MacBook Neo Reviews: Is Just 8GB of RAM Enough?

[MacRumors]

The first reviews of the MacBook Neo were published today by selected publications and YouTube channels, ahead of the laptop launching on Wednesday.

Available in Blush, Citrus, Indigo, and Silver, the MacBook Neo is powered by a version of the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 Pro. The laptop is equipped with a 13-inch display, up to 512GB of storage, and a non-configurable 8GB of RAM.

MacBook Neo is Apple's most affordable MacBook ever, and most of the reviews so far call it a great value. In the U.S., pricing starts at just $599, or at an even lower $499 for college students and qualifying educational staff.

The big question: is just 8GB of RAM enough? Most reviewers say yes.

Reviews

The Verge's Antonio G. Di Benedetto said the MacBook Neo's 8GB of RAM is "totally adequate" for "the everyday productivity stuff the Neo is meant to handle":

The MacBook Neo zips through the light workloads it's designed for. The A18 Pro chip actually outperforms Apple's M1 MacBook Air (and most Windows laptops) in single-core processing benchmarks, the spec most vital for the everyday productivity stuff the Neo is meant to handle. That's why this $600 laptop excels at light tasks like web browsing and working on Google Docs. The Neo's 8GB of RAM and slow 256GB storage are totally adequate for living this life, but the machine does feel a little slower at the fringes if you know where to look — like how clicking the Applications folder on the dock sometimes takes a second for the icons to populate.

The relatively paltry RAM and storage prevent the Neo from performing as well in heavier creative apps as the MacBook Airs and Pros, but that's fine.

CNET's Matt Elliott ran Geekbench 6 on the MacBook Neo, and the A18 Pro chip achieved scores of 3,541 for single-core CPU performance and 8,958 for multi-core. This means the MacBook Neo's peak performance tops Macs with the M1 chip, while the single-core number is approaching the M4 chip, so the MacBook Neo should feel particularly "bursty."

Mac Model	Multi-Core CPU Score
MacBook Pro (M5 Max)	29,233
Mac Studio (M3 Ultra)	27,726
MacBook Pro (M4 Max)	25,702
MacBook Pro (M4 Pro)	22,490
Mac Studio (M2 Ultra)	21,410
MacBook Pro (M3 Max)	20,960
Mac Studio (M1 Ultra)	18,434
MacBook Air (M5)	17,073
MacBook Pro (M3 Pro)	15,260
MacBook Pro (M2 Max)	14,740
MacBook Air (M4)	14,731
MacBook Pro (M2 Pro)	14,451
MacBook Pro (M1 Max)	12,345
MacBook Pro (M1 Pro)	12,345
MacBook Air (M3)	12,020
MacBook Air (M2)	9,709
MacBook Neo (A18 Pro)	8,958
MacBook Air (M1)	8,342

Bloomberg's Chris Welch praised the MacBook Neo's aluminum design, display quality, and the dual speakers on the left and right edges of the laptop:

Even for consumers who stick to more casual computing, the Neo's aluminum build, crisp screen and well-balanced speakers are going to make this a no-brainer purchase for millions. In your hands, the device looks, feels and sounds every bit like a Mac.

Tom's Guide ran its usual battery test, which involves continuous web surfing at 150 nits of display brightness, and the MacBook Neo lasted for 13 hours and 28 minutes. The publication said this is "fantastic endurance for a laptop in this price range," topping the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3's 8 hours and 39 minutes. However, it falls short of the latest MacBook Air, which lasted for 15 hours and 28 minutes in the test.

While the MacBook Neo has only 8GB of RAM, no Touch ID button on the base configuration, no MagSafe, slower USB-C ports instead of Thunderbolt ports, and no backlit keys, most reviews conclude that the laptop is still a great deal.

Fast Company's Harry McCracken:

Overall, though, the MacBook Neo is one of Apple's best recent products, even though its innovation is all about thoughtful cost control, not new features. Along with being a compelling option for anyone shopping for a laptop in its price range, it's the perfect Mac for kids and other loved ones who might otherwise have inherited a dented, poky hand-me-down. I would not be startled to see it fly off shelves.

Additional reviews were published by Ars Technica, WIRED, and 9to5Mac, among others.

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Article Link: MacBook Neo Reviews: Is Just 8GB of RAM Enough?

 

[boswald]

Is that Ichigo Kurosaki in the last wallpaper? If so, I want it!

 

[Slix]

I do more "heavy duty" computer stuff than a majority of people I know, and I'm fine with 8GB of RAM on my Mac. It'll be fine for many many people who want a cheaper MacBook. If you're a pro and need more, you probably aren't looking at this machine anyway!

 

[diego.caraballo]

"but the machine does feel a little slower at the fringes if you know where to look — like how clicking the Applications folder on the dock sometimes takes a second for the icons to populate"

Unfortunately this is a "feature" of macOS Tahoe, and not a fault of the Neo itself. Last week I transferred someone's data to a new MB Pro 14" M5 2025, and it behaves exactly the same. Not hardware related.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

"but the machine does feel a little slower at the fringes if you know where to look — like how clicking the Applications folder on the dock sometimes takes a second for the icons to populate"

Unfortunately this is a "feature" of macOS Tahoe, and not a fault of the Neo itself. Last week I transferred someone's data to a new MB Pro 14" M5 2025, and it behaves exactly the same. Not hardware related.

I just tried it on my M4 Pro with 16gb, and it's slow to populate.

 

[STOCK411]

I do more "heavy duty" computer stuff than a majority of people I know, and I'm fine with 8GB of RAM on my Mac. It'll be fine for many many people who want a cheaper MacBook. If you're a pro and need more, you probably aren't looking at this machine anyway!

Exactly. Its purpose built to reach an audience with a hard price cap.

100$ or more to get a “better spec” laptop is not something that is an easy decision for them like it would be for you or me. And the Apple refurbished store changes on a daily basis. So comparing or saying get a refurbished laptop are missing the entire point.

For the person that uses a laptop for emails, writing word documents etc. its well worth the price over a windows laptop for the same price.

I

 

[segfaultdotorg]

8 GB is inadequate for a modern machine and it will soon lose functionality for Apple Intelligence Powered by Google Gemini(TM).

 

[WarmWinterHat]

8 GB is inadequate for a modern machine and it will soon lose functionality for Apple Intelligence Powered by Google Gemini(TM).

Oh darn..what a loss...

 

[boswald]

I think 16GB should've been the standard long ago, but we're now approaching a time where even that may be pushing it (mostly games though).

 

[XboxEvolved]

This computer is more or less as powerful as my current driver. Also, super annoying video thumbnails.

Here is my question; if Apple generally goes 7 OS updates per machine, and the M1 and Neo are roughly the same power wise, does that mean that the M1 goes beyond 7 years, or the Neo has less updates? Or does it mean that the Neo will somehow get 7 years worth of updates (imagine using a M1 MacBook Pro in 2032 that came out in 2020) and I will complain when they stop making updates for M1?

Anyways great little machine that I'll be checking out here in a few days on my Apple Store visit and plan on buying one for my daughter, I want to definitely upgrade to something far more substantial in the future. Perhaps this time next year with a 16' M6Pro 64GB ram? 🤔

 

[dwd3885]

Ah. The cringe YouTube influencer teaser photo with Matrix themes is gonna get tiresome. But I'll watch anyway.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The Neo is going to be great for who it's meant for.

These first few weeks we have to wade through and wait out the people who will try to do too much with it and tell us how it's slower and not as good at more advanced things.

Yes. We know. It's not meant for that.
That's why it's $599.

 

[vanishing]

If the hardware specs are good, then any slowdown is caused by …… macOS.

You would think Apple would fine tune Tahoe to Swiss watch precision before releasing an 8gb machine in 2026.

 

[abatabia]

Ugh those cringe thumbnails.

The Neo is going to be amazing for what it is. I think it’s a very smart move by Apple.

 

[turbineseaplane]

For "creators" these people sure don't have much creativity.

 

[Entilzha]

iJustine’s video showing a bunch of stuff running simultaneously without issue was quite informative. I’m sure there was SSD swapping, but random regular user isn’t going to care and the ssd likely won’t die before something else does in the laptop.

A very very good device for the price point. 80% of users would be very happy with this as their main device.

 

[1d1otic]

Wait for next year with A19 Pro which has 12GB ram.

 

[code-m]

This computer is more or less as powerful as my current driver. Also, super annoying video thumbnails.

Here is my question; if Apple generally goes 7 OS updates per machine, and the M1 and Neo are roughly the same power wise, does that mean that the M1 goes beyond 7 years, or the Neo has less updates? Or does it mean that the Neo will somehow get 7 years worth of updates (imagine using a M1 MacBook Pro in 2032 that came out in 2020) and I will complain when they stop making updates for M1?

Anyways great little machine that I'll be checking out here in a few days on my Apple Store visit and plan on buying one for my daughter, I want to definitely upgrade to something far more substantial in the future. Perhaps this time next year with a 16' M6Pro 64GB ram? 🤔

8GB is a price point stopgap until prices for 12+GB of RAM make profit margins acceptable for Tim Cook. I suspect the Neo won’t be macOS compatible after 3-4 years tops. By that time the AI craze would be more stable and not in a rapid growth stage on the bell curve.

 

[hoodlum90]

Throttling is a lot worse than with the M1 Air.

Apple MacBook Neo review: Can a Mac get by with an iPhone’s processor inside?

8GB of RAM is a bummer, but this $599 laptop cuts most of the right corners.

arstechnica.com

 

[code-m]

Wait for next year with A19 Pro which has 12GB ram.

We don’t know yet if the Neo is an annual upgrade product or like the iMac a 18-24 month product cycle update.

 

[el-John-o]

If you know what RAM is and are aware that 8GB is on the low side, the MacBook Neo is not for you.

If you have no idea what RAM is or whether 8GB is a lot, the MacBook Neo is perfect for you.

That's a bit of an exaggeration but, point being; I'm not sure why "low end laptop has low end specs" is as much of a shocker. At least from where I sit, for YEARS we've had these kinds of insanely low end specs from Apple on base model $1,000+ laptops. 8GB of RAM is tiny but... in 2026, with current component prices, a $600 8GB RAM laptop with a fast CPU, long battery life, and a nice display is very good value. And anyone who NEEDS more than 8GB of RAM almost certainly is well aware they need more than 8GB of RAM and isn't looking to buy one of these anyway.

 

[rosegoldoli]

feel like im in the twilight zone trying to explain to people that yes 8 GB is small for 2026 but is more than enough for what people will be using this for. i would say even enough to pursue passions early (video, music, graphic deisgn)

 

[turbineseaplane]

Throttling is a lot worse than with the M1 Air.

Apple MacBook Neo review: Can a Mac get by with an iPhone’s processor inside?

8GB of RAM is a bummer, but this $599 laptop cuts most of the right corners.

arstechnica.com

Yep. I still maintain that a preowned or refurb M1-M4 13" MBA is a way way better use of nearly the same money.

That aggressive throttling behavior in single-core CPU benchmark bodes poorly for tasks where the A18 Pro is being asked to sustain performance over time—both for multi-core-heavy CPU-based workloads, and things like games that put demands on the CPU and GPU at the same time.

 

[abowlby]

Why will no one acknowledge that "just browsing the web" is better on iPad and you can get one of those for $200. Need keys? $50 ESR keyboard off of Amazon.

"Netbooks aren't better at anything." Yuck! 🤢

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jNC4sDIGQ_A&t=12s&pp=2AEMkAIB

 

[joshwithachance]

The primary area of concern with the Neo, for me personally, is longevity. It's comparable in power and specs to the M1 Air, which is approaching 6 years old. I just don't know or see how Apple can provide sufficient support for the Neo that doesn't completely hinder performance in the long run in comparison to every other Mac in the lineup. Especially with throttling/weaker overall performance already being reported in numerous reviews. If it's already having performance "issues" on day 1, what about a year and more from now?

But starting at $599 ($499 for students) does that really matter? Most would probably say no. Especially for the target demographic. Though most would likely be better served by a refurbished M2 or newer Air imo.