Apple MacBook Neo Review: Delicious, Low-Hanging Fruit

An unprecedented terms for Apple. Fun, playful colors that inactive look professional. Really sharp, agleam show for this price.

8 GB of representation is casual to usage up. USB ports and retention velocity are slow. Lack of keyboard backlighting is frustrating. No Touch ID connected the basal model.

It's not the basal MacBook. Or the inexpensive MacBook. Or the mini MacBook. It's the MacBook “Neo,” meaning caller oregon young—a caller instrumentality connected an aged idea. Love the sanction oregon hatred it, you apt spot what Apple was attempting to pass from a selling perspective. It's meant to beryllium a caller benignant of Mac for a caller generation—perhaps an effort to recapture a procreation that's lone been exposed to iPads and Chromebooks.

But is determination thing caller here, beyond selling hype? That was the question successful my caput arsenic I pulled the laptop retired of its box, gawking astatine however Apple made a lime greenish laptop look classy. Apple made a clump of compromises that mightiness consciousness similar the institution is nickel-and-diming its customers, taking vantage of the irresistible entreaty of a $599 MacBook. While I recognize that argument, my clip with the MacBook Neo shows that it made cuts successful the close places. Outside of a mates of missteps, the MacBook Neo is simply a existent budget laptop, done the close way.

MacBook, Reborn

The MacBook Neo is undeniably cute. In a satellite of dead-serious tech products that seldom stray from metallic and black, the MacBook Neo doesn't instrumentality itself excessively seriously. There are 4 colour options available: Silver, Citrus, Blush, and Indigo. They’re determination betwixt the boldness of the iMac and the subtlety of the MacBook Air colors. The Citrus colour is the brightest of the bunch. It’s determination betwixt golden and lime green, depending connected however the airy hits it. It’s astir apt not what I’d take for myself, but I tin spot this being a fashionable option.

I similar that Apple committed to the colors by changing the colors of the keycaps, too. Regardless of which you choose, the keycaps are lighter than the remainder of the device, which gives it a unsocial look. It makes everything consciousness lighter and much playful, which makes it easier to comparison to a Chromebook. The rounder corners of the show and chassis adhd to that playfulness too.

Of course, Apple besides takes the colors into the software, conscionable similar with the modern iMac. So, not lone are my fingers surrounded by Citrus arsenic I usage the MacBook Neo, it’s besides connected the screen. The wallpaper features the color, of course, arsenic bash dialog buttons, folder icons, and highlighted text. It’s subtle, but it’s thing lone Apple tin do, arsenic the institution owns some the hardware and software.

One of my favourite aspects of the MacBook Neo's plan is the deficiency of a notch successful the screen. I similar tiny bezels arsenic overmuch arsenic anyone else, but I truly dislike the camera notch successful the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Here, Apple managed to bash without it. The bezels are astir an eighth of an inch thicker than the MacBook Air's bezels, and it besides uses a smaller camera module, owed to the deficiency of an ambient airy sensor. So, nary True Tone that automatically adjusts the colour somesthesia of the screen—although it tin inactive automatically set brightness based connected the airy successful the room.

As you expect successful an Apple product, there's nary compromises with physique quality. It's a full-aluminum instrumentality that feels each spot arsenic premium and sturdy arsenic a MacBook Air. The MacBook Neo and MacBook Air are precise adjacent successful size too. The Neo is marginally thicker than the Air astatine 0.50 inches, but they're the nonstop aforesaid value astatine 2.7 pounds. The MacBook Air is somewhat deeper and wider than the MacBook Neo, but not by arsenic overmuch arsenic you mightiness deliberation fixed the quality successful show size. Even though Apple calls some of them “13-inch” screens, the MacBook Neo is implicit a half-inch smaller diagonally. So, portion the solution of 2408 x 1506 means less wide pixels, the Neo maintains a precocious pixel density of 219 pixels per inch. The MacBook Neo is not lone sharper than the competition, it's besides brighter. Using a colorimeter, I tested it astatine 509 nits, which is doubly arsenic agleam arsenic galore of the inexpensive laptops successful this terms scope that apical retired astatine 250 oregon 300 nits.

The colour reproduction does instrumentality a measurement backmost from what you get connected the MacBook Air, though. Neither are bully capable for much superior colour enactment similar the MacBook Pro, but the MacBook Air has a somewhat much colorful display, hitting 89 percent of the AdobeRGB colour abstraction versus 73 percent connected the MacBook Neo. If you don't cognize what a colour abstraction is, you won't request a much color-rich surface than this.

There are Windows laptops retired determination with comparable (or adjacent better) specs, but nary that are arsenic crisp oregon agleam arsenic the MacBook Neo. Many usage a 1920 x 1200 solution screen, usually stretched crossed a larger 14-inch screen. Other comparable laptops, similar the Asus Vivobook 14, travel with low-quality screens that endure from mediocre colour reproduction. One of the champion alternatives is the comparably-priced HP OmniBook 5, which has an OLED display. It has amended colors and opposition than the MacBook Neo, but isn't arsenic crisp oregon bright. Looking astatine the 2 broadside by side, I'd accidental the MacBook Neo has the much pleasant surface to use.

Some Limitations

Like astir people, erstwhile I archetypal saw the terms of the MacBook Neo, I instantly wondered what the drawback was. If not the screen, past what other distinguishes this from the MacBook Air? As I discovered, determination are tons of small corners that Apple chopped to get the terms down. It starts with the ports. On the MacBook Air, the headphone jack is located connected the close side, crossed from the USB-C ports. On the Neo, the headphone jack is connected the near broadside further towards the beforehand (towards you), on with the 2 USB-C ports. This is simply a truly antithetic location, close adjacent to the stereo side-firing speakers. But I'll instrumentality an awkward audio jack versus nary astatine all.

As for those 2 USB-C ports, some tin beryllium utilized to complaint the device, though lone the USB-C 3 larboard has DisplayPort built successful to link to an outer display. Fortunately, determination are immoderate bundle alerts built into macOS Tahoe that pass you erstwhile you’re utilizing the incorrect USB-C port. It’s truly smart. Once you find the close port, though, you’ll find that the strategy tin lone grip outer displays up to a 4K solution astatine 60 Hz. All MacBooks going backmost to the M1 MacBook Air person been capable to grip up to a 6K resolution.

These USB-C ports are a spot retired of date, and unfortunately, they aren’t labeled. The backmost 1 (closest to the hinge) is USB 3, which tin bash 10 Gbps. But the different USB-C larboard is USB 2, a slower modular that tin lone bash 480 Gbps. So, not lone is this not Thunderbolt (like connected the MacBook Air), it's not adjacent the latest mentation of USB-C. USB4 would person fixed the MacBook Neo astatine slightest 20 Gbps. It's truly bittersweet to spot the 25-year aged USB 2 modular amusement up connected a brand-new laptop. Heck, adjacent the M1 MacBook Air from 2020 utilized Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports. You truly don’t privation to usage this larboard for things similar transferring files to an outer SSD.

It besides uses a mechanical trackpad alternatively than 1 with haptic feedback. Fortunately, I’m blessed to study that the MacBook Neo’s multitouch trackpad is inactive solid. The click is simply a spot loud, which is annoying, and the aboveground doesn't consciousness rather arsenic creaseless arsenic connected the MacBook Air. But it's bully enough. The keyboard present is excellent, arsenic I expected it to be.

There are 2 large caveats with it, though. First, there’s nary keyboard backlighting. It’s 1 of those features that Mac users astir apt seldom deliberation about, but erstwhile they truly request it. I don’t spot it arsenic a make-or-break diagnostic for astir people, though. Secondly, the basal exemplary portion I reviewed didn’t travel with Touch ID, truthful the lone mode to log successful oregon usage Apple Pay is with an old-school password. I get that they’re trying to prevention each penny, but Touch ID is already the astir basal biometric authenticator, truthful this feels similar a blast from the past. This is 1 of my slightest favourite compromises Apple made connected the MacBook Neo. (Touch ID is built into the keyboard connected the $700 configuration which comes with a 512-GB SSD.)

The webcam and speakers connected the MacBook Neo are some tiny downgrades from the MacBook Air arsenic well. While the camera is 1080p, it doesn’t person the aforesaid 12-megapixel sensor arsenic you’ll find successful the latest MacBook Air. That’s wherefore you get a spot little extent successful the image, and the processing tends to overshoot the brightness. It's inactive a amended camera than what’s connected astir laptops astatine this terms that I've tested, though.

A Phone Chip successful a MacBook?

The MacBook Neo is powered not by an M-series spot designed for Mac specified arsenic the M5 oregon M4, but alternatively by an iPhone chip. That’s right—under the hood of the MacBook Neo is the A18 Pro, which besides appears successful the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. It’s the astir almighty mobile spot Apple has, but it’s designed for MacBooks. Pair that with a fanless plan and the regulation of 8 GB of RAM (which can’t beryllium upgraded successful immoderate way), and I was a spot skeptical astir however the MacBook Neo would perform.

When you look astatine the earthy benchmarks, it’s a spot of a mixed bag. I’m not talking astir comparing it to the top-of-the-line chips coming retired successful 2026. I hap to beryllium investigating the aforementioned HP OmniBook 5 close present too, which is powered by the Snapdragon X spot and is presently cheaper than the MacBook Neo. It's a cleanable examination to spot if the A18 Pro truly works arsenic a due laptop chip.

The MacBook Neo’s advantages successful this examination are successful single-core CPU and GPU performance, which person ever been the strengths of Apple Silicon. That translates to a precise snappy-feeling device. Applications unfastened fast, animations are fluid, and lighter games execute amazingly well. Don’t fuss with Cyberpunk 2077 oregon Baldur’s Gate 3 (although you amended judge I tried), but it handles elemental Apple Arcade titles astir arsenic good arsenic your telephone does.

I did rotation up Oceanhorn 3, a new, graphically-intense crippled successful Apple Arcade that Apple has been touting. Unfortunately, the play acquisition was beauteous rough. It struggled to play smoothly astatine representation prime that I'd telephone “good enough.” That was disappointing. And yet, arsenic seen successful 3DMark Steel Nomad Light benchmark I used, the MacBook Neo inactive earned a 40 percent amended people than the HP OmniBook 5. Graphics person been the biggest weakness of the Snapdragon X chips arsenic a whole.

On the different hand, the Snapdragon X, which launched successful aboriginal 2025, has a important pb implicit the A18 Pro successful multi-core CPU performance. It’s not close, either. The Snapdragon X successful the HP OmniBook 5 is 47 percent faster successful multi-core show arsenic tested successful Cinebench 2026. For immoderate heavier tasks that the strategy tin dispersed crossed cores, Qualcomm's same-priced Windows laptops importantly outperform the Neo. That includes compiling code, rendering video, and moving analyzable look successful Excel, but besides thing arsenic elemental arsenic dense multitasking wherever you're moving 2 analyzable applications simultaneously.

As a whole, the occupation of show with the MacBook Neo isn't astir the A18 Pro. Instead, it's astir the retention show and memory. The velocity of the laptop's SSD is considerably slower than the competition. With mean constitute speeds of astir 1,350 megabits per 2nd (and 1,450 work speeds), this is pre-Apple Silicon levels of SSD performance, meaning ample downloads consciousness slow, arsenic does moving with those ample files. It's astir fractional arsenic accelerated arsenic the SSD connected the M1 MacBook Air, for reference.

But the biggest constituent of contention with the MacBook Neo's show is the regularisation to conscionable 8 GB of unified memory. My elemental workflow connected a MacBook Air, which involves a mates twelve Chrome tabs, Slack, and Spotify, would usually devour up astir 12.75 GB of memory. At idle connected the MacBook Neo, I noticed successful the Activity Monitor that the strategy takes astir 4 GB conscionable to tally the operating strategy with nary applications open. That is simply a look for disaster. MacOS is rather businesslike astatine utilizing thing called "swap memory" arsenic needed to debar slowdowns oregon crashes owed to constricted RAM. But they volition hap if you propulsion the strategy a bit. I recovered that bounds by piling connected 20 oregon truthful Safari tabs, aggregate streaming YouTube videos, Spotify, a fewer applications, and an unfastened video call. At that point, things started to truly dilatory down. My RAM usage was approaching 7 GB, and the Swap Used representation was nearing a afloat gigabyte. That's going to beryllium much than the mean idiosyncratic is purposefully using, but utilizing the MacBook Neo means being much mindful of what's unfastened successful a mode that you ne'er person to bash with a MacBook Air.

This constricted RAM whitethorn go an adjacent larger occupation successful the future. MacOS has lone grown much memory-intensive arsenic its evolved, and the much AI is built-into subsystems and inheritance software, the bigger a occupation 8 GB of RAM volition become. A bully illustration is Spotlight, which precocious got updated with tons of caller features and takes astir 170 MB of RAM successful the inheritance astatine each times.

Our archetypal artillery tests person been good. A ran a section video playback trial for 13 hours, and it lone drained the artillery to 50 percent. That's with the surface acceptable astatine a modular 100 lux, which is astir 40 percent of the afloat brightness of the display. I'll request a fewer much days to get a fuller representation of what artillery looks similar and update this reappraisal with the results.

Who Is It For?

This mightiness marque you wonderment if the MacBook Neo is underpowered. As a whole, I'm guessing not. For years now, I've been skeptical that astir radical are adjacent utilizing the afloat powerfulness of the latest Apple Silicon successful the MacBook Air. The M5 has almighty graphics and top-of-the-line CPU performance, and that's mostly wasted connected radical who exclusively run retired of a conscionable a fistful of browser tabs. That's a precise ample demographic. If that's you, you'll apt bask utilizing the MacBook Neo and not beryllium bothered by the limitations. Pay attraction to what apps you person open, and you'll beryllium fine.

The examination radical are astir funny successful is however this stacks up successful Apple’s ain lineup. After all, the MacBook Air M1 was continuing to beryllium being sold for $650 (or adjacent $600 during sales) done Walmart, and these weren’t refurbished oregon used. But the A18 Pro is astatine slightest equivalent show to the M1 successful astir ways, and adjacent surpasses it. There's a fig of tradeoffs betwixt the M1 MacBook Air and the MacBook Neo to see beyond performance, of course. They person equivalent displays, but the M1 MacBook Air has amended retention performance, faster ports, and a amended trackpad. Meanwhile, the Neo has a higher-resolution webcam, a smaller footprint, and a much modern wide design. Overall, I'd instrumentality the Neo.

But buying the Neo does mean you'll get frustrated astatine immoderate point. Maybe it's erstwhile you're trying to transportation a ample record from an outer SSD, oregon erstwhile you're trying to usage it astatine nighttime and can't spot the keyboard, oregon erstwhile you tyre of typing your password successful repeatedly, oregon erstwhile you propulsion the strategy and deed immoderate stutters from the deficiency of memory. It'll beryllium thing antithetic for everyone, but it's bound to hap astatine immoderate point. But astatine that nonstop moment, you'll besides retrieve the $500 you saved by not buying a MacBook Air and reason it was astir apt worthy it. That's precocious praise for a budget-level product. Ultimately, it's what makes the MacBook Neo 1 of the champion fund laptops you tin bargain close now—despite its flaws.