RustyRus wrote:
Good lord man- Its a 16 year old kids first content creator machine-
It will absolutely destroy at that task- This kid would be extremely lucky to have something this top notch as a first machine for photo/video editing. I would happily use it!!!!
Pointing out why the Neo may not be ideal isn’t the same as suggesting that a kid needs a high end computer.
I see people making two basic errors when buying computers. They buy way more computer than tyhe actually need. (Pretty common on this forum!) Or they buy less computer than they need and soon regret it.
I don’t think that many kids need high-end “content-creator machines.” A Neo is a fine tool for its target market — email, social media, word processing, playing music, viewing media, and similar. That’s where Apple positions it. It will sell well for high school and middle school kids, and it will serve many college students’ basic needs pretty well, too.
If the young person will only do light photography stuff with jpgs and only use the Apple Photos app, then the Neo could be as functional as, say, a basic iPad. They could have a lot of fun with it.
And if the family budget can’t support even a bit more expense than the Neo, it is better than nothing. (Though I’d consider a machine with a little more memory and SSD storage, perhaps a used one that is one or two years old.)
If a parent is sure that this is the situation, then fine, get the upgraded 12GB/512GB Neo and understand what it is and isn’t, what it can and cannot do, and how long it will be sufficiently powerful as the market progresses.
If a parent thinks that there’s a good chance that their kid might end up with a copy of Lightroom and become a little more serious about photography – maybe at the level of the photography club kids back in the day — then the Neo is likely to come up short, and other inexpensive options like those I mentioned are likely more appropriate. The good news is that there are reasonably inexpensive options that provide a bit more storage and a bit more memory.
I know you're eager to get him going on his own setup (rather than having to rely on yours) but have you considered letting him use your system initially, at least through the end of his honeymoon period with the camera, just to make sure it's a hobby he's committed to and he demonstrates a proven need?
gdanmitchell wrote:
Pointing out why the Neo may not be ideal isn’t the same as suggesting that a kid needs a high end computer.
I see people making two basic errors when buying computers. They buy way more computer than tyhe actually need. (Pretty common on this forum!) Or they buy less computer than they need and soon regret it.
I don’t think that many kids need high-end “content-creator machines.” A Neo is a fine tool for its target market — email, social media, word processing, playing music, viewing media, and similar. That’s where Apple positions it. It will sell well for high school and middle school kids, and it will serve many college students’ basic needs pretty well, too.
If the young person will only do light photography stuff with jpgs and only use the Apple Photos app, then the Neo could be as functional as, say, a basic iPad. They could have a lot of fun with it.
And if the family budget can’t support even a bit more expense than the Neo, it is better than nothing. (Though I’d consider a machine with a little more memory and SSD storage, perhaps a used one that is one or two years old.)
If a parent is sure that this is the situation, then fine, get the upgraded 12GB/512GB Neo and understand what it is and isn’t, what it can and cannot do, and how long it will be sufficiently powerful as the market progresses.
If a parent thinks that there’s a good chance that their kid might end up with a copy of Lightroom and become a little more serious about photography – maybe at the level of the photography club kids back in the day — then the Neo is likely to come up short, and other inexpensive options like those I mentioned are likely more appropriate. The good news is that there are reasonably inexpensive options that provide a bit more storage and a bit more memory.
If he’s a student then a laptop would be better and I think Apple has a decent student discount too. I used to use Pixelmator a lot. It had a decent AI masking option and plenty of photo editing tools plus it also has the ability to create graphic images too.
It works well with Photos as it’s now part of Apple so expect further integration down the road. It also has a free trial period:
Seems a tempting option, and spec-wise it should suffice; BUT the screen is not up to the task of photo editing like other Macs are! It's very important to have a screen that shows colors and tones accurately!
Well, the screen does only have sRBG color gamut, but it is basically the same screen as the 13" iPad. Despite its limitations I think it is a strength of the laptop and puts it way above most Chromebooks. For critical color work it also supports an external monitor and on that color monitor you can get a P3 color gamut and up to 4K resolution. It should handle even very color sensitive work well on an external monitor.
Mar 12, 2026 at 07:25 PM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
gdanmitchell wrote:
Pointing out why the Neo may not be ideal isn’t the same as suggesting that a kid needs a high end computer.
I see people making two basic errors when buying computers. They buy way more computer than tyhe actually need. (Pretty common on this forum!) Or they buy less computer than they need and soon regret it.
I don’t think that many kids need high-end “content-creator machines.” A Neo is a fine tool for its target market — email, social media, word processing, playing music, viewing media, and similar. That’s where Apple positions it. It will sell well for high school and middle school kids, and it will serve many college students’ basic needs pretty well, too.
If the young person will only do light photography stuff with jpgs and only use the Apple Photos app, then the Neo could be as functional as, say, a basic iPad. They could have a lot of fun with it.
And if the family budget can’t support even a bit more expense than the Neo, it is better than nothing. (Though I’d consider a machine with a little more memory and SSD storage, perhaps a used one that is one or two years old.)
If a parent is sure that this is the situation, then fine, get the upgraded 12GB/512GB Neo and understand what it is and isn’t, what it can and cannot do, and how long it will be sufficiently powerful as the market progresses.
If a parent thinks that there’s a good chance that their kid might end up with a copy of Lightroom and become a little more serious about photography – maybe at the level of the photography club kids back in the day — then the Neo is likely to come up short, and other inexpensive options like those I mentioned are likely more appropriate. The good news is that there are reasonably inexpensive options that provide a bit more storage and a bit more memory.
Dan the software thing all depends on how companies react to these lower powered laptops that are becoming more and more ubiquitous. I think you can count on companies to offer compelling editing products for the fast growing and very large market.
If software is optimized for these types of laptops the machine will have lots of power and storage space (remember external drives will be quite fast using the USB-C of these machines).
Steve Spencer wrote:
Dan the software thing all depends on how companies react to these lower powered laptops that are becoming more and more ubiquitous. I think you can count on companies to offer compelling editing products for the fast growing and very large market.
If software is optimized for these types of laptops the machine will have lots of power and storage space (remember external drives will be quite fast using the USB-C of these machines).
Kids don't use EVF's anymore- they certanily don't use Lightroom Classic as well. My son has lightroom CC running on an agent Mac Mini-
He also edits 4k60 video on it all the time as well.
Is it perfect? Nope but he hasn't even complained once about it. He would loose his marbles if I got him the new Neo laptop- I probably will for a college present-
He will take it and edit videos, photos and create all the crazy stuff he already does at lighting speed. Having kids that are under 18 and understanding what they need is key-
TheBeej418 wrote:
A lot of people that know a thing or two about editing around here who have likely gotten their family into the hobby/profession.
We’re currently in Tokyo from the States and as his 16th birthday gift, we went by the Sony Showcase and bought him an a6700 kit - his first “real” camera. He’s been having fun the past few days but I’m quickly realizing… what’s he going to do with all these photos when we get home? He doesn’t have a computer other than school issued Chromebook and his iPad could stand to be updated. While I’ve been around here for a while, I’m a novice at best and want him to have his independence where he’s not relying on me, my computer, my subscription, etc. to mess with his photos.
What would you recommend for him? Would a new iPad be feature rich enough? Does it need to be a computer? Would a LR alternative like Darkroom be good enough? ...Show more →
lightroom is good for 2 computers, just share one subscription.
snapsy wrote:
I know you're eager to get him going on his own setup (rather than having to rely on yours) but have you considered letting him use your system initially, at least through the end of his honeymoon period with the camera, just to make sure it's a hobby he's committed to and he demonstrates a proven need?
This is a 16 year old, not a small child. Imo, a 16 year old should have a proper computer for so many reasons outside of photo editing. It is a need in this society.
shadow9d9 wrote:
This is a 16 year old, not a small child. Imo, a 16 year old should have a proper computer for so many reasons outside of photo editing. It is a need in this society.
The OP indicates he already has a Chromebook and an iPad.
