Review of Macbook neo 512GB version - a bargain!

Some personal feelings about the MacBook Neo from the perspective of someone who has been with the MacBook Pro 16 M1 Pro ~4 years.

Reason to buy the machine

The main reason is that I want to buy a computer for my sister, who is a teacher, because the Dell Latitude 7480, nearly ten years old, is too slow, has damaged batteries, and is peeling ugly. Her job is mainly to prepare lesson plans, present PowerPoint presentations in class, hold online meetings, create Word and Excel documents, and handle daily office tasks. So what you need is not a very powerful machine, but:

And when I had no hope because I couldn't authenticate Unidays for teachers, I happened to hunt for a sale fruit from Cam floor at an unbelievable price, so I decided to buy it right away. After a short time of trying it out before handing it over to my sister, I was quite satisfied with this choice.

Design and grip

The first thing that impresses is the Indigo color. The color looks quite different from popular laptop colors today. It looks quite beautiful and luxurious, but I would prefer if it was a little lighter.

Display screen

Compared directly with the Macbook Pro 16 M1 Pro, I see that the screen has good display quality, the brightness is equally high, the sharpness is a bit worse (254ppi vs 219ppi), I immediately recognize it when I look at it, the clarity and color are also a bit lower. In addition, this device also cuts True Tone and the P3 color range, but fortunately still retains the more practical light sensor.

Keyboard

The keyboard has moderate travel and feels quite comfortable typing. I tried typing some long documents and found the response was good. What is cut here is the keyboard backlight, and there is still a very small loss compared to the Pro 16.

Trackpad

Regarding the trackpad, it has a reasonable size and the ability to move is also very smooth. When I learned that this trackpad did not have Force Touch, I was quite worried, but when I tried it, I found it very good even though it gave a less advanced experience than the Pro 16, the whole trackpad sunk down, the pressure was heavier, the feedback sound was also much louder, making a gurgling sound.

Performance

I tried benchmarking this chip, the results were very positive. Regarding CPU, single core ~M3, multi-core and GPU ~M1, this chip is really good. With 8GB of ram in this price range, I think it's okay, the configuration of the Iphone 16 Pro but running MacOS Tahoe smoothly makes me quite surprised. Regarding temperature, the machine almost does not heat up with basic tasks and working in an air-conditioned room. After a period of use, the underside of the machine is slightly warm.

But the SSD is still reduced even on this 512GB version

The speed is very far behind my 4 year old Pro 16

Webcam and audio

Regarding the webcam of this device, there is not much to say, about the speakers, the 2 speakers are very good in my opinion, max volume is not loud, better than the previous air/pro m1 I used.

Battery & charger

The battery is also the most important criterion when I choose to buy this device. When watching Youtube and surfing the web with 50% brightness and 75% volume, the device loses 16% in 1 hour, estimated at more than 6 mixed hours. In my opinion, it is fine. I tested with a USAMS 30W charger. When the device is in the off state, the received power almost immediately reaches a maximum level of about 30W. The charging speed is quite clearly faster than the included charger. According to my personal experience, if possible, you should equip a charger from 30W to 45W. This is probably the most suitable power level for MacBook Neo, both helping to shorten charging time and not being too cumbersome to carry every day.

Conclude

What I appreciate most is not performance, but the balance between:

For my sister, a teacher who often has to bring a laptop to teach and present lectures, this is a very reasonable choice. If I had to score according to her actual usage needs, I would give this MacBook Neo 9/10 points. This is really a bargain, but it's even better when I buy it at a killer price! #gamega #reviewmacbook