MacBook Neo could be a hidden gaming beast – check out these test results

Apple launched the MacBook Neo as its entry-level, more affordable laptop. As such the specs are not as powerful as many of the models before it.

Instead, this runs a mobile A18 Pro chip, something designed for higher end iPhones including the iPhone 16 Pro.

Since Apple has design at its heart, even the A18 Pro has got some impressive GPU smarts backing it up. As such one YouTuber, Andrew Tsai, thought it would be a good idea to test just how well that can perform in the real world.

The £599 / $599 12-inch laptop was put through its paces with 10 different games to see how well, or poorly, it handles them.

MacBook Neo A18 Pro: 10 games tested - YouTube

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This included a mix of Mac titles, Windows games running through translation layers and emulated games. While some titles ran better than expected there were some the computer just couldn't handle.

As you might imagine Minecraft ran well at 1080p with up to 300 FPS at some points. More challenging games like Cyberpunk 2077 were able to run too, but only when limited to 720p resolution.

While some simple indie titles like Mewgenics ran perfectly well, it is a 2D OpenGL game that should be low-impact on most devices. At the other end of the spectrum Counter-Strike 2 was called completely unplayable by the tester.

So overall, the Apple MacBook Neo is capable of supporting some gaming, even when not native Mac titles. However, it is likely you'll need to take a hit on graphic performance and resolution to get the most out of games.

The A18 Pro chip is more impressive, certainly in terms of GPU, than many other low-cost laptop processors out there. But you are buying Apple which means a lot of native games, which are Windows, may not be so easily playable.

Here's hoping that Apple sees the demand for gaming on mobile more and offers a wider selection of titles on macOS that would otherwise get a Windows first release.