# Apple MacBook Neo 707 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple MacBook Neo and 355 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 0.02 years (8 owners). **Verdict:** An affordable Mac with snappy performance and better build, display and trackpad than similarly priced Windows laptops, though many say its 8GB of RAM is limiting. ## Why people recommend it - Strong performance for the price (7 comments): "The stress tests with multiple Youtube windows open simultaneously, editing 4K video, and doing heavy duty image editing tasks, in some cases doing stuff like that all at the same time have been very impressive." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48134709)) "A while back I went into an Apple Store and opened up as many huge applications (Logic Pro, etc.) and like 50 browser tabs and the Neo still worked fine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48137788)) "Qualitatively I'm running way more things in the background than I could on Linux and Windows machines with double the RAM, with far fewer hiccups." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47249913)) - Better build than budget PCs (6 comments): "Its display is better than PC laptops in the same price range, but that display is a non-starter for graphic designers, video editors, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47372409)) "Problem with cheap Windows laptops and Chromebooks is not performance, but horrific build quality, displays, webcams, audio and keyboards." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48135284)) "Build quality, keyboard and displays are consistently reviewed as being nicer for the Neo than that price range of windows laptops." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49437153)) - Good enough for most people (6 comments): "it really is a triumph. If the Air is good enough for 99% of the population, the Neo as is approaches good enough for 90% of the population at half the cost." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48126671)) "Had this existed when they were shopping, I would've just asked what color they wanted it in, ordered it for them, and been done with it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47340581)) "these new MacBook Neo's are converting a whole other wave of users that have that price point as their cap but need something mobile" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48387833)) - Excellent trackpad for the price (2 comments): "I must say that the new trackpad is really good. It's not quite as good as the force touch one in my MacBook Pro, but it's close." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48126816)) "The trackpad on the Neo is at the level of a Surface trackpad, which is to say it is worlds better than the typical budget junk" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47506339)) ## What people warn about - 8GB RAM is too limiting (5 comments): "you'll hit the RAM limit at some point, and you'd almost certainly want to mod it to alleviate the heat issues that kill sustained performance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48387814)) "The ram is the only thing that I think is a little light, but with the ram situation in the world, asking for 12-16 GB have been too much." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47248045)) "You can't spin up a VM that has 8GB RAM on the Neo, you can't load a large spreadsheet or do a decently sized digital painting." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47355380)) - Unlabeled, mismatched USB-C ports (2 comments): "the two visually identical and unlabeled ports (because labeling is ugly and only for PCs) next to each other are different, and they're stupid for not realizing it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48128122)) "My only real issue with this design is as far as I can tell there is no markings on exterior explaining which USB-C port is "the good one"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47255210)) - Cuts specs to hit price (2 comments): "The Neo is a low end machine that trades RAM, storage, keyboard backlight, I/O and battery capacity for fit and finish and aesthetics." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47511775)) "The Neo costs $200 more than a comparable Windows laptop, but with half the RAM and storage as said comparable Windows laptop." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47544558)) - Heavier than it could be (2 comments): "It feels like they did everything they could so that the cheap MacBook with an iPhone CPU would not be lighter than the 1.5x more expensive MacBook with Apple Silicon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251322)) "disappointing they finally got the silicon for the "thin and light at all costs" form factor but gave up on the form factor" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47247999)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple MacBook Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-pro.md): 928 recommend - [MacBook Air](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-air.md): 633 recommend - [Apple MacBook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-macbook.md): 499 recommend - [Framework Laptop 12](https://hackerapproved.com/p/framework-laptop-12.md): 83 recommend - [Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinkpad-x1-carbon.md): 77 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Apple+MacBook+Neo+laptop&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Apple MacBook Neo", https://hackerapproved.com/p/macbook-neo/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).