Apple's Low-Cost iPhone 17e is Faster Than the Low-Cost MacBook Neo

[MacRumors]

Apple is set to launch two new low-cost devices tomorrow, the iPhone 17e and the MacBook Neo. Both devices use A-series chips, which have historically been limited to the iPhone and iPad.

The MacBook Neo has Apple's A18 Pro chip inside, which was first used in the iPhone 16 Pro models, while the iPhone 17e has a newer A19 chip. Unsurprisingly, thanks to the newer chip, Apple's $599 iPhone outperforms the CPU in its $599 Mac.

The iPhone 17e earned a multi-core score of 9,241 on early Geekbench benchmarks, while the MacBook Neo earned a multi-core score of 8,668. Single-core chip results also favored the iPhone 17e, which earned a score of 3,607, while the Neo had a single-core score of 3,461.

Metal scores for the GPU were closer, with the MacBook Neo scoring between 30,000 and 31,400 the iPhone 17e earned scores ranging from 31,000 to 31,600.

Both the iPhone 17e and the MacBook Neo have the same 8GB RAM for Apple Intelligence support, and while that might not sound like enough for a Mac, early reviewers felt that 8GB RAM was sufficient for everyday light workloads.

The MacBook Neo is the first Mac that Apple has designed with an A-series chip instead of an M-series chip, and its benchmark results suggest that it is essentially an iPhone that runs macOS. It will be interesting to see how well the MacBook Neo sells given that its CPU performance trails Apple's low-cost iPhone.

Article Link: Apple's Low-Cost iPhone 17e is Faster Than the Low-Cost MacBook Neo

 

[turbineseaplane]

Ouch.

Slower than the 17e?
not even the 17 or 17 Pro?

 

[MacUserFella]

When the faster & newer chip is faster than the older chip: 🤯

 

[andrewxgx]

good job, tim

 

[Radeon85]

And this is why they shouldn't have cheaped out and went with the A19 Pro instead, faster, 12GB RAM and longer update support.

 

[raythompsontn]

The intended audience for the NEO will not even notice, and most certainly does not care.

 

[andypanoreo]

Apple should have used on the Neo the binned version of the A19 Pro used in the iPhone Air, since they aren’t selling many of those anyway…

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

When the faster & newer chip is faster than the older chip: 🤯

When Apple put an older chip in a new laptop when they should have used the newer chip and now your phone is faster than your laptop!

 

[turbineseaplane]

Apple should have used on the Neo the binned version of the A19 Pro used in the iPhone Air, since they aren’t selling many of those anyway…

I was at a Seattle area Apple Store 2 days ago and the staff was very chatty.
They said they sell basically no iPhone Airs.

Sad times.

 

[andypanoreo]

And this is why they shouldn't have cheaped out and went with the A19 Pro instead, faster, 12GB RAM and longer update support.

Exactly. At a minimum, they could have used the slightly “less powerful” one found in the iPhone Air… But it’s Apple… they like to create an upgrade path to keep consumers wanting the next device

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

The intended audience for the NEO will not even notice, and most certainly does not care.

You sure? I think middle-schoolers can be quite mean...especially when some in class have MBA and little Jimmy walks in with a Neo!

 

[andypanoreo]

I was at a Seattle area Apple Store 2 days ago and the staff was very chatty.
They said they sell basically no iPhone Airs.

Sad times.

There you go. This means that a binned A19 Pro would have been available. The Neo would have basically be perfect with the 12gb of RAM that the iPhone Air has…

 

[Return Zero]

I mean, it’s $100 cheaper (@ edu price which is what I paid) and oh yeah it’s also a full-blown laptop with a keyboard and 13” retina screen and headphone jack and usb3.0 and a headphone jack and macOS that can actually run professional software suites quite well.

Who cares if it’s slightly slower on a benchmark. iPhones have been “faster” than many mainstream (and even pricier) laptops for years… nothing new here. This is like a slow news day headline when it’s not even an actual slow news day.

 

[turbineseaplane]

There you go. This means that a binned A19 Pro would have been available. The Neo would have basically be perfect with the 12gb of RAM that the iPhone Air has…

Vision Pro & iPhone Air have been some serious misreads by Apple.
Flops, straight away .. the both of them.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Vision Pro & iPhone Air have been some serious misreads by Apple.
Flops, straight away .. the both of them.

the only misreads was the pricing on both! Imagine a $999 Vision Pro or a $599 iPhone Air!

 

[Dorfdad]

And this is why they shouldn't have cheaped out and went with the A19 Pro instead, faster, 12GB RAM and longer update support.

Next years model

 

[jmh600cbr]

ITT people that don’t realize this is a Chromebook competitor for younger people or institutions. It doesn’t need to be “fast” and it isn’t an iPhone alternative.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

You sure? I think middle-schoolers can be quite mean...especially when some in class have MBA and little Jimmy walks in with a Neo!

That’s not an apple thing that’s a bad parenting thing.

 

[CalMin]

@MacRumors - I love this site but seriously, are you trolling us here?

Why on earth is anyone comparing a Phone CPU to a Laptop CPU? They are different devices with different use case and purposes. The cost of the laptop display, chassis alone cost more than the phones do. The only thing in common is that they are both made by Apple.

Also - what use is the comparison? "My laptop is too slow, so I need to switch to my faster phone to complete my photo editing?"

This is MaxTech ragebait, clickbait style reporting. I'm sure you get decent engagement this way but it seems a little beneath what I have come to expect from this site.

 

[arkhanjel]

 

[mpetrides]

Really, folks, the people this laptop is aimed at are NOT going to be looking at Geekbench scores or even at what processor is in the dang thing. It's a MAC and it runs MacOS and it cost $499 educational, $599 otherwise. That's all they will care about. These will sell like hotcakes.

BTW, check out what this puppy can do in real world conditions.

Tyler Stalman is a professional photographer/videographer not some Apple shill. What he is demonstrating is a Mac that can meet the day-to-day needs of most people in the market for a budget laptop--and do it with the style and build quality of a Mac.

Repeat after me: It's a MAC, running MacOS for $499 educational, $599 otherwise. It will sell like hotcakes.

 

[Return Zero]

There you go. This means that a binned A19 Pro would have been available. The Neo would have basically be perfect with the 12gb of RAM that the iPhone Air has…

Just because the Air isn’t selling well doesn’t mean they have a bunch of extra A19 pro sitting around. Even if they do it’s still a lower-yield and more expensive chip, and they were clearly trying to shock the price-sensitive market with the 499 entry point. Even a slightly higher Neo price would have put it too close to the ~750 sale/refurb price of the M4 MBA (already close as is). It’s much easier to hide that marginal expense in the price tag of a Studio Display XDR, for instance… (less price-sensitive market there)

 

[citysnaps]

Make sense. Though no doubt those who mine bitcoin or decrypt foreign adversary encrypted communications on their iPhones will probably be steamed.

 

[andiwm2003]

This is great news. because next year when the neo gets the A19pro chip there will be a faster iPhone too. This helps keep prices down for the Neo. The point of the neo is to be cheap and still run office and youtube and videos and an internet browser for 500 bucks. To me that is a perfect travel computer. I have to bring my work laptop on all of my travels, vacation or business. That leaves not enough room to bring a full sized MacBook pro or even the air. I usually bring an iPad but I want a full MacOS. The new fills that gap and the new is cheap enough that I don't worry too much if it breaks as it's only a third of the price of my MacBook.

 

[Macalway]

Funny that finally all that phone power will be useful.

Texting surfing and talking is perhaps, not very demanding.