We benchmarked the MacBook Neo vs budget Windows laptops — here's the truth

The MacBook Neo is a game-changer for anyone looking for a $600 laptop. This low-cost Apple notebook packs a powerful A18 Pro mobile chip, a bright 13-inch display, more than all-day battery life, and a durable aluminum body in fun colors. It’s a perfect notebook for first-time MacBook users or anyone who’s looking for a budget laptop.

While the MacBook Neo has a lot to offer, its $599 price means it has some limitations. Chief among those, it tops out at 8GB of non-upgradeable RAM, which is something our readers have expressed concern about in our initial Facebook post about the new entry-level MacBook. The laptop’s A18 Pro-driven performance is another thing some have questioned.

To that end, let’s compare the MacBook Neo against similarly priced Windows laptops to see if this budget-friendly MacBook is hampered by its processor and RAM. We’ll also go beyond raw specs and benchmarks, exploring build quality, battery life, and other factors to help you decide if the Neo is a better option over its Windows rivals.

Apple 13" MacBook Neo: $599 at Apple

The MacBook Neo is Apple's most affordable Mac. The $599 laptop sports a 13-inch Liquid Retina (2408 x 1506) display, A18 Pro chipset, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and 1080p FaceTime HD camera. There's also the option to add TouchID and a 512GB SSD for a total price of $699. The 2.7-lb. laptop is available in Indigo, Blush, Citrus, and Silver.

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Who is the MacBook Neo for?

The MacBook Neo brings Apple's quality to the budget laptop space with a starting price of $599 (or $499 for education buyers). Since it’s powered by the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 Pro, it’s tailor-made to handle everyday tasks like web browsing, streaming videos, and light photo editing without drawing excessive power.

To that end, the Neo is ideal for casual users, students, and first-time Mac owners who want seamless integration with the best iPhones or best iPads. Naturally, it’s also perfect for budget-conscious folks eyeing an upgrade from older Intel Macs or the best Chromebooks. Parents shopping for their kids or cash-strapped college students will appreciate the Neo’s simple design and overall reliability for schoolwork and entertainment.

It’s important to keep in mind that the Neo isn’t built for power users like video editors, 3D artists, or developers whose workflows demand more than 8GB of RAM, a beefier processor, or extensive multitasking capabilities. Likewise, if you’re a hardcore gamer or Linux enthusiast, you’re better off with one of the best gaming laptops or best gaming PCs. The Neo prioritizes affordability and basics over raw performance.

With all that said, let’s head straight into the comparisons!

MacBook Neo vs. Windows laptops: Benchmarks

To give you a clear side-by-side view, we've compiled our lab-tested benchmarks into tables below. These cover CPU performance, AI capabilities, gaming, storage speeds, display quality, and battery life. Keep in mind, these numbers reflect real-world testing scenarios, but your mileage may vary based on usage.

The MacBook Neo performs exceptionally well in single-core performance, scoring 3,535 on the Geekbench 6 CPU test. As you can see above, it outperformed the $649 Dell 14 Plus (2,721), the $549 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3X (2,124), and the $749 Asus Vivobook 14 AI (2,617). Basically, the Neo doesn’t have much trouble with quick, responsive tasks like launching applications or browsing multiple tabs.

Things are a bit different for multi-core tasks that handle heavier workloads, such as video rendering or running multiple programs simultaneously. The Neo falls behind both the Dell 14 Plus and IdeaPad Slim 3X. It also falls behind the Vivobook 14 AI, but not by much in our testing.

The MacBook Neo is also quite capable with on-device AI tasks. It scored 45,204, which leaves the other laptops in this test in the dust. Even if Apple’s AI efforts are still somewhat undercooked, it’s clear that, hardware-wise, the company does a great job of optimizing on-device AI processing.

In our gaming tests, the MacBook Neo achieved 26.1 frames per second in Solar Bay for ray-tracing and 21.9 fps in Wild Life Extreme for general graphics. This is decent enough for light mobile games you’d find on Apple Arcade.

I should note that we don’t have results for the Windows laptops, as we typically don’t run gaming tests on budget laptops like those. Overall, if gaming is a priority for you, get a gaming rig, as the Neo and its competitors won’t give you the smoothest experiences across a variety of titles.

The MacBook Neo's SSD delivers write speeds of 1,440 MB/s and read speeds of 1,585 MB/s, which are decent enough for things like saving documents and loading apps quickly. But as you can see, these scores lag behind Dell's 3,456/3,018 MB/s and Asus's 6,891/6,701 MB/s, with Lenovo data unavailable.

If you’re not constantly transferring large files, the Neo’s SSD speeds will be fine enough. However, if you’re a professional editor who handles large media files, the Neo will be way too slow for your needs.

In our battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi with the display set to 150 nits of brightness, the MacBook Neo lasted for 13 hours and 28 minutes. Even if that doesn’t quite match Apple’s 16-hour rating, it offers fantastic endurance that’ll get you through a full workday.

The Neo effectively matches the Vivobook 14 AI and Dell 14 Plus in battery life, but it can’t hit the impressive endurance of the IdeaPad Slim 3X. In fairness to the Neo, that Windows laptop runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chip, which is designed for laptop efficiency and often allows the machines to last as long as, or longer than, MacBooks with M-series processors.

This test isn’t directly tied to the processor or RAM, but I wanted to compare the Neo’s display benchmarks against the Windows laptops, since you want a good screen for work and play.

The Neo’s screen can get plenty bright, hitting 452 nits in our display testing. Color reproduction (sRGB and DCI-P3) is also strong, as is its color accuracy (Delta-E). This all makes for bright and colorful images. The Neo literally outshines the competition here.

Other factors to consider

It’s easy to fall into the trap of discussing specs. Still, there are other factors to consider when discussing the MacBook Neo’s overall value, especially when comparing it to other laptops. There’s more to Apple's notebook than numbers on a spec sheet.

For starters, the MacBook Neo has a full-aluminum chassis that’s sturdy and flex-free, unlike many similarly priced Windows laptops that rely on plastic shells prone to creaking and bending. The Neo’s durable design not only enhances longevity, but it also makes it look more premium. This is especially true thanks to color options like Blush, Indigo, and Citrus.

Then there’s arguably the Neo’s biggest edge: its integration with the Apple ecosystem, which enables seamless continuity with Apple devices like iPhones and iPads, including features like Handoff, AirDrop, and universal clipboard. This is a major perk that Windows laptops can’t easily replicate.

Bottom line

The MacBook Neo isn’t a powerhouse laptop, nor is it trying to be. Sure, it doesn’t have all the features you’d get in something like a MacBook Air, but for $599, it has everything you’d need for the basics. And as I hope I’ve demonstrated, Apple’s entry-level laptop can hold its own, or even exceed, similarly priced Windows competitors.

Ultimately, the MacBook Neo proves you don’t need to shell out the big bucks for a premium-like experience. Don’t let the 8GB of RAM make you dismiss the Neo. For $599, this laptop absolutely rocks.

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