember Intel MBP 16" suffered VRM overheat and the method that transfer heat to bottom shell case by attaching thermal pad was there too.

Sometime Apple intentionally ignores engineering problems when they want to push some product design aspects.

by donkeylazy456

3/17/2026 at 4:56:49 AM

On the other hand I see a very hot bottom case as an engineering problem that Apple solved by not using a thermal pad. Sometimes higher clock speeds don't really mean much for the user experience. For example I can set my gaming laptop to run in eco mode, or turbo mode, and the performance with simple tasks like web browsing is roughly the same. In these sorts of situations, its better to let the chip slow down a bit to preserve my thighs.

by simulator5g

3/17/2026 at 7:45:09 AM

The problem was mbp retail product couldn't provide performance processor can do. I am not saying they needed to apply thermal pad to transfer heat via bottom case. They should provide proper VRM cooling solution at that time.

actually, the throttle people suffered also can interfere normal use-case not only for power hogging scenario.

by donkeylazy456

3/17/2026 at 4:19:00 PM

> but you probably shouldn't

Yes, you shouldn't. Don't touch the hardware or software of _your_ computer.

by hulitu