MacBook Neo Review: Can Apple's Cheapest Laptop Handle Real Work?

[MacRumors]

It's been a little over two weeks since the MacBook Neo launched on March 11, and MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been using it daily to do a more thorough review.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.​

At $599 (or $499 for students), the MacBook Neo is the cheapest laptop that Apple has come out with, and given the quality of the product, it's an impressive price. The A18 Pro chip isn't underpowered for a notebook machine, and the Neo is going to handle every day-to-day task that you might throw at it.

8GB RAM might sound like not enough because all of Apple's other Macs have 16GB or more, but Macs use RAM so efficiently that most people aren't going to miss having more RAM. If you're browsing the web, watching videos, managing documents, writing, scrolling through social media apps, sending emails, completing homework, and doing other light work, the MacBook Neo isn't going to struggle. 8GB RAM is also sufficient for all of the Apple Intelligence features that Apple has come out with so far.

The MacBook Neo works totally fine for editing photos and videos, but it's of course not as quick as Apple's MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M-series chips. You're going to see slower export times, but the actual process of editing video on the MacBook Neo doesn't feel overly sluggish.

The MacBook Neo had no problems with 30 Chrome tabs open with YouTube, Google Docs, news sites, spreadsheets, Twitter, and more, even when other apps like Mail, Messages, and Spotify were running. Bumping up to 60 tabs used all of the available RAM, but everything running was usable with no freezing or beach balls. A Windows laptop probably wouldn't be able to operate like the Neo does on just 8GB RAM, but with Apple's SoC, it works.

There are some compromises with the MacBook Neo in addition to the RAM. You're not going to get Apple's best display, but it's not too far off the MacBook Air display. There's just no True Tone for adjusting the display white balance to the lighting in the room. You're limited to two USB-C ports (one limited to USB 2 speeds at 480Mb/s, which does impact how fast files transfer), and another that's USB 3 at 10Gb/s. There's no Thunderbolt, no MagSafe charger, no SD card slot, no HDMI port, and no backlighting for the keyboard. The trackpad is mechanical instead of Force Touch, but it works largely the same, and there's a 1080p camera.

Battery life is solid at up to 16 hours on a full charge, and the power draw is low enough that you can get some extra juice with a small power bank. The MacBook Neo only comes in 256GB and 512GB configurations, so storage is a bit limited, and we do recommend that 512GB upgrade for an extra $100 if you can swing it because it adds Touch ID to the keyboard. The MacBook Neo is slim and lightweight at 2.7 pounds, plus it comes in fun colors like blush, citrus, silver, and indigo.

The MacBook Neo is designed for students on a budget, parents buying a first laptop for a child, and people who just need a basic machine for everyday online tasks. It may be Apple's lowest tier Mac, but it is one of the best computers you can get in its price range.

Many competing Windows PCs and Chromebooks around the $600 mark are bulkier and uglier, with dimmer displays and less powerful chips. PC makers haven't had to try in the low-end market because Apple didn't compete there, but now that's changed.

There's a reason why ASUS CFO Nick Wu said that the MacBook Neo was a "shock" to the entire PC industry that's being taken "very seriously." PC makers are going to need to innovate to keep Apple from dominating the affordable and education market.

Article Link: MacBook Neo Review: Can Apple's Cheapest Laptop Handle Real Work?

 

[Astuces iOS]

Why we talk about the Neo so much? We know that the m1 can do that so the Neo can too… duh nothing new here !

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Why we talk about the Neo so much? We know that the m1 can do that so the Neo can too… duh nothing new here !

The M1 is going to lose software update support before the Neo.

..plus you can't buy the M1 Air new anymore.

 

[JMalone]

Just tell Jensen to stop hoarding all the RAM and then we can have 16GB NEOs for 599.

 

[JPack]

The M1 isn't going to lose software update support before the Neo.

That’s what iPad Pro A10X owners thought. Turns out their devices lost support before base iPad A10 did.

Apple doesn’t look at specs when determining length of software support. They look at product launch date.

 

[popltree2]

Why we talk about the Neo so much? We know that the m1 can do that so the Neo can too… duh nothing new here !

Because it's worth talking about a computer like this. Apple hasn't had a serious entry in this market segment since the plastic MacBook. Apple getting back into it with the components and build quality they have is going to cause a lot of other manufacturers to stop resting on their laurels. It's better for the industry as a whole when someone can provide real competition.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

That’s what iPad Pro A10X owners thought. Turns out their devices lost support before base iPad A10 did.

Apple doesn’t look at specs when determining length of software support. They look at product launch date.

That was a typo, I mean't that the M1 will lose it before the Neo.

 

[jz0309]

The MacBook Neo had no problems with 30 Chrome tabs open with YouTube, Google Docs, news sites, spreadsheets, Twitter, and more, even when other apps like Mail, Messages, and Spotify were running. Bumping up to 60 tabs used all of the available RAM, but everything running was usable with no freezing or beach balls

So that's considered "real work"???
I don't know who can mange 30 or even 69 tabs on a 13" screen, I sure can't.

But anyways, very happy with my base model Neo, have done some light work in LRC/PS with no issues

 

[Naraxus]

Why we talk about the Neo so much? We know that the m1 can do that so the Neo can too… duh nothing new here !

You do know you could have just skipped over this article right?

 

[Purrific]

I have the Neo and a MBP - I'm a translator and today I did my translation work on the Neo to test it out and see if I really need to keep the Pro. So, I have Parallels 26 running, and some clunky old CAT translation tool that only works in Windows. Translating complicated medical texts - lots of to-ing and fro-ing between Parallels and the Mac side to look up vocabulary, check the original versions of the brochures I was translating etc. I had loads of tabs open, multiple Preview windows, Parallels and Trados - I checked the memory pressure at one point (but only once, as I had a very tight deadline), and it was using 6.5 GB plus 2-3GB swap. No heat or anything, no running slowly.
I'm actually kind of annoyed because I wanted a clear reason to keep my Pro. 😀 It was slightly difficult to see any errors flagged by the software in a small sub-panel, but I managed fine.

 

[DunedinD]

Same points almost every tech site has been wittering on about for weeks now. How about some actual battery life tests or other vaguely scientific testing rather than weak assurances like the screen not being far of the Air's brightness – actually tell us how bright it is compared to other popular consumer devices under the same conditions.

 

[DunedinD]

You do know you could have just skipped over this article right?

Maybe they had the expectation MacRumors had actual data to relay, instead of an article an AI could write based on chucking it previous articles, Apple's press release and spec sheet.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

So that's considered "real work"???
I don't know who can mange 30 or even 69 tabs on a 13" screen, I sure can't.

But anyways, very happy with my base model Neo, have done some light work in LRC/PS with no issues

My wife routinely has 30+ tabs in Chrome on her little Microsoft Surface Pro 13". I don't know how she does it.

I rarely have more than three tabs open before I get annoyed.

 

[Steve01234]

Macs use RAM more efficiently : thats an utterly FASLE statement and you don't know what you are talking about, please fix it.
Data and instructions take what they take to store. A byte is 8 bits, a unicode char is 1-4 bytes and there is no getting around that. In fact pixels are often stored as float16 in macOS API's in RGBa format or 16bits (2 bytes) per channel X 4 channels = 16bytes / pixel. exactly the same on PC or Linux. Why ? because GPU math is more accurate when processing images and is pretty much just as fast as lower formats unless you want 8bit which can be pretty ugly on real images but ok for some games.
What macOS does do is hide its virtual memory usage more because its SSD's are now really fast, but I can assure you when an app that needs to do realtime work hits VM, its performance crashes. using VM works to keep low speed apps running, but its not a substitute for real RAM and the performance it provides.

 

[boswald]

My wife routinely has 30+ tabs in Chrome on her little Microsoft Surface Pro 13". I don't know how she does it.

I rarely have more than three tabs open before I get annoyed.

I'm the same way. I can't stand having more than that before I start going on a tab purge.

 

[Michael Scrip]

There are millions of people who will never install Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Davinci Resolve, or Blender.

They just do standard computer stuff... email, documents, web browsing, etc.

This laptop will be perfect for them.

Sidenote... iPhones have around 55% market share in the US... while Macs in the US are only around 15%

I'm guessing there will be a lot more people finally getting into the Mac ecosystem... in the US anyway.

😎

 

[mattwolfmatt]

Why we talk about the Neo so much? We know that the m1 can do that so the Neo can too… duh nothing new here !

The Neo will introduce millions of users into the Apple ecosystem, just like the iPhone has.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

There are millions of people who will never install Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Davinci Resolve, or Blender.

They just do standard computer stuff... email, documents, web browsing, etc.

This laptop will be perfect for them.

Sidenote... iPhones have around 55% market share in the US... while Macs in the US are only around 15%

I'm guessing there will be a lot more people finally getting into the Mac ecosystem... in the US anyway.

😎

Indeed. I've never installed those apps on any Mac I've owned. I don't even know what Davinci Resolve or Blender do.

I did use a pirated copy of Photoshop back in the early 2000s on a Windows PC. 😆

 

[capamac]

"The ‌MacBook Neo‌ works totally fine for editing photos"

No doubt. From 1998-2002 I worked at a newspaper where I used a PowerMac 7500 (100mhz PowerPC 601 cpu) with maybe 96 megabytes of RAM and Photoshop 3 for scanning 35mm negatives and photo editing (about 8 megapixels for a full scan). It was plenty fast, many many times faster than working in a wet darkroom.

 

[klasma]

So that's considered "real work"???
I don't know who can mange 30 or even 69 tabs on a 13" screen, I sure can't.

Hey, 9” were perfectly fine for real work on a Mac 40 years ago!

 

[klasma]

Same points almost every tech site has been wittering on about for weeks now. How about some actual battery life tests or other vaguely scientific testing rather than weak assurances like the screen not being far of the Air's brightness – actually tell us how bright it is compared to other popular consumer devices under the same conditions.

You’re really in the wrong place on this site for anything scientific. The reviews are just slightly more fact-based than the other rumors. 😉

 

[chars1ub0w]

Bumping up to 60 tabs used all of the available RAM, but everything running was usable with no freezing or beach balls. A Windows laptop probably wouldn't be able to operate like the Neo does on just 8GB RAM, but with Apple's SoC, it works.

If you guys write an article, it should be fact based. "probably wouldn't" smacks of laziness. You should give actual data.

I posted it elsewhere, but I think it's worth repeating. Please do real testing.
Some cross-platform image processing code on Windows 11 laptops and a couple of MacBook configurations. Real data for those interested in this kind of code. Total time to process 21 images controlled for parallelism.

 

[boswald]

Indeed. I've never installed those apps on any Mac I've owned. I don't even know what Davinci Resolve or Blender do.

I did use a pirated copy of Photoshop back in the early 2000s on a Windows PC. 😆

You and I have a lot in common, it seems. I did the same thing back in high school because I couldn't afford an official license for my graphics design class.

 

[boswald]

Why we talk about the Neo so much? We know that the m1 can do that so the Neo can too… duh nothing new here !

Because it's currently turning the industry upside down. Apple has traditionally been a "luxury" to most people, so by bringing the prices down to this level almost anyone can get one and get into macOS.

 

[ab2c4]

That was a good review, thank you.

I am not a power user at home. If I were buying a Mac today it would be a hard choice between the Mini and the Neo: Same price but do I want a desktop with more performance or do I want a laptop. That would be my question to myself.