The 2 best MacBooks of 2026

MacBook Neo is the best laptop for people who spend most of their time using the Internet browser or working with popular Mac, iPhone, or iPad applications.

Apple’s budget machine is really capable, and we were able to browse about a dozen tabs, listen to music on Spotify, write in the Notes app, and send messages in iMessage, with processing headroom to do one or two more things.

The MacBook Neo is surprisingly capable of playing light games, especially the kinds of games that kids like to play, including Roblox, Minecraft Javaand several versions of The Sims. We tested 50 games available for Macs, and more than 35 of them ran well enough that we could happily play them on the Neo.

But the MacBook Neo also has some limitations, especially for people who keep a bunch of tabs open for long periods of time or are constantly running out of storage space, as well as people who want to do more than just basic, day-to-day tasks. We also cannot predict how long its slower processor will be able to keep up with future applications and games. We recommend the Air to most people who need a MacBook, but we plan to test the Neo longer to see how it holds up over time.

It can browse the web, handle light work, and run iPadOS apps. The MacBook Neo is aimed squarely at people who don’t need a lot of processing power in their computers, and in those cases it does its job well. It can easily handle 12 to 15 browser tabs and several applications at once – but not much. If you overload the system memory, individual applications start to slow down, Chrome tabs load slowly, and the browser cannot switch between them quickly. Otherwise, Neo does a good job of managing its limited memory, and we couldn’t completely crash the system (unless its storage is full). Neo, like all Macs, can run many iOS and iPadOS applications, because its processor is the same as the iPhone 16 Pro.

And it runs a few games, too. We tested more than 50 games on the MacBook Neo, including Roblox, Minecraft Java, The Sims 4, Stardew Valley, Balatro, Vampire Survivorsagain Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Those articles and many others (36 in all) were not released. Others, like him War Thunder again Religion of the Lamb, they only worked properly after we lowered their resolution to very low settings. Games that are more visual or faster, such as Dota 2, Rustagain Method of Deportationit was running so badly that it was hard to imagine that we were happy.

Its display is as good as that of the MacBook Air. The MacBook Neo’s screen has a slightly lower resolution than the more expensive MacBook Air, but you’d be hard-pressed to tell without side-by-side comparison. The Neo’s screen is also as bright as the Air’s, reaching 500 nits, which is bright enough for outdoor use. Surprisingly, the Neo is very accurate in the sRGB color space, almost as good as the MacBook Pro in its sRGB color profile.

It has enough ports. You may have to get used to the MacBook Neo’s slightly different USB-C ports; one is a fast, 10 Gbps USB 3 port, and the other is a 20x slower 480 Mbps USB 2 port. Apple has made new notifications on these two ports to remind you that a faster port is available when you connect a high-speed device to a slower port. The MacBook Neo also has a headphone jack.

The webcam and microphone are good enough. The Neo’s 1080p camera and microphone are more than enough for online reading, Zoom meetings, or FaceTime conversations with friends. And unlike most Windows laptops, the Neo’s speakers get a lot of sound, easily filling a small room without being overly harsh or muffled.

It has a standard Mac keyboard, which is great. The Neo keyboard uses the same type of scissor-switch keys as those on the MacBook Air and Pro. The Neo keys don’t have the backlighting of more expensive MacBooks, but I typed most of this review on the MacBook Neo in the evening and in the dark, and I can report that I survived the incident. However, only the 512 GB version of the Neo has TouchID, Apple’s fingerprint scanner for unlocking the laptop and verifying your identity for security checks and purchases.

Its battery lasts about 14 hours on a single charge. In our battery test that simulates continuous web browsing, the Neo’s battery lasted longer than a typical work day or school day. That said, we recommend lowering the screen brightness for longer battery life, as the Neo’s display is particularly bright and can use a lot of power.

You can use an external display, but only one. The MacBook Neo can connect to one monitor at a time, which is great for most people. If you prefer multiple monitors, the MacBook Air is better suited for multitasking.

It’s about the size and weight of a 13-inch MacBook Air. The MacBook Neo weighs 2.7 pounds, the same as the Air and in the same weight category as thin and light Windows laptops. It fits easily in a purse or large shoulder bag.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It is severely limited by 8 GB of memory. MacBook Neo is perfect for light work, we found about twelve to 20 Chrome tabs next to several applications such as Spotify, Messages, Microsoft Word, or WhatsApp. But when the Neo reaches its memory limit, performance begins to stutter in any application that exceeds the laptop’s RAM, and loading a tab takes a second or two to. As it gets more crowded, those beats happen more often. If you don’t often unpair your tabs or apps, the Neo will stutter and lag a lot, although it will continue to work – as long as you have at least a few gigabytes of storage left on your drive.

If you run out of storage space, it’s more likely to crash. Because the MacBook Neo has only 8 GB of memory, Apple has made it to use its storage aggressively to make up the difference. This makes the Neo better than most other 8 GB devices for multitasking, but once that storage is full, its small amount of memory quickly becomes insufficient, and the laptop begins to crash. This is avoidable, especially if you know storage is the problem — just delete some data. But it can be a big problem in some cases, like when you’re trying to load a large iCloud library onto the Neo.

It comes with only limited storage options. The MacBook Neo only offers 256 GB and 512 GB options, which can easily be overwhelmed by other people’s iCloud collections of photos and videos. If your iCloud library is larger than Neo can handle, we recommend managing Neo storage using Apple tools in the System Settings app, on the Storage tab; this allows you to easily identify large files, which you can move to an external drive and remove from the Neo.

We don’t know how long it will be “good enough”. The MacBook Neo is an excellent value, offering a true Apple experience at about half the cost of the MacBook Air. But its limitations are becoming apparent, and you can bet that the apps people use and the way they use browsers will change and become more demanding over time. Based on our experience with similar processors, we expect the Neo to last at least two to three years before annual operating system updates and new software make it feel dated.

Touch ID is only available in the 512 GB version. The 256 GB MacBook Neo does not have Touch ID. Instead, it has a small lock button that allows you to lock the screen when held down.