I bought the MacBook Neo for my brother. He runs a YouTube channel and needed a laptop to review, edit on, and keep if he liked it. So this isn’t your typical “I’ve used this for six months” review, it’s more honest than that. I watched my brother actually use it, compared it to his M1, and formed a real opinion on who this thing is actually for. (I did also play around with the neo)
Here’s what I found.
The Display Is Genuinely Better Than You’d Expect
First thing we noticed side by side against his M1, it’s brighter. Not marginally. You can see it clearly. For a laptop at this price point that’s not something you take for granted, and for anyone using it casually browsing, streaming, school work, the screen holds up well.
The Build Doesn’t Feel Cheap
This matters because when Apple announced a £599 laptop, a lot of people assumed they’d cut corners on materials. They haven’t. It feels solid. It feels like an Apple product. It’s not going to make you feel like you compromised just because you didn’t spend £1,200.
It’s also worth mentioning and this is underrated, it’s actually repairable. A third party engineer or phone shop can disassemble and fix it. That’s not something Apple products have been known for, and if you’re buying this long term it significantly lowers the cost of ownership if something goes wrong.
The Speakers Are a Nice Upgrade
The M1 had speakers built into the keyboard area. The Neo moved them to the sides, and the difference is noticeable, the sound feels more spatial, more like it’s coming at you rather than upward from the desk. Both are good. The Neo is just a bit better.
The Colours Are Actually Sick
Apple has never really done this before at this level. The citrus green looks genuinely good in person, not gimmicky, not cheap looking. It stands out. After years of space grey and silver MacBooks it’s a refreshing change and I think it’ll age well.
The Battery Is Ridiculous
My brother used it for roughly four hours a day over 23 days without needing to charge it. That’s the real world number, not a spec sheet number. For students, commuters, people who work from different places, this justifies the purchase.
Who It’s NOT For!
I’ll be straight with you because I think a lot of reviews dance around this.
If you have a demanding workflow, and I mean actually demanding, not just opening a lot of tabs then this isn’t your machine. My brother tried to render a longer YouTube video on it and ran into issues. It struggled and crashed. If you’re editing video regularly, doing serious creative work, or running anything processor-heavy, get the MacBook Air or Pro. Don’t let the price tempt you into the wrong tool.
The Bigger Picture
Here’s the thing that stuck with me from a business perspective. Apple has never struggled to sell premium products. They make huge margins. They didn’t need to build the Neo — but they did, and it’s already eating into Chromebook’s market share in schools and institutions. I even saw a comment from someone claiming their school bought 400 units!
Apple making something more accessible while keeping their build quality and materials intact is a big deal. Chromebooks can’t match it. Budget Windows laptops can’t match it. Too many things have to go right like supply chain, manufacturing, software, ecosystem whereas Apple has the scale and control to get all of them right simultaneously.
Neo doing well isn’t a surprise. It was always going to work. The surprise is how well.
Should You Buy It Now?
There’s a genuine reason to move sooner rather than later. Apple built the Neo around leftover A18 Pro chips from iPhone 16 Pro production chips that were effectively free for them to use. Those chips are running out. Reports suggest Apple is now in talks with suppliers about whether to produce more, which would likely mean higher component costs and potentially higher prices. The £599 entry point may not last.
If you’re a student, a casual user, someone who browses, watches, multitasks and emails, buy it now. It’s the right laptop at the right price and the window on that price might be closing.
If you need it for heavy work, skip it and get the Air. If you wanted to check the price of the Neo, you can find it on Amazon here.
Have a question about Neo macbooks or want me to cover something specific? Email me 🙂 You can also see my blog post on starting blogging if you were interested in that! P.S – There are affiliate links on this post, anything you might buy, i will get a small cut of commission at no cost to you.