The Neo has quickly become one of my favorite pieces of tech, and a big part of that comes down to two things Apple consistently gets right: MacOS and build quality.

This is my first MacOS product and it is a joy to use. Everything feels smooth, intuitive, and thoughtfully designed. From the seamless integration with other Apple devices to the clean interface and reliable performance, it just works in a way that lets me focus on what I’m doing instead of fighting with the system.

Then there’s the build quality, which is honestly second to none. The Neo feels incredibly solid the moment you pick it up. The aluminum chassis is sleek yet durable, with no flex or creaking, and the attention to detail is obvious in everything from the hinge to the keyboard. It has that premium feel that makes it clear you’re using a quality device. The trackpad is large and precise, easily the best I’ve used on any laptop, and the keyboard strikes a great balance between comfort and responsiveness.

Overall, the Neo delivers a polished experience that’s hard to beat. Between the reliability and elegance of MacOS and the exceptional build quality, it’s a laptop that feels worth the investment.

The neo is really impressive for $600. It has a nice screen, an incredibly rigid aluminum chassis, loads web pages and videos super fast, boots quick. Impressive Bluetooth and WiFi range and performance (Bluetooth is so much better then my old laptop), good speakers(for a laptop), good battery life, a decent keyboard, excellent trackpad, decent web cam, looks nice, low heat output and no vents to get blocked, compact and light. Highly recommended for anyone shopping for a compact web machine.

The only negatives on the hardware are: lack of keyboard backlight, the interior edge of the chassis is sharp, not enough to cut you, but enough to be annoying when typing in some positions, not many ports just a normal USB C and a 2.0 speed USB C (both can be used for charging) and screen does not fold flat, so the laptop cannot be stood up against the wall.

I was a bit unsure about the Neo because of it using a cellphone chip, but that was not a problem at all. The Neo is super snappy, as fast as my Workstation/Gaming PC when loading web pages and videos. Also I have not noticed any issues with the amount of RAM, 8GB seems sufficient for running a web browser, just as long as you do not go crazy on tabs in Chrome or if you use Firefox that actually manages tabs properly. As a web browser machine I doubt that this will have any performance issues. I am sure that you would hit limits of the mobile CPU if you do did something serious like video editing, but it is more then enough for more casual use.

As someone who had never used a mac before I was a bit apprehensive about trying a different OS, but really it has been fine. I mostly just use my laptop to run a web browser, so I do not interact with the OS that much and MacOS is really pretty nice in many ways. The hardest thing to get used to will be the copy paste shortcuts using command instead of ctrl. Mostly MacOS functions about the same as windows, just better. You can just shut the lid on the Neo and it actually shuts off without hardly using any battery and instantly resumes when you open it again. When you do shut it down boot time is super fast. Mac's update system is pretty unobtrusive and just not stupid like windows update. Mac wants you to sign up to all of their AI and cloud stuff, but you do not have to. I did not even setup the app store. The only apps that I wanted were Firefox and a system wide EQ for my earbuds. I found eqMac on gethub, the free version works pretty well. Anyway don't let the different OS scare you away, MacOS is pretty decent and not really that much different then windows. I got used to it in 2 days of use. Also it should get 7 years of software support.

Here is a comparison of the Neo with the 4 year old Lenovo Yoga 13 it is replacing. The Lenovo was $550 when new so a very similar price category from 4 years ago. Not sure if this will be useful to anyone so I am putting this at the end, but I figure that a lot of people will be in the same situation switching from a budget windows machine from a few years ago, Overall the Neo is better in almost every way, except for the screen not being able to fold around like the yoga and the lack of a backlit keyboard.

The Neo is much faster, it way outperforms the AMD 4650u in my old lenovo when it comes to loading web pages and videos. My old laptop had started really chugging lately when loading YouTube and twitch videos. Not sure it there is something wrong my old laptop it or if web sites have just gotten that much harder to run.

My old lenovo Yoga 13 has an absurd amount of flex in the plastic chassis, when you pick up one corner of the device the other edge sags visibly, the keyboard flexes noticeably when typing, the entire chassis will twist with very little effort. The chassis has also cracked in several places and I have been having to superglue it back together to keep the chassis from literally falling apart. The Neo on the other hand is completely rigid you can lift it anywhere, no flex in the keyboard, you would have to really try to do anything to this thing, it is amazing for a laptop of any price, much less a $600 one. Unless you really do something terrible to it I expect the Neo chassis to last well beond the lifetime of the hardware.

The battery life on the neo is great, I would say it is about twice that of the lenovo, even though I just put a new battery in my lenovo 6 months ago.

The Bluetooth range on the Neo is at least 2 times better, my earbuds would loose connection to the lenovo if I walked 20 feet away to go to the bathroom. I can walk anywhere in the house and stay connected to the Neo, range of about 40+ feet in the house and about 80+ feet outside. Not only the range is better but also Bluetooth connects faster and just works kind of flawlessly, while in windows I constantly had odd Bluetooth issues. This is with just some basic $30 Anker Bluetooth earbuds.

WiFI range and throughput is also much better then my old laptop

The yogo 13 had a good screen, so I do not find the screen of the Neo a huge upgrade, it is noticeably more vibrant and it is higher res, although I found 1980x1080 to be fine at this size. Also the Yoga 13 screen could fold all of the way back and around into any position you want and it was touchscreen, so some improvements and some downsides. Still the color on the Neo screen is very nice.

The speakers in the Neo are many times better then the the Lenovo, my old Pixel phone even easily outdid the Lenovo, it had impressively bad speakers.

The webcam on the Neo is also a big upgrade over the Lenovo, higher res and just better all around.

The Neo has a macbook keyboard, so generally it is a very good laptop keyboard. It is not my favorite type of keyboard, but it works quite well and is fast to type.

The trackpad is great, it is so much better then any windows computer trackpad that I have used, it functions a bit different so it takes a bit of getting used to, but it is just so much better then windows trackpads.

As the Neo uses a cellphone chip it does not really need any cooling, so there are no vents and the chassis never gets hot or even warm. My old lenovo would get uncomfortably hot when charging and I had to be careful not to block the vents when using it on a bed or blanket, but that is not a problem with the Neo. There are no vents to block.

Overall this thing is just impressive for $600 and I just do not see any windows laptop coming close to competing for a thin and light web machine. Sure if you want something that can game or do more intensive work stuff, but I just wanted something to run a web browser and this does that incredibly well while also being a beautifully well made device.

I needed a new laptop for school and I wanted a MacBook. So, I was pleased when Apple released the Neo as a more affordable option for those who are fond of Apple products. I love that I was able to set it up with my iPhone and it works seamlessly with my iPhone when needed. It’s pretty fast and it’s durable. It’s very lightweight compared to its other Mac counterparts. The screen is crisp and clear. It has great sound quality. I got the Indigo Blue color and I enjoy it thoroughly. I also like that it has a headphone jack to it as well. It’s easy to use like all other Apple products. It’s definitely worth it for the price.

I am blown away by the quality of this laptop. I paid much more for a MacBook in 2017 and this MacBook Neo is cheaper and much faster. The battery life is amazing and it performs well for what I use it for, which is mostly school work, streaming videos, creating presentations, and online tutoring. I also think the camera is very good for a laptop!

My first MacBook, bought a month ago, and I love it. Affordable way to learn about the Apple OS.

Love the blue color, it works well with my four year old external monitor that I use with my 15 inch PC, and a small Logitech mouse - I cannot stand touchpads. I don’t mind this mechanical touchpad too much, though, yet I prefer my mouse.

The only thing you need to be aware of, is that it might get a bit warm while charging. I use the Neo on top of a laptop cooling fan, mostly because this laptop is a bit too “slippery” on my lap due to its light weight , just over 2 pounds.

My grandson will pick one up to use at college in the fall. It will be a great laptop for him to take notes in class. And it is a great first MacBook for those of us who want to eventually change to all Apple - I already have an iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

So, enjoy it - I sure do.

I’ve had my Neo about a week now and I love it. I was hesitant because it uses an iPhone chip instead of an M chip like other MacBooks. But my 2020 MacBook Air M1 started having display screen issues (vertical and horizontal lines, flickering) so I needed to get something before it failed completely. I didn’t want to spend $1,100+ for a new Air, so I researched the Neo. It’s actually faster than my old Air and I’ve had no problems at all using it for everything I always use my laptops for, which is mostly writing books, email, web browsing, Zoom meetings, and video streaming. I haven’t had any performance problems with a dozen or more tabs open at the sand time. I got the 8Gb, which is plenty even for the thousands of documents and photos I have saved. I have entire book drafts of 200+ pages saved, a doctoral dissertation, and hundreds of research articles saved for my dissertation. It’s more than adequate for my needs. It’s very light weight. The citrus color is pretty. The keyboard is very responsive and feels even better than the Air. The battery doesn’t last as long as the Air before needing recharged but it’s still long lasting. No complaints.

The power this little MacBook has and how fast it runs is everything. The performance is top tier for what I use it for. Battery life is also great. If you been wanting a Macbook but don’t want to spend a lot of money. You should get it! It holds a little weight to it but nothing too crazy.

As an avid Apple customer this is my first MacBook and high end laptop. Love the fluidity and simplicity in it. Light weight and quick. Great screen.

This is a lovely little notebook for work or school. It comes with Apples office programs for free and will serve you well for most light computing and even some light gaming. It's integrated in Apple's ecosystem and you can use your iPad as a second monitor and mirror your iPhone screen and all sorts of other integrations. Safari makes it effortless to add your webapps to the dock and it runs iPad apps.

Despite costing half what my i7 laptop did and having half the ram the processor is 60% faster at running Powder Toy than the i7. It does this with no fan, while emulating the x86 Powder Toy with Rosetta. It uses a lot less battery than the i7 laptop does to do this. Performance is really, really good. Battery life is really really good.

The build quality is excellent. This thing is made of metal and it's hefty. The base stays on the table when you lift the lid. It feels like a much more premium device compared to my expensive plastic windows laptop.

One downside compared to my Intel laptop is that only 33 watt charging is supported over usb-c, and in fact the included charger is only 20 watt! That makes it take a bit longer to charge the battery full when depleted.

If you have never had a laptop before and you're in the Apple ecosystem already you should have one of these.

An amazing laptop! Compared to Windows laptops in similar price-ranges, the Neo has much better build quality, portability, and is much more user-friendly. This is all on top of having Apple's signature MacBook feel. So far, my Neo has easily outperformed all the Windows laptops I've owned previously. Apps open instantly, tasks feel incredibly fluid, and its performance doesn't drop even when I have a Zoom Call along with a dozen tabs open. I've even been able run heavier applications such as some 4k video editing.

Additionally, it's been very refreshing having a laptop that doesn't try to force AI and copilot crap down your throat.

Definitely recommend for anyone who is looking for that premium MacBook quality without spending $1000+. Obviously this thing won't be able to run some of the applications that an Air or a Pro can run, but if you are only browsing the web/watching Youtube or streaming services/working on docs or spreadsheets, then this is the laptop you want.

I have a gaming PC, but I needed something to use on the go - prior to getting this device I used a 2014 Macbook Pro, which was still functional but INCREDIBLY slow.

I am on a budget so didn't expect much from this machine, but it packs a punch! I use it for general surfing the web and watching videos. The most strenuous task I've given it is playing games like tabletop simulator, and it ran it well.

The battery life is also great on the device, I would absolutely buy it again.

Attached is the geekbench score!

Great piece of kit works just like it should.

I recently changed my MacBook Air 2015 and what I am happy about this new one. It Is great/ price quality!! I loved it!