I’ve used the MacBook Neo, Apple’s new $600 laptop – here’s why it could be a game changer
I used the MacBook Neo in the Apple demonstration area and had some good time with it - here's what I thought
I was in attendance at Apple’s Event today where it revealed the $599/£599 MacBook Neo budget laptop and nothing else. Apple chose to focus the in-person event in London, New York and Shanghai specifically on the device and also chose not to introduce it with a video, but through in-person presentations and hands-on time.
I used the MacBook Neo in the demonstration area and had some good time with it. The new laptop comes in four colors as you can see here – blush, indigo, silver and my personal pick, the citrus. It looks great, though I’m not sure I could sit in a coffee shop with it (as is mandatory to do when testing a laptop). But then, I’m not the target audience for this MacBook.
Instead, Apple is clearly targeting students and everyday users who just don’t need the power that an M-Series chip offers. Instead, it uses the A18 Pro. It’s a really interesting choice considering it’s a two-year-old chip, but the price point has to have been achieved somehow.
On paper, the performance seems broadly similar to the 2022 MacBook Air M2 which makes sense.
While the Neo seems highly capable, creators will want to look further up the lineup, not least because the Neo comes with a meagre 8GB of memory. That is a concern, but I’ll have to see how it does when I get one to review. It has to be said, though, that in all the demonstrations and in my own use it was snappy – but then all models were fresh out-of-the-box.
It’s not fair to say that corners have been cut to achieve the price point because there is a lot on offer here – after all, you’re talking about a laptop that’s around half the price of the MacBook Air M5. So there are bound to be some compromises.
There are two models and the 256GB version doesn’t have Touch ID which is a shame. But $100/£100 more will get you Touch ID and 512GB of memory instead. And $699/£699 is still a good price considering that’s what many were expecting the Neo to cost anyway.
One area that certainly isn’t a compromise is in the aluminium chassis, which is unmistakably MacBook. It’s notably more rounded than the Air or Pro, while it weighs about the same as the Air. And it’s great that there are two USB-C ports (though only one is USB 3.0 which is confusing) as well as Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 6 and a headphone jack. The 16-hour battery life should also stack up very well indeed when it comes to testing.
The 13in 2408×1506 LED display (219ppi with up to 500 nits brightness) is also very bright for a budget laptop. I found the audio quality so-so from the side-firing dual speakers, but you woudn’t expect more for the price.
I’m looking forward to testing out the MacBook Neo in earnest when it comes to our review.
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
