Apple’s new MacBook Neo is its most affordable laptop in a while, and it’s pretty clear that the company wants to challenge the established dominance of Windows devices and Chromebooks in the lower-end laptop market. Announced just recently, the MacBook Neo manages to get a lot of things right, and if you’re curious about possibly getting one for yourself, then here are some things to keep in mind—let’s get started!
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Overall Design
At first glance, the MacBook Neo pretty much looks like the rest of Apple’s laptop lineup, albeit with some key differences that help it stand out. For one, it’s available in four different colours including blush, indigo, silver, and citrus, which bring a bit more colour to Apple’s otherwise strictly business-looking laptop range. It does seem a bit curvier compared to other models like the MacBook Pro for example, which helps distinguish it from an aesthetic perspective.
Display Specs
The Neo also makes for a very portable laptop, with a 13-inch IPS screen serving as your main window into macOS; interestingly, Apple hasn’t provided the Neo with a notch for the camera, although it does make for a cleaner look overall. It also features a decent resolution of 2408 x 1506 pixels, although it’s not particularly bright with a maximum brightness of just 500 nits. That being said though, we go back to the Neo’s target market which probably won’t need a high-powered OLED display to get work done.
Processor: Good Enough?
Perhaps one of the biggest highlights of the MacBook Neo is its processor, which takes the form of the Apple A18 Pro chip, the same processor that the company used for the iPhone 16 Pro. Unlike the MacBook Air and Pro models (or even iPad Air and Pro for the matter) which use Apple’s M-series chips, the Neo’s more affordable price means that it does tone down the performance a bit, although we’ve seen several reviews so far which show that the A18 Pro is very much capable of powering an entire laptop.
Storage and RAM
Another difference that sets the Neo apart from its more expensive siblings is its storage and memory configuration—it starts at 256GB of storage, which is half of what you get on the latest base model MacBook Air. There is an option for a 512GB storage model, although you’ll have to shell out a hundred quid more for that one (more on this in a bit). As for RAM, the Neo comes in a single 8GB setting, with no option for a more generous 16GB model.
Price Makes All the Difference
As we’ve mentioned for several times now, the MacBook Neo fills a specific void in Apple’s product portfolio, and provides buyers with a more affordable laptop option. With the M5 MacBook Air now costing £1,099, the Neo offers a delightfully more budget-friendly alternative at just £599, and buyers who go for the student discount can even get it for £499. That being said, if you want the 512GB option you will have to pay £699, although that’s still 400 quid cheaper than the base model MacBook Air.
Of course, your decision regarding the MacBook Neo will ultimately boil down to your needs and preferences. Users who need a bit more power for gaming and content creation might want to go for Apple’s M-series options, although buyers such as students and folks who just need a perfectly serviceable laptop without the compromises found on cheap Windows machines will find a lot to love with the Neo.
