Apple MacBook Neo vs Air 15 M5 (2026)

Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
RAM 8GB
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Apple MacBook Neo and Air 15 M5 (2026) important characteristics
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
NanoReview Score
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Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

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Currency
VS
187.3
(Excellent)
Value Index
88.0
(Very good)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Neo
  • Easier to carry: weighs 280 grams less (around 0.62 lbs)
  • Much smaller footprint: 24% more compact case (95.2 vs 125.4 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 15 M5 (2026)
  • MacBook with the Apple M5 (10-Core) chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
  • Can run popular games at about 43-59% higher FPS
  • Around 78% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
  • Features a much bigger (~82%) battery – 66.5 against 36.5 watt-hours
  • Thinner bezels and 5% higher screen-to-body ratio
  • Backlit keyboard

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 1.23 kg (2.71 lbs) 1.51 kg (3.33 lbs)
Dimensions 297.5 x 206.4 x 12.7 mm
11.71 x 8.13 x 0.5 inches
340.4 x 237.6 x 11.5 mm
13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches
Area 614 cm2 (95.2 inches2) 809 cm2 (125.3 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~79.8% ~83.9%
Side bezels 8.8 mm 5.4 mm
Colors Silver, Blue, Pink, Yellow Black, Silver, Gold, Blue
Material Aluminum Aluminum
Transformer No No
Opening angle 135° 130°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Passive Passive
Vapor chamber No No
Liquid metal No No

Display

Size 13 inches 15.3 inches
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
PPI 218 ppi 224 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:10 16:10
Resolution 2408 x 1506 pixels 2880 x 1864 pixels
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, Dolby Vision
Sync technology No No
Touchscreen No No
Coating Glossy (Antireflective) Glossy (Antireflective)
Ambient light sensor Yes Yes
Screen space comparison
MacBook Air 15 M5 (2026)
15.3″ (16:10 ratio) = 105.2 in2
MacBook Neo
13″ (16:10 ratio) = 76 in2
~38% more screen space
Display tests
Contrast 1142:1 1223:1
sRGB color space 97.9% 100%
Adobe RGB profile 72.6% 86.3%
DCI-P3 color gamut 72.2% 97.5%
Response time 18 ms 27 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Full charging time 2:00 hr -
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes, 30 W Yes, 70 W
Charging port position Left Left
Charge power 20 W 35 / 40 / 70 W
Cable length 1.5 meters 2 meters
Weight of AC adapter 58 grams 116 / 80 / 167 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 2 GHz 4.61 GHz
Turbo frequency 4.05 GHz -
Cores 6 (2P + 4E) 10 (4P + 6E)
Threads 6 10
Integrated GPU Apple A18 Pro GPU Apple M5 GPU (10-core)
Fabrication process 3 nm 3 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

Graphics Card

GPU name
Type Integrated Integrated
Fabrication process 3 nm 3 nm
GPU boost clock 1490 MHz 1620 MHz
FLOPS 2.3 TFLOPS 4.1 TFLOPS
Memory size System Shared System Shared
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory bus 128 bit 128 bit
Memory speed 7.5 Gbps 9.6 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 768 1280
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 40 80
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) - 40
GPU performance 2.3 TFLOPS 4.1 TFLOPS
Blender GPU - 1964
Solar Bay 6779 22390

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x4 GB 2x8 GB
Clock 7500 MHz 9600 MHz
Type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Upgradable No No

Storage

Storage size
Bus Custom Custom
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x256 GB 2x256 GB
Upgradable No No
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 2.0 2.4 (2 tweeters and 4 woofers)
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Loudness ~83 dB ~84.8 dB
Microphones 2 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6E v7
Bluetooth v6.0 v6.0
Fingerprint Optional Yes
Infrared sensor No No
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1920 x 1080 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A No No
USB Type-C 2x USB 3.2 2x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt No Thunderbolt 4
HDMI No No
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) No No
SD card reader No No
Proprietary charging port No Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad No No
Backlight No Yes
Key travel 1 mm 1 mm
Touchpad
Size 11.5 x 7.2 cm -
Surface Glass Glass
Windows Precision No No
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
6 (22.2%)
21 (77.8%)
Total votes: 27

Comments

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