That's not necessarily true, look at the Hiby R3 Pro II for instance. Even older players like the FiiO X3 II or the iPod 5.5 Gen (which is considered audiophile by many).
I'd hope that's the case, and I hope it's geared towards base M1s and such as they need it the most. Maybe they're improving RAM management to improve performance on the Neo.
"Golden Gate"? That's the lamest name for a macOS release ever IMO.
Edit: As expected, half the page on Apple's website talks about AI with only vague things about performance and UI improvements. I'll be staying on Tahoe for now.
I've been having a few problems with playback on ReVanced recently; it tends to buffer for a minute and the quality seems to be stuck on 480p. Any workarounds mentioned didn't work for long.
I'm sorry but I just can't feel sorry for the people working at Meta, or any of those multi-billion dollar companies anymore.