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Apple's Low-Cost iPhone 17e is Faster Than the Low-Cost MacBook Neo

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Apple is set to launch two new low-cost devices tomorrow, the iPhone 17e and the MacBook Neo. Both devices use A-series chips, which have historically been limited to the iPhone and iPad.

macbook neo edu
The ‌MacBook Neo‌ has Apple's A18 Pro chip inside, which was first used in the iPhone 16 Pro models, while the ‌iPhone 17e‌ has a newer A19 chip. Unsurprisingly, thanks to the newer chip, Apple's $599 iPhone outperforms the CPU in its $599 Mac.

The ‌iPhone 17e‌ earned a multi-core score of 9,241 on early Geekbench benchmarks, while the ‌MacBook Neo‌ earned a multi-core score of 8,668. Single-core chip results also favored the ‌iPhone 17e‌, which earned a score of 3,607, while the Neo had a single-core score of 3,461.

Metal scores for the GPU were closer, with the ‌MacBook Neo‌ scoring between 30,000 and 31,400 the ‌iPhone 17e‌ earned scores ranging from 31,000 to 31,600.

Both the ‌iPhone 17e‌ and the ‌MacBook Neo‌ have the same 8GB RAM for Apple Intelligence support, and while that might not sound like enough for a Mac, early reviewers felt that 8GB RAM was sufficient for everyday light workloads.

The ‌MacBook Neo‌ is the first Mac that Apple has designed with an A-series chip instead of an M-series chip, and its benchmark results suggest that it is essentially an iPhone that runs macOS. It will be interesting to see how well the ‌MacBook Neo‌ sells given that its CPU performance trails Apple's low-cost iPhone.

Related Roundups: iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo
Buyer's Guide: iPhone 17e (Buy Now), MacBook Neo (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Neo

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Top Rated Comments

MacUserFella Avatar
MacUserFella
17 weeks ago
When the faster & newer chip is faster than the older chip: 🤯
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
raythompsontn
17 weeks ago
The intended audience for the NEO will not even notice, and most certainly does not care.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Radeon85 Avatar
Radeon85
17 weeks ago
And this is why they shouldn't have cheaped out and went with the A19 Pro instead, faster, 12GB RAM and longer update support.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
17 weeks ago
Ouch.

Slower than the 17e?
not even the 17 or 17 Pro?



Attachment Image
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
andrewxgx
17 weeks ago
good job, tim
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
mpetrides
17 weeks ago
Really, folks, the people this laptop is aimed at are NOT going to be looking at Geekbench scores or even at what processor is in the dang thing. It's a MAC and it runs MacOS and it cost $499 educational, $599 otherwise. That's all they will care about. These will sell like hotcakes.

BTW, check out what this puppy can do in real world conditions.

Tyler Stalman is a professional photographer/videographer not some Apple shill. What he is demonstrating is a Mac that can meet the day-to-day needs of most people in the market for a budget laptop--and do it with the style and build quality of a Mac.

Repeat after me: It's a MAC, running MacOS for $499 educational, $599 otherwise. It will sell like hotcakes.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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