We have already done it reviewed (and loved) the MacBook Neothe newest member of the Apple laptop family. Its good features include that $599 price point (or $499 with education pricing open to all), fun orange-like colors, and a powerful A18 Pro chipset. And that sentiment is largely unanimous among tech reviewers.
Still, amid all the praise for Apple’s most affordable laptop, there are drawbacks. These aren’t really flaws – Apple had to pick and choose what to include and what not to make its low-cost MacBook a reality. The positives outweigh the negatives, but it’s still important for consumers to know what they’re getting into. Here’s why the Neo might not be your cup of tea.
Only 8GB of RAM
Many stores, from Mashable to The Verge, they revealed that the MacBook Neo only comes with 8GB of RAM. No matter which model you buy, there is no option to upgrade the memory of your MacBook Neo and it is impossible to upgrade it later. In most cases of normal use – writing documents, browsing the Internet – 8GB will be more than enough. But if they need to multitask – or edit a processor-hungry video, say – users will feel the need for a few more GB.
There are few storm ports
The MacBook Neo is sorely lacking in ports. As our review notes, the MacBook Neo does not have a Thunderbolt 4 port, which means it can only offer transfer speeds of up to 10Gb/s. Compare that to the 40Gb/s of the latest MacBook Air.
About the Neo’s two USB-C ports? However, as Macworld he writes, they don’t fit exactly. One is for 10Gb/s data transfer and displays, and the other is a 480Mbps port only — which should be used mostly for charging purposes.
Single core processes: Good. Multi-core processes? Uhh.
The MacBook Neo and its A18 Pro chip are surprisingly faster in most single-core processes than the more powerful M Series chipsets. In 9 on 5 MacIn benchmark tests, the Neo was faster than the M1, M2, and M3 MacBook Air laptops when used for tasks like web browsing and basic photo editing.
Mashable Light Speed
However, the MacBook Neo is slow when it comes to complex use cases like video streaming and AI processing that requires multi-cores. 9to5Mac found that the MacBook Neo was slightly faster than the 5-year-old M1 MacBook Air, and the slowest of all M Series chips.
Want to slim down? Consider the MacBook Air
Bloomberg, and partners in CNET, make an interesting point. While the MacBook Neo is small because of its 13-inch display, it is still he is great than the MacBook Air. This makes sense — if you pay more for Air, you pay for less structure. But it means that the Neo is not as easy to handle as you might think. (The Neo and the 13-inch MacBook Air both weigh the same, at about 2.7 lbs.)
CNET also found that the MacBook Neo’s battery life didn’t last as long as other MacBooks, including the MacBook Air.
The base model of the MacBook Neo may not be enough
As many reviewers have noted, the $599 model only comes with 256GB of storage and lacks Touch ID. In this day and age, 256GB of storage space isn’t much. System data will take out part of that space right off the bat; once you’ve installed the apps, there might not be too much in the way of documentation and downloads. Touch ID does indeed work, for now; eliminates the need to type multiple passwords.
Apple is offering an upgraded MacBook Neo model that doubles the storage to 512GB, and includes Touch ID, for an extra $100. But that takes away from the appeal of the MacBook Neo’s base model for much lower prices.
As BGR points out, it appears that Apple has sent many early reviewers the 512GB model with Touch ID. That indicates which MacBook Neo model Apple considers to be standard.
Bottom line: The MacBook Neo seems like a powerful computer at an amazing price as long as you’re using the device for basic, everyday tasks. For more advanced use cases, it may still suit your purposes – but we recommend looking at what else Apple has to offer, to make sure you’re buying the right MacBook for your needs.
