15 Features Missing From the MacBook Neo

Apple’s MacBook Neo is exactly the laptop many budget-conscious people are looking for. It’s priced under $500 for students ($599 for everyone else), and its specs are decent enough to make a great starter laptop for most users. However, to make it a “budget laptop”, some savings had to be made. As a result, the MacBook Neo lacks a few features you might expect from a MacBook. Here are the biggest compromises Apple makes to achieve the Neo’s lowest price.

No Touch ID in the base model

The base model of the MacBook Neo doesn’t have a Touch ID sensor, which means you’ll have to enter your passwords every time you need to enter them. Some people might prefer this to using a fingerprint sensor, but I’d rather pay the extra $100 for it. This variant also comes with 512GB of storage, while the base model only has 256GB.

Lacks a backlit keyboard

Traditionally, Apple MacBooks have come with backlit keyboards to help you see what you’re typing when you’re in low-light conditions. Unfortunately, the MacBook Neo removed this feature to keep costs down, but it won’t make much difference in bright environments or for those who don’t look at their keyboard while typing.

You won’t get True Tone display

Apple’s True Tone display feature automatically adjusts the color and intensity of the screen based on ambient light, no matter where you are. This means your screen won’t be blindingly bright in low light conditions and colors will appear more natural in a number of lighting conditions. However, the MacBook Neo doesn’t come with an ambient light sensor, so don’t expect True Tone support here.

There are no RAM upgrade options

My daily laptop is still the MacBook Air M1 with 8GB RAM. I have no complaints about this laptop, but on several occasions it slowed to a crawl when running multiple applications at once. Sometimes I wish I had spent a little more to get 16GB of RAM. Unfortunately, this option does not exist for the MacBook Neo. 8GB should be enough for now, provided you stick to light usage, but it could become a problem in the long run.

Fast charging is missing

Unlike most other MacBooks, the Neo doesn’t support fast charging and comes with a 20W USB-C adapter. However, that should be enough to charge the 36.5 watt-hour battery, which is smaller than the 53.8 watt-hour battery in the MacBook Air M5.

You won’t have any Thunderbolt ports

The MacBook Neo has two USB-C ports (one USB 3 and one USB 2), but neither of them support Thunderbolt. This won’t be a problem for most people, but if you’re using Thunderbolt-exclusive accessories like docks or external displays, they won’t work with the MacBook Neo.

Force Touch trackpad has been removed

The MacBook Neo’s trackpad does not have Force Touch. This means that the trackpad is not pressure sensitive like that of other MacBooks. It does not support pressure-sensitive drawings, multi-touch gestures, or force clicks.

Other missing features

While I’ve covered the missing features above that average users are most likely to notice, there are a few additional cuts that might particularly impact power users. Here are the remaining features that the MacBook Neo is missing:

• Center stage for the front camera

• Wide color screen (P3)

• Neural accelerators

• Four-speaker audio system (the Neo has two speakers)

• Three-mic array (the Neo has a two-mic array)

• 3.5mm jack does not support high impedance headphones

• Wi-Fi 7

• Dynamic head tracking support with AirPods