Review: MacBook Neo

The MacBook Neo is one of Apple’s most talked about releases in years. It’s being touted as a student laptop where it can be purchased at $499 in the US, or $599 for regular customers.

That cost translates to a starting price of R11 999 in South Africa for the base model, through Apple’s distributor, the Core Group via its retail arm, the iStore. SA students and teachers qualify for a 5% discount when purchasing Apple products.

I’ve been testing the 13-inch MacBook Neo for two weeks now since it released in South Africa. I specifically wanted the base model to see if that’s all you really need, which comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB, which is not upgradeable. The 512GB variant has Touch ID for R13 999; and those are the only two options you get.

From the onset, I didn’t see value in getting the 512GB variant for two reasons: a) if you have cloud storage, the 256GB will suffice and b) if you have an Apple Watch, and pair it to the laptop, it replaces Touch ID.

Macbook Neo: Quick Look

• 13-inch LED backlit display
• 2408 x 1506 pixels and 500 nits brightness
• 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD storage
• Powered by the A18 Pro chip
• 1x USB-C 3 port; 1x USB-C 2 port; 3.5mm audio jack
• 1080p HD camera with FaceTime
• WiFi 6E; Bluetooth 6
• Dual mic, dual speakers with Spatial Audio support on Dolby Atmos
• Keyboard with 12 function keys; multi-touch trackpad

How I’ve been testing it in the real world

The 13-inch MacBook Neo size is very similar to my 13-inch MacBook Air. If it were slightly smaller, I would have considered buying one to use for traveling, but alas they are too close to each other in dimensions to warrant a more portable solution for me.

Picking up where I left off on my MacBook Air was seamless: I logged into my iCloud account, which gives me access to iCloud Keychain with all my usernames and passwords on services I use daily. I also went a step further and linked my Apple Watch to it, which replaces TouchID, and typing up passwords.

After tweaking a bunch of settings to my preference, like the size of the text on the display and resolution, the size of the dock and hiding it when not in use, adjusting the trackpad scroll direction and speed and other conveniences, it felt like I was using my own laptop.

Naturally, the first thing I did was open about 20 tabs on Safari to see how much it would struggle. I opened ones that were resource intensive, think multiple Gmail accounts, YouTube with a livestream in progress, a bunch of news websites that refresh automatically, Canva to edit some work, high intensive social media platforms, and then other apps like Whatsapp, Excel, Apple Music, Calendar, Notes, etc.

There were questions around this, while the MacBook Neo comes with Apple’s productivity apps preinstalled: Pages, Numbers, Keynote, etc, you can install Microsoft apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. You need a Microsoft 365 subscription to access it, which is what I use on my regular MacBook Air.

To further test how much I could do, I also opened a video editing app I use on my smartphone and dumped a video I shot in to edit, while doing all of the above. In all honesty, the laptop did not struggle with what I threw at it.

And you know what? Why would it – you can basically do the same on your iPhone and considering this is a chip that powered an iPhone 16 Pro, which was my workhorse as a freelance writer in 2025. I work on the fly, fill forms, shoot and edit videos, and so much more without even remembering to kill off apps.

But realistically, I knew having all of that open at the same time on a laptop was in fact unrealistic. I am not performing so many intensive things at once. Example, if I am editing something on Canva, I am not tuned into a livestream or editing a video at the same time, but the fact that I didn’t find it struggling having the tabs open is enough of a test to illustrate the capabilities.

When it comes to battery life, for my everyday tasks that is nothing out of the ordinary, the battery lasts a full day if not more. And to prolong any laptop battery, you just need to dim the screen a bit.

Apple laptops have the advantage of running its own hardware combined with its software for maximum efficiency. If you use any browser other than Safari on a MacBook, you’re just asking for trouble; I mean just use Windows at this point. The efficiency is unmatched.

The MacBook Neo comes with a USB-C cable only to charge the battery; there is no plug or MagSafe charger. I charge it off my portable power station, and apparently peak speeds are around 30W but I got 34W maximum (see image above).

While one port is for charging, it leaves the second USB-C port free, which is the slower port. I don’t use any additional peripherals on my MacBook so I didn’t even find this a concern, or the lack of ports from what typical Windows machines offer. Everything I do is accessible on the cloud so I’m not plugging things into it.

I didn’t find the lack of a backlit keyboard of an issue when working as I don’t work late into the night or I’m working with the lights on. The only people who may be concerned with this is users who are existing MacBook Pro and Air, and in which case, the laptop is not aimed at them.

But it has an iPhone chip

As I mentioned earlier, Apple has the advantage here of making its own hardware and software that talk to each other to work most efficiently. This is what they are good at, as seen with its M chips that are a lot more efficient than Intel-based Macs.

We all refer to our smartphones today as “powerful PCs in our pocket”. It’s no surprise then that Apple took that powerful chip from a Pro level iPhone and put it into a laptop, which some people also see as an iPad with a keyboard.

Based on my experience using it as a writer for single-core tasks like researching, composing articles, email, messaging, and watching multimedia content, the laptop has been perfectly capable.

This is the best explanation on why it’s good at single core tasks, via Reddit:

Most everyday productivity and tasks rely on single core performance, which is what the Neo is good at. According to Geekbench 6 benchmarks, it even beats the MacBook Air M1 in single-core tasks. Again, this has been a question for some, whether to get a MacBook Air M1 or MacBook Neo so I think this answers that perfectly.

Who it’s aimed at

If you’ve never owned a MacBook before and have an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods etc, you may be drawn to wanting to purchase the Neo as your first Apple laptop. It’s a solid, well built machine made of aluminium like the regular MacBook line-up. And bonus, you would never have to deal with another Windows update ever again.

The saying “once you go Mac, you don’t go back” will never be more true than when first time Mac buyers get the Neo and realise this for themselves. That said, there is a slight learning curve and adjustment to using a Mac for the first time, but it’s not difficult with practice.

And this is exactly what Apple intended, for it to be a machine for first time buyers to get into the ecosystem, along with students, teachers, general family use and perhaps for grandparents. The goal one day is for these users to upgrade to an Air or a Pro.

Who should avoid buying one

If you’re a gamer using a powerful Windows machine, it’s not for you. If you are a photographer, a creative in the adverting or similar space or a content creator who does video and photo editing on a laptop all the time, then stay away.

If your job relies on any intensive multimedia work, it’s not for you. And at the same time, if you own a MacBook Air or Pro; there’s a reason you went for these machines. But if you think a MacBook Air is too powerful, you may want to downgrade as the Air can handle video and photo editing but if you don’t use these features, the Neo may appeal.

Don’t get me wrong though, despite the Neo handling the video editing on the app I use exclusively on iPhone, which means it is absolutely capable, it would be irresponsible to say that you should buy the Neo to do some video editing.

Pricing recap and colours

The 13″ MacBook Neo comes in some new colours that may appeal to a certain demographic. The fun colour choices are the citrus yellow, blush pink, and indigo blue, while regular silver remains minimalist.

I found the yellow to be more muted and not overly bright, while the pink is also very light. It’s a different shade to the rose gold initially offered on the 12″ MacBook (remember that?). They are not loud colours, however, I have yet to see the indigo, unfortunately none of the iStores I’ve been to had them on display.

• 8GB/256GB = R11 999
• 8GB/512GB + Touch ID = R13 999

The MacBook Neo feels like the netbook that went to private school.

Visit the iStore for more information.