Apple’s brand new entry-level laptop is powered by the chip from an iPhone and offers more than just the essential MacBook experience for a great price, putting the PC industry on notice.

The MacBook Neo is the first of its kind from Apple. A 13in laptop that runs on an A18 Pro chip and brings the starting price for a brand new MacBook down to £599 (€699/$599/A$899) – £500 or the equivalent less than the MacBook Air.

The Neo is an entirely new model but shares almost all its design DNA with the MacBook Air and Pro, including its quality aluminium body, sleek lines and rounded corners.

The Neo is 10g lighter, 1.4mm thicker and slightly smaller than the current Air by 8.6mm and 6.6mm on width and height respectively, which makes it feel quite dense for the size of machine. In practice it is not materially smaller for fitting in a bag or on a desk.

The parts of the Neo that you interact with are all high quality, belying its lower cost. The 13in screen is smaller than the 13.6in fitted to the “13in” Air and lacks Apple’s True Tone technology but unlike many cheaper laptops, it is just as crisp with the same 500nit maximum brightness as the company’s other laptops. It doesn’t feel like a downgrade in use.

The same can be said of the keyboard that is just as good as its more expensive siblings. The generous trackpad is mechanical rather than the top-class haptic versions as fitted to Apple’s other machines, but is the best of its type I have used. Far better than the poor diving-board style trackpads still fitted to many Windows and Chromebooks that simply can’t be clicked towards their tops.

The base-model Neo does not have a Touch ID fingerprint scanner in the power button. It only comes with the larger storage model costing an extra £100 or the equivalent, which is a bit of a shame.

The mics and 1080p webcam are pretty good but the latter lacks Apple’s auto-panning and scanning tech. The speakers are also decent: loud enough to fill a small room with music or a movie and without being too tinny. The Neo also has a headphone socket, which is an increasingly rare but welcome sight.

Specifications

• Screen: 13in LCD (2408×1506; 219 ppi)

• Processor: Apple 18 Pro (5-core GPU)

• RAM: 8GB

• Storage: 256GB or 512GB

• Operating system: macOS 26 Tahoe

• Camera: 1080p FaceTime HD

• Connectivity: wifi 6E, Bluetooth 6, 2x USB-C (USB3 and USB2), headphones

• Dimensions: 206.4 x 297.5 x 12.7mm

• Weight: 1.23kg

An iPhone chip? No sweat

Unlike the rest of Apple’s Macs, which have beefier M-series chips, the Neo has an A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 Pro. Don’t let the name fool you, the chip is highly performant, particularly in everyday tasks in which it absolutely flies.

As a result the Neo can handle most tasks with aplomb despite only having 8GB of memory – half that of other Macs. It sailed through complex edits to multiple large file photos in Affinity and Pixelmator Pro without breaking a sweat and is easily capable of light video editing. It will only start to slow down in the types of tasks that require large amounts of memory or multicore processing performance, which those buying a Neo are highly unlikely to routinely need.

The laptop’s battery life is excellent for a thin and light machine, managing about 13 hours between charges for general browsing, note taking, image editing, chat and emails, which equates to about a day and a half of work. You can be confident of leaving the house without the charger and still getting all your work done.

The port selection of the Neo is a bit unusual. It has two USB-C ports but only one is USB3, leaving the second one suitable only for connecting slower USB2 accessories such as a keyboard or mouse, or using for power. Only the USB3 port supports connecting to a monitor and neither support Thunderbolt, so won’t work with certain docks, displays or the fastest storage in the same way every other Mac can.

The Neo can only drive screens up to 4K at 60Hz, which means no high frame rate displays. It will work with an Apple Studio Display, but only at 4K, not the monitor’s native 5K resolution.

MacOS 26 Tahoe

The Neo runs macOS 26 Tahoe, just like every other recent Mac, and supports all the traditional software, including Microsoft Office, Chrome, WhatsApp, Adobe or web apps. But Macs come with a lot of bundled software for free, including a full, good office suite with Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Notes, Voice Memos and Freeform, and the excellent Garage Band and iMovie for content creation.

There are often better options available in the App Store or third-party sites, but for many, Apple’s apps are more than good enough for most tasks.

Sustainability

The MacBook Neo is made with 60% recycled materials. Apple breaks down the computer’s environmental impact in its report. The battery should last in excess of 1,000 full-charge cycles with at least 80% of its original capacity, and can be replaced from £149. The repair specialists iFixit gave the machine six out of 10 for repairability. Apple offers trade-in and free recycling schemes, including for non-Apple products.

Price

The Apple MacBook Neo costs £599 (€699/$599/A$899) with 256GB of storage or £699 (€799/$699/A$1,099) with 512GB and Touch ID.

For comparison, the 13in MacBook Air M5 costs from £1,099, the iPad Air M4 costs £599, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13in costs £899 and the Asus Vivobook 14’s RRP is £799.

Verdict

The MacBook Neo is a stunning entry into the sub-£600 laptop category that proves cheaper machines don’t have to be rubbish. Apple has cut the right corners to hit a price that is just over half a MacBook Air, ensuring all the parts you directly interact with remain very high quality. The Neo just doesn’t feel like a cheaper laptop.

The A18 Pro iPhone chip at its heart flies through everyday tasks. The bright and crisp screen is a joy to look at and the keyboard and trackpad are best in class. Despite having a smaller screen than the MacBook Air, the Neo isn’t materially more compact when it comes to fitting it in a bag, however.

There are lots of cuts compared with an M5 MacBook Air that may be deal breakers for some: no wifi 7, no Thunderbolt, no 5K display support, only 8GB memory, a mechanical rather than haptic touchpad, no backlit keys, no True Tone display and no Centre Stage webcam.

If you need any of those features or can afford to pay more, then the MacBook Air is a better laptop all round. But for those who want a cheaper machine, particularly at student prices, which are £100 or the equivalent less than the RRP, Apple has set a new benchmark with the Neo. PC makers better take notice.

Pros: snappy performance, long battery life, good and bright 13in screen, great keyboard, best-in-class mechanical trackpad, good mics and speakers, decent webcam, Touch ID, good value.

Cons: only two USB-C ports (USB3 and USB2), only 8GB of memory, no wifi 7, no Thunderbolt, no backlit keyboard, no True Tone or Centre Stage tech, no Touch ID on cheapest model, no MagSafe or fast charging, no M5 chip.