Apple has launched its most affordable MacBook yet, and as earlier leaks suggested, it’s called the MacBook Neo. Priced at only $599, it costs almost half as much as the latest M5 MacBook Air.
But the big question is: did Apple cut too many corners to hit that price point, and whether you would be better off splurging for the MacBook Air instead? Let’s find out.
The price tag – the part everyone actually cares about
Let’s get this out of the way first. The MacBook Neo starts at $599 for 256GB storage, or $699 if you upgrade to 512GB and want the Touch ID on the keyboard. Students get it even cheaper at $499, which is genuinely remarkable.
Meanwhile, the MacBook Air with the M5 chip starts at $1,099 and comes with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. That’s a $500 difference at base pricing. But as we’ll see, what you give up for that $500 adds up fast.
The brains of the operation: A18 Pro vs Apple M5
This is where the comparison gets interesting. The MacBook Neo is powered by the the A18 Pro. It’s the same chip powering the iPhone 16 Pro, which is not a bad thing in itself.
It’s a 6-core CPU with a 5-core GPU and 60GB/s memory bandwidth. In Geekbench 6, it scores around 3,358 in single-core and 8,184 in multi-core. For context, those single-core numbers are competitive with high-end Intel and AMD desktop chips, and good enough for a budget laptop.
The MacBook Air M5, however, is a different animal. The M5 is a proper laptop chip with a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, and 153GB/s memory bandwidth. In Geekbench 6, it scores around 4,227 in single-core and up to 17,862 in multi-core. The single-core advantage is roughly 26% in the M5’s favor, but the multi-core gap is enormous.
For everyday use, including browsing the web, taking notes, video calls, and writing, the A18 Pro is more than fast enough. What’s the biggest bottleneck? It’s the slower memory bandwidth and 8GB of RAM with no option to upgrade it.
Memory bandwidth determines how quickly data can move between the RAM and the processor. With 60GB/s of memory bandwidth and just 8GB of RAM, the A18 Pro may struggle with heavy multitasking, particularly when running memory-hungry applications.
Two Liquid Retina screens, one small disadvantage
Both screens are Liquid Retina panels, and both hit 500 nits of brightness. On paper, they look nearly identical. In reality, the differences are small but real.
The MacBook Neo features a 13-inch display with a resolution of 2408 × 1506, but it lacks True Tone. The MacBook Air M5, by comparison, offers a slightly larger 13.6-inch display with a resolution of 2560 × 1664 and includes True Tone, which automatically adjusts the screen’s white balance based on the surrounding lighting.
As far as cost-cutting is concerned, the display is not where Apple took the chisel. I think it’s a perfectly fine display and doesn’t offer a major downgrade over the MacBook Air’s display.
All-day battery with slightly awkward charging
The MacBook Neo is rated for up to 16 hours of battery life. That’s impressive for a $599 laptop, and most users should be able to get through a full day without needing to reach for a charger.
But here’s the catch. The MacBook Neo comes with two USB-C ports but lacks MagSafe charging. As a result, one of the USB-C ports must handle both data and charging, which can be a minor inconvenience.
Another downgrade is the charger included in the box, which can only deliver 20W of power. That means charging the MacBook Neo’s battery will likely take quite a while.
That said, even though the MacBook Air quotes 18 hours of battery life and comes with a 40W adapter, MacBook Neo’s battery is not enough of a downgrade to force the upgrade.
Ports: this is where things fall apart
While the battery and display are decent enough, it’s the ports and connectivity options that might push you towards the M5 MacBook Air.
Both laptops have two USB-C ports, but they are not equal. Because the A18 Pro lacks Thunderbolt support, you won’t get high data transfer speeds. The MacBook Neo packs two USB-C ports, with one supporting USB 3 speeds and the other limited to USB 2 speeds. Including a USB 2 port on a laptop, no matter how affordable, should be a crime. It also means that it will only support one external display.
The MacBook Air M5 features full Thunderbolt 4 ports, meaning you get fast external storage, support for multiple external displays, and compatibility with a much wider range of accessories and docks.
The little things Apple cut back on
It’s in the small details where Apple has done most of the cost-cutting. The MacBook Neo features a 1080p FaceTime camera, which is good but not great. The MacBook Air M5 has a 12MP Center Stage camera that can follow you around the frame during video calls.
Neo packs a dual stereo speaker setup with Spatial Audio. The MacBook Air M5 has a four-speaker system that produces noticeably richer and fuller sound. The Neo’s base model also doesn’t have Touch ID on the keyboard.
You get that on the $699 model. Perhaps the most surprising cost-cutting decision Apple made with the MacBook Neo is the lack of a backlit keyboard, an odd omission that is difficult to understand.
So, should you buy the MacBook Neo or the MacBook Air
My main concern with recommending the MacBook Neo is its 8GB of RAM, which could make the device feel outdated in just two to three years. Combined with last-generation USB-C ports, the lack of a backlit keyboard, and slower 60GB/s memory bandwidth, the MacBook Neo becomes difficult to recommend.
That being said, I cannot deny that the price point is hard ignore. If you’re a student, a first-time Mac buyer, someone switching from a budget Windows or a Chromebook, or a parent buying a laptop for a kid, the MacBook Neo might make sense.
The A18 Pro is fast enough for everything a student or casual user will throw at it, the $499 education price is extraordinary, and the colors make it feel like a fun purchase.
However, if you’re a working professional, a content creator, or someone who plans to keep their laptop for five years or more, the MacBook Air M5 is the better investment.
The M5 chip is dramatically more powerful under sustained load, the 16GB base RAM ages much better, Thunderbolt ports give you real flexibility, MagSafe is genuinely convenient, and the 12MP camera is noticeably better.
The $500 price difference may seem significant at first, but when you factor in longevity, it becomes easier to justify. Better yet, you can score the last-generation M3 or M4 MacBook Air for around $700-$800, which is a far better deal than the MacBook Neo. But whether that price difference is worth it entirely depends on what you’re buying the laptop for.
