MacBook Neo battery life tested — I can't believe the results

We just finished reviewing the MacBook Neo, and we’re stunned by its battery life. While it’s not one of the longest-lasting laptops we’ve tested at Tom’s Guide, Apple’s most affordable MacBook endures far longer than the best budget laptops in this range. It’s no exaggeration when I say you’re getting near M-series MacBook battery life from the Neo.

The MacBook Neo runs on an A18 Pro chip, the same processor that drives the iPhone 16 Pro. That slice of Apple silicon is designed for the iPhone's tight thermal constraints, so it’s not too surprising that this affordable MacBook is punching well above its weight class in efficiency. When you buy one of the best MacBooks, you expect all-day (and then some) battery life, and the Neo certainly fits that bill.

But how does the MacBook Neo compare against its MacBook siblings and rival laptops? Let’s take a look at our test results!

Apple MacBook Neo (256GB): $599 at Amazon

The MacBook Neo 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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Battery life results

Apple rates the MacBook Neo for 16 hours of battery life while playing video. That kind of battery life is typical for M-series MacBook Air laptops, so advertising the A18 Pro-powered MacBook Neo with comparable battery life is rather bold. While our testing shows the Neo doesn’t quite hit that mark, it’s also not far off.

In our Tom’s Guide battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi with the display set to 150 nits of brightness, the Neo lasted for an impressive 13 hours and 28 minutes. Even if the result isn’t the claimed 16 hours of battery life, I doubt many users will complain about endurance that will get them through an entire workday and then some. Again, this is a $600 laptop.

As Mark Spoonauer said in his MacBook Neo review, he worked unplugged for a couple of hours, jumping between multiple Chrome windows with Slack running in the background and the screen set to 75% brightness. During that time, the battery meter only dropped to 74%.

Naturally, your own results will vary depending on what you’re working on or viewing, but it’s safe to say you can work for several hours without worrying about the Neo suddenly running out of juice.

Versus Windows laptops and Chromebooks

The MacBook Neo doesn’t disappoint when it comes to battery endurance, but how does it stack up against other laptops we’ve tested? To keep things fair, I’m comparing its battery life to that of similar or lower-priced laptops — specifically, budget laptops.

Starting with some of its Windows 11 rivals, the $529 Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 lasted less than 9 hours on the same battery life test. The Neo also blew away the $299 Acer Aspire Go 15 by over three hours. However, the $529 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x outlasted the Neo by three hours, which is likely due to its extremely efficient Snapdragon X laptop chip.

There was a time when the best Chromebooks reigned supreme as the longest-lasting laptops, but Apple’s M-series brought that supremacy to an abrupt end. Even without an M-series chip, the Neo maintains this status.

For instance, it outlasted the $159 Asus Chromebook CX15 by an astonishing six hours. It only lasted 10 minutes longer than the $549 Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, but the Neo runs on macOS Tahoe, which is a more robust and feature-rich operating system than ChromeOS.

MacBook Neo versus other MacBooks

Now comes the big question: how does the MacBook Neo’s battery life compare to other MacBooks? Here, I’ll stick to the 13-inch MacBook Air laptops we’ve reviewed, since they pack entry-level M chips and also have fanless designs like the Neo.

We ran battery tests on both MacBook Air M5 models, and each lasted about 15 and a half hours. The fact that there's only a two-hour difference between the Neo and the new Airs is impressive.

Each subsequent MacBook Air generation since the MacBook Air M1 has generally seen better battery life, as you can see above. The Neo trails behind all of them except the M1 Air, which it outlasts by 10 minutes. Still, this is a strong showing for Apple’s budget MacBook.

Bottom line

The MacBook Neo delivers exceptional battery life for its price, ensuring that you’re not getting short-changed (pun intended) on endurance.

Again, your results will vary depending on use, but based on our testing, it’s clear Apple didn’t skimp on this essential MacBook feature. As we’ve proven here, it’s hard to find such a long-lasting laptop for $599.

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