15 Ways the MacBook Neo Is Different From Other MacBooks

Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let's take a look what makes the MacBook Neo different. 

Now the MacBook Neo is not just a lower end MacBook Air nor is it a new version of the previous model named just The MacBook. It is a very different model that makes a lot of different compromises to bring down the price. Let's take a look at what really makes the Neo different. 

I really do have to start by talking about price. That's a major difference. Not because it's the reason for almost all of the other design decisions around the MacBook Neo. But because it's a very different price than Apple has had before. If you look at all the models named MacBook since Apple started using that name for their laptops there's nothing that even comes close. In 2006 the first MacBook was actually $1099. Much more than the $599 starting price for the Neo. If you adjust that for inflation it would be $1750 today. So you can see it's a big difference.

Now some of MacBook Air models actually went lower than that but never below $999 for the base price. Again that was a while ago. So adjust that for inflation. In fact only one model actually came close to this price. That was the 2020 M1 MacBook Air. This model was for $799 at the base and that was for a measly 128 Gigs of storage. 

Now jumping into the physical differences here you have to start with the Processor because that is what really makes the difference. Apple has never come out with a Mac using their A series processors. Those are the ones that go into the iPhones. For the MacBook Neo Apple's using the A18 Pro which we previously saw in the iPhone 16 Pro. The A Processors for the iPhones and a lot of iPads, and the M processors, are of course related and they're developed by Apple. So it makes sense that they could run macOS. As a matter of fact the original developer kit for the M series Macs was actually an A series processor. 

Now the A18 has fewer CPU and GPU cores than any M processor. But that doesn't actually affect single core performance. In fact, for tasks that just use one CPU core, which are a lot of things that regular people do all the time, it's going to be pretty fast. Actually, kind of similar to a M4 Mac. So you're not going to notice too much performance difference there. But if you're doing things that use multiple cores, like rendering video or doing 3D graphics for instance, then you're going to notice the difference and it's going to seem more like a M1Mac than a M4 Mac. But there are huge benefits here. In addition to the cost of the A18 Pro being cheaper than the M series processors it's also very energy efficient because it is meant to go into iPhones. So it is going to save on energy consumption which will allow Apple to have a smaller battery which we'll get to in a minute. 

Another way that the MacBook Neo is different than the previous MacBooks is it has fewer options than ever before. Usually Apple gives you a bunch of different memory and storage options. For MacBook Pro sometimes additional screen options and other things as well. But for the MacBook Neo you get exactly two options, that's it. No more. You get the base model and you get a model that's $100 more that simply doubles the storage and adds a Tough ID button. There are no other options. It's kind of unique for Apple to only offer two options like this instead of a whole menu of choices. Of course you do have color choices and we'll get to that in a bit too. 

The ports on the Neo are also unique. Now Apple has had a variety of different port configurations including a 12 inch MacBook Pro that only had one USBC port. The MacBook Neo actually has two. But each one is very different. There's one that is a combination USB3 and Display Port port, so you can use it to hook up a fast peripheral, like a fast drive, or you can hook up an external display. The other one is a slower USB2 port. You can use this one to this for charging since data speed doesn't matter for that or for hooking up any peripheral where it doesn't need anything faster than USB2 speeds. But you can't hook up a display to that one. 

It's kind of a unique configuration. The 2020 M1 MacBook Air has two ports on it but they were both the same, not very different like these two ports. Also there's no MagSafe adapter here like the other current MacBooks. You actually charge it by plugging into one of the two USB ports, which Apple has done many times over the past with their MacBook line. So that's not too unusual either. Of course it makes it very easy to charge this so you can use almost any USBC charger for it. 

Another big difference that a lot of people haven't picked up on yet is the Trackpad is different. This isn't the same Trackpad that's on the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro that you would get now. Since 2017 the Trackpads in MacBooks don't actually move. They are completely solid. Now they feel like they move because there's haptic feedback. They actually vibrate a little bit when you click them and it kind of feels like you're pressing down. But they don't actually move. The Neo's Trackpad is a mechanical Trackpad. It actually presses down when you press on it. Now for a lot of normal things it's not going to make too much of a difference. It should work as you expect. But you don't get haptic feedback. There's a few apps that will use it, say, as you move over different guide stuff in image editing apps. Also, there's a trick you can do with Trackpads where you can press down hard. You can force click to do various things in context with whatever you're clicking on. This Trackpad won't do that.

So Apple has cut corners here to have a cheaper Trackpad and also one that won't use as much power. 

But there's another difference about the keyboards. The color of the keyboard matches the color of the case. So you get the indigo MacBook Neo and the keyboard is actually indigo. Apple hasn't done this before. The keyboard's just been, you know, the black keys with the white text on them or whatever the current way they were doing it was. So having the colors match the keys is new. One of the reasons they may not have been able to do that before and they can do it now is there is no backlight for the keyboard for the MacBook Neo. Now, all MacBooks since 2010 have had a backlight. So if you're working in the dark you can see a glow under the keys. Some people, like me, rarely even noticed the backlight as they rarely use their MacBook's in the dark. Others don't actually like this and turn it off. But if you like that as a feature then you're not going to like that the MacBook Neo doesn't have that. Of course this saves on production cost not to have that backlight there and it's also saving on battery allowing the smaller battery, like I mentioned. Keep in mind if you've got a Desktop Mac and you've got, you know, a regular keyboard, you're used to not having a backlight, so it is not going to make much difference to a lot of people. 

If you find these videos valuable consider joining the more than 3000 others that support MacMost through Patreon. You get exclusive content, course discounts, and more. You can read about it at macmost.com/patreon. 

Now about that smaller battery. This is a very small battery for a MacBook. It's a 36.5 watt hour battery. So it is similar to the 2008-2012 MacBook Airs or the more recent 2015 to 2017 12inch MacBook. Those had a similar size battery. But the difference now is you've got a lot of energy saving going on. You've got this A18 Pro processor which is very efficient. You've don't have the backlight and other things like that. So, even with this small battery you're still supposed to be able to get 11 hours of normal work, like web surfing, out of the battery. Now another power related thing is the charger. The charger you get with this is actually the same as the iPhone charger, a 20 watt charger. Apple has never included a charger this weak with a MacBook before. Now, no MacBook before has probably even been this energy efficient with this small of a battery. Of course, when you're traveling you can pretty much just charge from anywhere like you can with an iPhone. 

The MacBook Neo doesn't have fast charging like other MacBooks. So even getting a more powerful charger for it isn't going to make it charge faster. But slower charging is going to be one of those sacrifices for the lower price of the Neo. 

Another difference with the Neo is the Notch. The Camera Notch at the top of the screen of the current MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros isn't there. Or more accurately it's there, it just goes all the way across the top of the screen as it did for every MacBook before the notch was introduced. You just have a bigger space at the top instead of the left and right sides having more pixels for the screen. The notch hasn't been standard for that long. It was only introduced in 2021 and even at 2022 Apple was coming out with new models without it. In that screen wide notch or no notch area however you want to think of it, is of course the Webcam. Apple takes a step back for a cheaper webcam here. It is the 1080p FaceTime HD webcam as compared to the 12 megapixel center stage camera that is in the current MacBook Air, MacBook Pro. Of course, this camera is cheaper and that brings the price down. It's really not that long ago that we had these. The M3 MacBook Air had this and in 2020 the M1 MacBook Air didn't even have this. It only had a 720p camera for regular video conferencing needs it should be fine. 

But there's actually another kind of camera that's completely missing for the MacBook Air, and that's the ambient light sensor. This has been around for a while. Even predating MacBooks. It was in PowerBooks before that and the last time Apple actually had a model without one was 2010. In fact since 2018 they've all had an advanced ambient light sensor, a true tone sensor. So, what does it mean not having any ambient light sensor? Well, this is used for keyboard backlighting so nothing to miss there. But it is also used for dimming the screen in lower light conditions. So the MacBook Neo simply can't do that. 

Another unique thing about the Neo is the speakers. Now there have been a ton of different varieties of speaker configurations. They've been under the keyboard, next to the keyboard, along the sides, along the top. Apple's done a whole bunch of different things. This setup is kind of unique. It's got two. One on each side. Previously the M1 MacBook Air had two but they were under the keyboard. MacBook Pros have side ones but more of them. So this is kind of a unique array of speakers. But if you really want higher quality you're probably going to be putting in AirPods or other headphones anyway. The Neo does come with a headphone jack as well as those two USBC ports. 

Now another way the MacBook Neo is different than all the MacBooks before is environmental. It's the first MacBook with more than 60% recycled materials. Part of that is due to a low waste manufacturing process. But another part of that is due to using less materials. Remember, it's a smaller battery, things like the backlight and the low light sensor and other things are just not present which means fewer materials are being used to make this. Some of those things actually use a lot of rare materials so Apple is actually producing an environmentally better MacBook by producing a low cost MacBook. 

Finally, I need to mention colors.Now having multiple color choices is not unique. In fact, the 1999 iBook had multiple colors. It was plastic and it was easy for Apple to give you color choices like the iMac back then. But this is the first MacBook with this specific set of colors. Choices seem to be things that people are excited about. So, as you can see the MacBook Neo is not just a low end MacBook Air or rehashing of the standard MacBook from the last decade. It's a very different machine. Apple was able to get the price low by making a lot of compromises but they are hoping that the compromises are in the right places and people will still find lots of good uses for the MacBook Neo. Hope you found this useful. Thanks for watching.