Wixtech.net

To truly mimic the Chromebook experience on a Mac, you need your web apps to behave like native .app binaries. This allows them to appear in Spotlight ($Cmd + Space$), the Dock, and the $Cmd + Tab$ app switcher.

Step 1: Create the Application

1. Open Google Chrome and navigate to the service (e.g., gemini.google.com).
2. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) in the top right corner.
3. Select Save and Share > Install page as app…
4. (Optional) Rename the app for easier searching (e.g., change “Google Gemini” to just “Gemini”).
5. Click Install.

Step 2: Ensure Spotlight Indexing

Chrome creates these apps in a specific folder: ~/Applications/Chrome Apps. macOS usually indexes this automatically, but if your apps aren’t appearing in Spotlight:

1. Go to System Settings > Siri & Spotlight.
2. Scroll to the bottom and click Spotlight Privacy.
3. Ensure your Applications folder is not on the exclusion list.
4. If it still doesn’t appear, drag the Chrome Apps folder into the Privacy list, wait 30 seconds, and then remove it to force a re-index.

Step 3: The “Discrete” Experience

When you launch a Chrome PWA, it runs in its own window without the address bar or bookmarks toolbar. This significantly reduces visual clutter and prevents the “tab-hunting” fatigue common in standard browser workflows.

Tech Tip: If you want a truly “distraction-free” environment, right-click the PWA in your Dock, select Options, and check Open at Login. This ensures your core “OS” tools are ready the moment you wake the MacBook Neo.

The MacBook Neo: Apple’s Best Chromebook?

The launch of the MacBook Neo has reignited the perennial debate: Is a laptop powered by an iPhone-class processor and 8 GB of RAM actually practical in 2026? Most reviewers are busy stressing the silicon with 4K video exports, but they might be missing the point.

What if the Neo isn’t meant to be a Pro machine, but rather the world’s most premium Chromebook?

The Experiment: Building a “MacOS-Less” Mac

To test this theory, I staged a clean-room environment on an M1 MacBook Air. My goal was to strip away the “Apple-ness” and see if a web-first workflow holds up on entry-level ARM silicon.

• The “Neo” Profile: I created a local user account (no Apple ID, no iCloud) to ensure no background sync services were taxing the CPU.
• The Browser as OS: I set Google Chrome to launch at login and stripped the Dock of all native Apple apps.
• PWA Integration: I installed Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and Gemini as standalone Chrome Applications (PWAs).

Why PWAs Matter

Running these as discrete windows rather than browser tabs changes the UX entirely. They appear in Spotlight search and the Cmd+Tab switcher just like native binaries. It creates a focused, “discrete” environment that mimics the simplicity of ChromeOS but retains the superior hardware of a Mac.

Initial Observations

The goal here is a “distraction-free” security and productivity layer. Early indications suggest the battery life will easily dwarf my Dell Latitude running ChromeOS Flex. We know the hardware is capable; the question is whether the software overhead of macOS remains a hurdle or becomes a silent backup for when you must run a native app.

Only time will tell if Apple has inadvertently built the best Chromebook of the year.

Do It Yourself

If this experiment sounds interesting to you, take a look at this post where I go into detail on setting up Chrome Apps for your Mac. https://wixtech.net/2026/03/25/howto-configuring-chrome-pwas-for.html

With the release of the new MacBook Neo, Apple is making me start to question everything about my personal productivity stack. I have been a long time iPhone, iPad and Mac user. I’m also one of those people that has tried (more than once) to make the iPad into a full-blown computer with various add-ons like keyboards, mice and even the rather expensive Magic Keyboard. These devices always seem to miss the mark for me when compared to a dedicated laptop computer.

Of course the iPad is great for media consumption, for drawing and taking handwritten notes. But you know what? I can’t really draw very well and my handwriting on glass is even worse than it is on paper. Do I enjoy using my iPad for browsing the web, reading PDFs and ebooks and some light gaming? Sure. But when it comes time to “make the words on the screen” the iPad usually ends up being a bit of a chore to setup and is always less efficient for me.

You know what is not a chore for me to use? My beloved M1 MacBook Air. I’ve owned this laptop for over 5 years now and it has never let me down. All day battery life - check. Comfortable keyboard and trackpad - check. Good enough display (for my old eyes) - check. For me, the MacBook Air “just works”.

Another point in the MacBook’s favor over the iPad is that I know how it works. No mysteries about iCloud syncing and file saving. My years of keyboard shortcut muscle memory continue to aid me on the Mac. The 13” inch display on my MacBook is alway easy to read and is very customizable.

So what does this have to do with the new MacBook Neo you might ask? The fact that Apple has released a new device powered by last year’s iPhone Pro processor for $600 has me wondering whether I will ever invest in a premium iPad ever again. My reasoning is that when you purchase an iPad Air or iPad Pro for productivity your investment is not just limited to the purchase price of the device.

For an iPad to be fully capable as a laptop replacement, you need to purchase at least a keyboard. You may also want to add a mouse, trackpad or pencil for additional functionality. And of course you’ll want to protect that expensive iPad with a cover of some sort.

One of the things I am trying to watch out for as I get older is to stop buying things for my things. I would rather invest in something that gets the job done without having to make additional investments in add-ons which invariably get lost, wear out or fail to perform.

Here is what the costs come down to when you compare the MacBook Neo to a new iPad and keyboard.

I note that these are full retail prices for these devices. You can definitely get better deals from time to time on iPads and even the Magic Keyboard Folio. And we may see similar deals on MacBook Neos eventually. In the meantime, students and educators receive a $100 discount on the Neo which is pretty nice.

I think the numbers speak for themselves.

The MacBook Neo looks like a complete solution in my opinion. It’s not the fastest Mac. And the Neo does not come with a cellular data option (which I would love). But from the reviews I have read and the videos I have watched it looks like Apple has a hit on their hands with this new device.

#blog

Looking to start writing regularly and I am hoping that micro.blog will prove to be the right environment for me.

Now I am looking into enabling cross-posting from micro blog to mastodon.social.