The MacBook Neo is the most disruptive product Apple has released since the iPhone – but it's probably Chromebooks that will lose out

The secret to great product launches appears to be the same as comedy (Timing). And so the Apple MacBook Neo, the $600 (£600) notebook that was instantly ubiquitous across social media, comes to us at the end of the first quarter of the year. A year likely to be dominated by a looming shortage of RAM and a potential hike in the cost of all hardware.

It's got just 8GB of RAM, uses Apple's excess stock of A18 mobile chips, and comes in a range of appealing colors. This is all to the delight of podcasters and influencers who talk about this type of stuff. Is it underpowered? Is it overpowered? Is this going to fundamentally change our expectations of entry-level laptops? We're going to find out with this review...

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Apple MacBook Neo: Design

The MacBook Neo is unmistakably a MacBook; the lid, the logo, the bezels, the keyboard, it's all there. But there are a number of cutbacks, both inside and outside, that make it so cheap (for Apple). There's no backlighting for the keyboard, and you only get two USB-C ports and a headphone jack (all down the left-hand side). Both ports take charge, but only one hooks up to an external monitor.

This is the smallest MacBook available with just a 13in display. It's only 12.7mm thick and 297.5mm wide. Noticeably less than both the M5 models of Air and Pro. The keyboard is still full-sized, with largish keys, though the trackpad is a little on the small side.

A lot is being made of the colors, and there is a huge slice of nostalgia about them. You get four options here: Citrus, Blush, Indigo, and Silver. These are all nice, though some are more professional than others (we have the Silver). Apple devices that go on to be iconic are often bright colors; think iBooks or the orange iPhone 17 Pro.

Apple MacBook Neo: Display and keyboard

For a $600 laptop, the Neo has a surprisingly bright panel. It's a 13in IPS display, rather than OLED, but I recorded its peak brightness at 523cd/m2. Which is more than enough to be readable in most conditions, and I can't say I ever struggled to see the screen or needed to adjust its levels.

Naturally, the lack of an OLED display will lead some to suggest the Neo's display is not up to scratch. But in our tests, the IPS display came back with a strong show of color reproduction. It isn't so great with HDR videos, but its general quality is high enough for most users. I found it perfectly capable for editing images, streaming, and working late at night. In short, this is one of the best budget displays around.

The first thing to say about the keyboard is that it's worth paying extra to have the Touch ID. I know that's $100 (£100) extra, but it's very frustrating to have to type out a password every time you open it or the screen shuts off. And the lack of backlighting might be a problem for first-time laptop users at night, like young students. The rest of us type without looking, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Beyond that, the keyboard is just as good as you get on a Pro or Air; nice punchy keys with plenty of travel. The clack sound it makes is soothing. And you get a full-sized function row.

The trackpad is also just as good, or nearly the same as you get on the premium models, though it is noticeably smaller. Multi-touch gestures make the whole operation so simple – four finger swipes to see your desktop – both a great intro to MacBook but also the same experience users will know and love.

Apple MacBook Neo: Specs and performance

The MacBook Neo is a great example of mobile chips in laptops; it features the A18 Pro processor, which was used in the iPhone 16 Pro. This is a chip purposely built for on-device AI workloads, and with it, a range of nifty optimizations across the device. Having a laptop with all in-house developed parts (chip, hard drive, operating system) allows Apple to get the most out of it. So the 8GB of RAM isn't that big an issue, like it might be on a similarly priced Windows machine.

In Geekbench 6, the Neo came back with 3,287 for single-core workloads – the A18 Pro is able to give one application all it needs (and requires), which makes for a smooth operation. For single-core scores, the Neo is actually much stronger than MacBooks with the M1 and M2 chips. The multi-core score is also good, but 7,804 is far below everything from M2 onwards.

On the question of whether the Neo is either over- or underpowered, in our experience, it's somewhere in the middle. Editing images in Photoshop, for example, was perfectly fine. And, to some degree, editing video was OK. There's buffering. You'll see that little rainbow wheel frequently, but briefly. Sometimes you'll drag a clip, and it will disappear. Once you release the click, it comes back, but it's a little frustrating. I still made a YouTube Short out of 4 minutes-worth of footage. The Neo can do these things, but full professional video editing should be left to the Pro.

In our looped video test, the Neo lasted 13 hours and 18 minutes, which is both good for a £600 laptop and also great for remote workers (or those who spend lots of time away from plug sockets). This little wonder can get you through a day of work – even during our heavy video editing.

Apple MacBook Neo: Is it worth it?

The most disruptive product Apple has released since the iPhone, but it might not be disruptive to Windows machines, as there's too much choice within that bracket. It might, however, make a sizable dent in the Chromebook market.

In the next couple of years, you may go to IT for a temporary machine, or an entry-level one, depending on your role, and you'll likely see that old cupboard of unwanted Chromebooks replaced by Neos.

Apple MacBook Neo specifications