The MacBook Neo outperforms the MacBook Air in one key area – it’s clearly designed to do this one thing well
Quick Summary
Geekbench test results for the MacBook Neo are in and compare favorably with other Apple devices – especially if you’re looking to upgrade from an older MacBook.
Single-core performance is noteworthy, as this is what will drive Neo’s most used capabilities – such as video streaming, browsing and productivity.
Apple finally unveiled its MacBook Neo on Wednesday, after months of rumors and speculation, and we have to say it lives up to expectations. In looks and design, though.
Surprisingly, it’s nowhere near as powerful as the latest model M5 MacBook Pro and Air, and it can’t touch the M4 MacBook Air when it comes to certain tasks, but there are interesting results when compared to the M1 MacBook Air and the M3 iPad Air.
As reported by MacRumors and according to Geekbench, the single-core performance of the MacBook Neo is higher than most devices – even bettering the M1 MacBook Air. That’s important for what the new laptop is effectively designed for – video streaming, browsing and productivity tasks.
Its multi-core performance is also better than the six-year-old MacBook Air, and the “Metal” GPU performance is on par. Maybe it’s time to consider upgrading?
- MacBook Neo: 3,461 single-core, 8,668 multi-core, 31,286 Metal
- M1 MacBook Air: 2,346 single-core, 8,342 multi-core, 33,148 Metal
- M4 MacBook Air: 3,696 single-core, 14,730 multi-core, 54,630 Metal
- M3 iPad Air: 3,048 single-core, 11,678 multi-core, 44,395 Metal
- iPad 11: 2,587 single-core, 6,036 multi-core, 19,395 Metal
- iPhone 16 Pro: 3,445 single-core, 8,624 multi-core, 32,575 Metal
Interestingly, although the Neo uses the same A18 Pro system-on-chip (SoC) as the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, the 2024 iPhones seem to perform better in terms of GPU-intensive tasks, such as gaming. But that’s because there are more GPU cores on handhelds.
For all other metrics, you can expect similar performance. And if you look at how well the iPhone 16 Pro models have proven in gaming and the like, you can expect the MacBook Neo to handle light games as well.
It all comes down to price and at £599 / $599, the Neo looks great value – especially as an everyday all-rounder. It’s not designed to provide video or strong AI functions – that’s what the MacBook Pro and M5 Air are for – but as Apple’s first “chuck in a bag” device since 2017’s 12-inch MacBook, it looks like real money.
You can pre-order the MacBook Neo from Apple.com today, with shipping starting on March 11, 2026.
