Apple MacBook Neo review: Is this $799 computer the best budget laptop of 2026? I tested it — here's my honest review

While Apple has remained one of the most sought-after tech brands, the truth is not everyone can afford their (often) premium products. To its credit, Apple has launched less pricey products in the past, including the recent iPhone 17e and the Apple Watch SE.

Now, the tech giant has done it again for its coveted MacBook family. Apple recently released the MacBook Neo Laptop: a portable, powerful device that's a great budget-friendly alternative to the brand's pricier MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops.

Quick shop: MacBook Neo Laptop

Considering the MacBook Air starts at $1,400 and the MacBook Pro at more than $2,000, paying $799 as a starting price for the MacBook Pro seems like a great deal. Is it worth the investment? I tried it — here's my honest review.

The details

Ideal for budget-conscious shoppers (especially students), the MacBook Neo is a laptop that won’t break the bank.

Starting at $799, it’s nearly half the cost of the entry-level MacBook Air — that’s significant. The MacBook Neo costs even less for students and educators, starting at $679.

At first glance, it looks like other aluminum laptops. It's available in indigo, blush, citrus and silver, and offers a bright 13-inch display (with 2408 x 1506 resolution), a large Multi-Touch trackpad (with support for gestures), FaceTime camera for video calls, a headphone jack and two USB-C ports on the left-hand side (one faster than the other).

Interestingly, it’s the first MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. Specifically, a modified A18 Pro processor is under the hood of the MacBook Neo, which proved more than enough for basic tasks like browsing the web, reading email, word processing, streaming video and light photo editing — as well as some multitasking and AI capabilities.

If you need more power for, say, video editing or animation, then you go with a MacBook Pro, while hardcore gamers won’t look at anything but a Windows 11 machine with a beefy graphics processor.

Why it's great

At 2.7 pounds (1.23kg), MacBook Neo is the same weight as the 13-inch MacBook Air (M5 chip). It's not super light, but the polished aluminum frame looks and feels like a premium product.

This is a great laptop for throwing in your backpack or large purse to head to class or a coffee shop, or for use on an airplane.

At up to 500 nits, the MacBook Neo screen is much brighter than comparable Windows laptops and Chromebooks.

Audio, too, was surprisingly good, with its side speakers, whether you’re streaming Netflix, Apple Music or Spotify, or playing an Apple Arcade game.

Running on macOS Tahoe, the interface is clean, easy to navigate and includes some apps that should come in handy. There are some Siri and Apple Intelligence (AI) features to take advantage of, including integrated support for ChatGPT to help you write text and create an image. That said, Apple’s AI isn’t anywhere near as powerful or comprehensive as Windows 11’s Copilot+ and Chromebook’s built-in Google Gemini — but fine for most users.

And if you’re on an iPhone, the iPhone Mirroring feature is pretty magical. Simply click on the icon in the system tray at the bottom of your home screen and so long as your iPhone is nearby (and on the same Wi-Fi network as your MacBook), you can view and reply to messages, see a virtual version of your iPhone screen to access apps (I used it for WhatsApp and some games) and you can use your iPhone camera for FaceTiming on your Mac (if desired).

Apple was almost bang on in its assessment of up to 16 hours of battery life between charges. In fact, I got a total of 15.5 hours and still had a couple of percentages left in the top right corner. Naturally, it depends on what you do, but I was streaming a video and left it on overnight and the next morning I used other apps, like Safari and Pages and the MacBook Neo still lasted a very long time before it needed a charge-up.

It should be noted that MacBook Neo is also fanless and runs completely silent. Bravo.

What needs work

For one, while 256GB of storage is OK, but you can’t add more, and it won’t take you too long to run out of space unless you buy additional iCloud storage — a smart move by Apple, perhaps, but may frustrate users. A MacBook Neo with twice the storage (512GB) costs $999, and you also get TouchID for $999, which uses your fingerprint to log in rather than your Apple ID password. Too bad the FaceTime camera can’t use FaceID to log you in, as many Windows Hello-supported laptops can.

Secondly, there isn’t a backlight under the keyboard, which means you will need an overhead light to see your keys. To some, this is a big deal, while to others, not so much.

MacBook Neo features two USB-C ports for connecting accessories and charging the MacBook, but only the rear port supports USB 3 (10Gb/s) and external displays, while the front port is limited to USB 2 (480Mb/s) and charging only.

And an issue I still have with all MacBooks — not just Neo — is the lack of a touchscreen. I can’t tell you how many times I went to touch the laptop’s display as I forgot I can’t access content with my fingertips on the glass like I can on an iPad and many/most Windows 11 laptops and Chromebooks today.

And while there’s native support for iPhone synchronization, you’ll need to download third-party software if you’re an Android user who wants some interconnectivity between the devices.

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