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Marques Brownlee
Macbook Neo Review: Better than you Think!
Macbook Neo Review: Better than you Think!
Marques Brownlee
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12:53 · Mar 10, 2026
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Okay,
so
Apple's
newest
laptop
is
$599.
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0:02
Okay, so Apple's newest laptop is $599.
0:07
Actually, $499 if you have a student discount.
0:09
And now that I've used it for a week,
0:11
not only is this really good,
0:12
I think it's potentially Apple's most disruptive product in the last 10 plus years.
0:18
Not the iPhone 10
0:19
or the Vision Pro
0:20
or some other crazy advanced super high-end tech,
0:22
but actually the exact opposite.
0:24
Nothing in this MacBook Neo is fundamentally new or something we've never seen before,
0:29
but is this combination of things
0:31
that is about to make the entire Windows
0:33
and Chromebook laptop industry very nervous.
0:35
Cuz here's the thing, yes, this is an entry-level laptop and yes,
0:39
it's running an iPhone chip, the A18 Pro.
0:41
And yes, it's meant for basic tasks, web browsing.
0:45
I even said in that original impressions video,
0:47
like if you're watching a tech video on YouTube,
0:49
if you're subscribed to this channel, this probably isn't meant for you.
0:52
But it turns out this Neo is better than you think.
0:56
Even better than I expected, to be honest.
0:58
So, here's the context you need.
0:59
The cheapest MacBook you've been able to get for the past couple years has
1:02
always been a MacBook Air,
1:04
which typically hovers around a thousand bucks new.
1:07
This year got the M5 chip bump and it's $1,100 to start,
1:10
but a thousand bucks is still pretty pricey for a laptop.
1:13
So, a lot of places have continued selling older MacBook Airs at discounts for
1:18
years since it came out in 2020,
1:19
cuz it's still that good.
1:21
Walmart, Costco, refurbished on Amazon.
1:24
Basically, thanks to the huge leap from Apple Silicon,
1:26
for a few years now you've been able to get into a good enough
1:29
MacBook for around $600.
1:32
So, now it's 2026
1:33
and not only has Apple Silicon gotten better
1:35
and better all the way up to M5
1:36
that we have now,
1:38
but the iPhone chips have gotten better
1:40
and better up to the point where this one is about
1:45
as good as M1.
1:46
Like look at my benchmarks.
1:47
Geekbench on my MacBook Neo is over 8 and a half thousand multi-core.
1:51
That's right around the same as the M1 chip from that MacBook Air.
1:55
OpenCL and metal benchmarks for GPU are right around M1 numbers,
1:59
and single-core is actually its strongest dimension, where it's even stronger.
2:02
It's closer to M3.
2:04
Same thing in Cinebench.
2:05
It's right around M1 levels of performance.
2:07
This is a very capable chip,
2:09
which I guess shouldn't be a surprise since it was in the iPhone 16
2:12
Pro,
2:12
which can literally edit 4K videos,
2:15
but it is still just crazy to see it in a Mac running macOS.
2:19
So, how does that translate?
2:21
Well, super well, especially if you use Apple's native apps.
2:25
So, great single-core performance generally means lightweight stuff opens quickly.
2:29
Things are responsive.
2:31
All the bursty stuff is literally just like any other Mac.
2:33
Web browsing with a bunch of tabs, spreadsheets, music, emails, word processing,
2:39
all literally no problem.
2:40
You can do them all at once.
2:41
I'll also note there is no performance mode like on M-series laptops,
2:45
just a low power mode that you can switch to.
2:47
Now, web browsing is slightly more interesting because on a Mac,
2:51
there's Safari web browsing, and then there's Chromium web browsing.
2:54
So, browsing in Chrome will famously fill up those 8 gigs of RAM a
2:58
bit faster as you open more tabs.
3:00
But, here's the thing.
3:01
Kind of no matter what multitasking you do,
3:04
you get to filling up that RAM pretty fast,
3:06
which is when it flips over to swap memory,
3:08
meaning it starts to use the SSD as well for quickly accessing things,
3:11
just like any other Apple silicon Macs do.
3:14
These drives read write around 1,500 MB per second,
3:18
so not quite as fast as the higher-end machines,
3:21
but still plenty good enough for swap.
3:22
So, on this laptop, 8 gigs of RAM is not a lot,
3:26
uh but because of swap, the same way it was on M1 MacBook Air,
3:30
which also had 8 gigs of memory,
3:32
swap makes it generally okay for regular use.
3:35
The only thing I worry about on these laptops is
3:37
as they get older
3:38
and you start to fill up the SSD,
3:40
then they tend to chug.
3:42
But, this is definitely going to be faster than any Intel Mac,
3:44
which is more than good enough for the average person,
3:47
and that's still the point.
3:49
And the crazy thing now is this is so easy for Apple.
3:54
Like this is what really gets me.
3:55
They can just crank out millions of these chips at scale.
3:58
They already know they can because they've been making millions for the iPhone already,
4:02
bringing their unit cost ridiculously low.
4:04
In fact, you know how easy it is for them?
4:06
They needed a chip to control the webcam
4:08
and the speakers in their new studio display.
4:10
And so instead of spinning up some new custom silicon for that,
4:13
they just threw in an A19 Pro.
4:16
They just print these things in the millions and yes,
4:19
that means that that display has 12 gigs of RAM,
4:23
which is more than this laptop.
4:24
So they get ridiculously low unit costs for these chips that's just
4:28
as powerful as M1
4:30
and then they just build a perfectly reasonable budget laptop around it. 13-in LCD
4:35
at roughly 1440p,
4:37
60 hertz, 500 nits, it's plenty bright for indoors,
4:40
and an excellent real clicking trackpad.
4:43
Two USB-C ports on the side, one USB 3 and one USB 2,
4:47
headphone jack and a sort of weird new place
4:50
and some barely average stereo speakers
4:54
and a 1080p webcam that's good enough for video calls.
4:56
And then the aluminum chassis, which is really the Apple touch,
4:59
it makes this the best feeling, best built laptop in its price class.
5:04
There's none of that keyboard deck flex you might get from a plastic laptop
5:08
and it also means you can open the lid with one finger with this
5:11
perfectly balanced hinge.
5:13
And then they even get a little playful with the design, like these colors.
5:16
This one's called citrus, for example,
5:19
which I guess actually makes perfect sense since it's basically the exact same color
5:24
as lemon-lime Gatorade.
5:26
So citrus indeed.
5:29
The keyboard is basically exactly the same that's in a $3,000 MacBook Pro,
5:33
same switches and everything, but minus the backlight.
5:36
And then it's this off-white slightly tinted color to match the color of the
5:40
aluminum.
5:40
So yeah, barely yellow keys.
5:43
If you pay the 100 bucks to upgrade to the 512 gig,
5:45
you get Touch ID in the corner
5:46
as well instead of just a lock button.
5:49
And then the little nub feet at the bottom of the laptop are also
5:51
yellow to match.
5:52
And then even out the box,
5:53
the wallpaper and the software accent colors are all yellow to match your choice
5:58
color.
5:59
So, on the blue laptop, these are blue accents in the software.
6:02
And on the pink one, they're pink.
6:03
Or blush, as they call it.
6:05
The battery on paper is rated to be just shy of the MacBook Air,
6:09
and that's close to right.
6:11
It's a little bit short of that.
6:12
But the funny thing is it does that with a much smaller physical battery.
6:16
Apple correctly decided to use a cheaper,
6:18
smaller lithium-ion battery instead of lithium polymer.
6:22
The chip is just
6:23
so ridiculously efficient and low TDP
6:25
that it sips battery for the most part.
6:27
Similar to the phone,
6:28
if you do a bunch of heavy stuff in a row,
6:31
then it'll light up the performance cores, especially at high brightness,
6:33
then you can push through battery a bit more quickly.
6:36
But it's generally really good.
6:38
It also comes with a 20-W charger in the box,
6:40
because that's about all it needs.
6:43
I charged it from 0 to 100 with the included charger,
6:45
it took over an hour.
6:46
But you can actually plug it into a higher power charger,
6:49
and it'll charge a bit faster.
6:50
But then you're good for almost a whole day of writing and browsing,
6:54
video watching, emailing, tweeting, whatever light stuff you're doing.
6:58
How good would the battery life have been
6:59
if they decided to fill up the whole chassis with a battery the same
7:01
size as a MacBook Air?
7:04
I guess we'll never know.
7:05
So, yes, I did simplify quite a bit in my initial impressions video
7:08
that if you're watching this video
7:09
or someone who would,
7:11
then this probably isn't the laptop for you.
7:13
But now that we know how capable this is,
7:16
what if you were still considering it?
7:18
What if you do maybe want to do a little bit more with this
7:20
thing?
7:21
Well, perfect.
7:22
I've uh I've built this handy rating system
7:25
that I think if you're in one of these groups of people
7:27
and you are considering a laptop,
7:28
then this will help you decide
7:29
if you want to go with this
7:30
or something more premium.
7:32
First up, students.
7:36
A plus.
7:38
You should just get this one.
7:38
This laptop was literally made for you.
7:40
You got Apple out here making TikToks trying to get your attention.
7:44
They want you to buy this laptop.
7:45
If you get to spend the 500 bucks,
7:47
I probably wouldn't opt for like a Chromebook or something over the Neo.
7:50
Though then again, at this age it's probably the school system making
7:52
that choice for you.
7:53
Anyway, next up, college students.
7:56
So again, this is you making the choice now.
7:59
A little nuance is probably just what major you are
8:01
and what software you'll need,
8:02
but if you do want a Mac, A, this should do it for you.
8:06
So next up, writers.
8:08
As a bit of a part-time writer myself, like for these videos,
8:11
I did all my writing on the MacBook Neo for this video obviously,
8:14
and it was pretty easy.
8:15
It was basically made for you.
8:17
Word processing, emailing, web browsing, it's everything you need.
8:21
Same keyboard as their most expensive machine minus the backlight.
8:25
Book it.
8:26
So okay, next up, photographers.
8:28
I'm giving this a B minus.
8:33
Performance-wise, this can handle the edit.
8:34
Pixelmator, yep.
8:35
Lightroom, yep.
8:37
Photoshop, a little tougher, but it should be okay.
8:39
But as your work gets more serious, so does your display.
8:42
And this display is bright enough, but it's not the best for color.
8:45
It doesn't cover the full P3 color space,
8:47
so you're going to end up using one of those USB type-C ports to
8:50
plug into a better display.
8:51
As long as you have that,
8:52
then this thing can handle that serious photo work.
8:54
Next up, coders.
8:56
Okay, so I'm not a coder myself,
8:58
but I'm going to give this a B.
9:00
If you want to code on a Mac, thanks to the performance,
9:03
this is a surprisingly good option for basic stuff.
9:05
You're probably not going to be running a ton of heavy local LLMs
9:08
and stuff like that
9:09
because not enough memory.
9:11
But if you have no idea what I just said or what that means,
9:13
then you're in the right place.
9:15
Okay, next up, editors.
9:17
Like what I do.
9:18
So okay, let's be real for a second.
9:20
I did say the iPhone can edit 4K video.
9:24
So why isn't this an A?
9:26
Well, thing is the iPhone also has faster NVMe SSDs
9:31
and actually a shockingly good display,
9:33
a high refresh rate OLED.
9:34
Now that being said, I have been running this through its paces,
9:37
and I have been impressed
9:38
that you can legitimately open Final Cut Pro
9:40
and do basic 4K edits,
9:42
no problem.
9:43
Drop in LUTs, chop it up, and smoothly move around, and export.
9:46
So, if that's the style of editing you're doing, great.
9:48
But, the second I try to do a little bit more than that,
9:50
especially when it came to plugins,
9:52
that's when it started to chug and hit the wall.
9:54
I suspect Premiere would probably feel around the same.
9:57
That's really when you start to look at the MacBook Air M4 M5 MacBook
10:01
Air with the better multi-core,
10:03
better display.
10:05
That's a machine that's going to handle edits better.
10:06
But, hey, you can definitely do, you know, CapCut, any mobile video edits,
10:10
literally no problem.
10:11
It is better than expected.
10:13
Okay, next up.
10:14
Podcasters.
10:15
So, I have a pretty serious podcast of my own, link below.
10:19
We wouldn't use it for this, but if you have a pretty basic podcast,
10:22
one or two mics, well, then this feels like about a B+.
10:27
There's only two USB Type-C ports on the side of the laptop,
10:29
and so you're probably looking at dongle land to get more stuff attached to
10:32
it.
10:32
And then once you're editing, headphones, please.
10:35
These speakers are not very good.
10:37
Otherwise, solid.
10:39
Then, gamers.
10:41
Surprised you made it this far in the video.
10:43
So, small display, 60 Hz, limited RAM, macOS.
10:48
It's not It's not for gaming, okay?
10:49
But, the thing is, there's casual games, too, that you could play.
10:52
And to some people, that's all that gaming is,
10:54
just a casual 60 FPS game.
10:56
I just want to experience what power washing is like
10:59
when I'm on an airplane.
10:59
But, if you're trying to play Counter-Strike or something,
11:01
you were you were never going to get this one.
11:03
Uh lastly, uh Grandma.
11:08
Oh.
11:08
Hey, Grandma.
11:08
Uh yeah, you you should probably just get this one.
11:10
I I feel like it's this or a Chromebook for you.
11:13
Uh we'll talk about it later.
11:14
Prediction, I do think the next version of the Neo does have more RAM.
11:18
I think as early as next year,
11:19
they throw like an A19 Pro in this thing,
11:21
and it's 12 gigs of RAM.
11:23
Boom, done.
11:24
Probably also, I'm going to say add the ambient light sensor to add true
11:28
tone to it,
11:29
and a backlight to the keyboard.
11:31
Those are like the biggest quality of life things
11:33
that I think this is missing.
11:34
But yeah, the reason this laptop is so good is because it's easy.
11:38
It's the easiest laptop for them to make
11:40
and it's now the easiest laptop for reviewers to recommend
11:43
because that's been the MacBook Air for years
11:45
and this is 90 something percent of the same machine for hundreds of dollars
11:50
less.
11:51
Well played Apple.
11:52
Now if you've ever wondered what a MacBook might look like
11:54
if it was made in 1984,
11:56
check these out.
11:57
Channel sponsor dbrand has been cooking on these retro styled MacBook skins
12:02
and I got to say they look pretty sweet.
12:04
They've got these classic multi-color Apple logos from the 80s
12:07
and 90s and they actually painstakingly color matched the shades
12:11
and hues for nearly every MacBook.
12:14
Space black, starlight, midnight, silver, and yes, even the new MacBook Neo.
12:20
So this is the citrus one,
12:22
but they've also made a version for the blush and indigo as well.
12:25
And if you guys have watched the Waveform podcast,
12:26
you've seen the dbrand Area 51 skin on my personal MacBook Pro for years
12:30
now,
12:31
not just because they've been a sponsor for a decade,
12:33
but because it's actually a really good product.
12:35
Adds no thickness, protects it from scratches, and it's actually very durable.
12:39
So anyway, if you want to check out anything in dbrand's MacBook collection,
12:42
I'll link down below in the description.
12:44
Thank you for watching.
12:45
Catch you guys in the next one.
12:46
Peace.
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