Budget Windows 11 laptops vs MacBook Neo – Microsoft commissioned report points out Neo weaknesses as Apple rumored to double production to 10m

It is rumored that Apple is doubling the production of the MacBook Neo
It will reportedly now ship 10 million units
Meanwhile, Microsoft commissioned a report to highlight the strengths of budget Windows 11 laptops compared to the Neo, and it has been criticized online for its level of bias

Apple is reportedly set to double production of the MacBook Neo to meet demand for the popular budget laptop – even as Microsoft fights back in the affordable notebook war.

Wccftech reports that according to Tim Culpan, a former Bloomberg reporter and one of the more reliable sources of grapevine talk, Apple is increasing production of the first-generation MacBook Neo to 10 million units, up from the original (rumored) run of 5 to 6 million.

Such a move would make sense as there is clear evidence that the Neo is selling very well. In fact, the laptop has been since launch, with CEO Tim Cook recently acknowledging that demand has been “off the charts” for the Neo and that Apple may take a while to resolve supply issues (for this MacBook and Mac mini).

Analysis: cherry picking problems

MacBook Neo laptop on a desk with plant in the background

(Image credit: Future)

Okay, so there is an obvious problem with a study commissioned by Microsoft, and this is how the benchmarks and comparisons have been selected to show Windows 11 devices in the best light against the MacBook Neo (given that Microsoft paid for this research).

For example, what about single-core performance? It’s not mentioned, only multi-core, and performance was tested also plugged in, not on battery power. Working off-grid favors the Windows 11 devices, as the processor has a greater ability to take advantage of the significant extra power it can then drain (without throttling to balance battery life concerns).

What’s also not mentioned is that the MacBook Neo’s screen is much brighter, which favors the battery life of the Windows 11-toting Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x (the laptop rated to have 56% better battery life, and the main point of comparison for the Neo as the cheapest Microsoft-powered model). That Lenovo machine also has a bigger battery, so it was always going to win on that front.

Other factors, such as the quality of the screen and speakers, are not affected – areas the Lenovo IdeaPad has been criticized for – and in terms of price, Microsoft’s laptops are also compared to the Neo with discounts applied here. The main comparison with the wallet-friendly Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x mentions that it starts $150 cheaper than the Neo, but I could only find it on sale in the US for $50 less (at the time of writing).

As one commenter on X put it: “The review skipped all the benchmarks where the Neo was better (single core performance, screen, sound). You only took what made the PC look better. This is a reminder to have a more neutral review process, and it’s not.”

This is not to rule out Windows 11 laptops, mind, or to cast aspersions on the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x for the money, it really does look like a very good notebook. Granted, it has 16GB of RAM versus 8GB with the MacBook Neo, and I worry about future-proofing it with 8GB, as I’ve said before. But it’s clear that for today’s day-to-day computing tasks, the Neo runs nice and smooth – just handling your expectations for this portable Apple laptop to handle any demanding workload.

Ultimately, the battle of MacBook Neo versus Lenovo IdeaPad or other affordable Windows 11 laptops (and it should also be noted that two of the devices Signal65 rates in its report are much more expensive than Apple’s hardware) comes down to whether you’re happy with macOS or Windows. Are you tied to the Apple or Microsoft ecosystem? Then your choice may already be made for you. (It’s also worth bearing in mind that the Lenovo IdeaPad is an ARM-based PC, with some limitations therein compared to AMD or Intel chips – although granted, Microsoft has fixed some of those issues).

The MacBook Neo’s key strength is its relatively high quality – in terms of the build of the laptop, and that screen, speakers and so on – for the cost, but that said, this is where Apple may struggle as time goes on.

Mainly because, as Tim Culpan points out, it’s going to cost Apple to pay for new CPUs to be manufactured to hit the revised 10 million unit shipment target. Buying that production capacity at a time when everyone is trying to grab what they can is going to be expensive, and the worry is: will that be reflected in the price of the Neo? Especially considering the ongoing RAM and component crisis.

One of Culpan’s theories is that Apple may only offer the higher-end model of the Neo — the laptop with 512GB of storage — later this year, effectively making the starting price $699 in the US (and a similar bump elsewhere) without actually implementing a price increase. Or some 256 GB entry-level production can be sustained, but not much, and that model will actually be sold out most of the time.

Another theory is price increases softened by new color options, although I’m not convinced that a jazzy new color variant or two will take much of the punch from a potential price increase in the Neo’s first year of existence.