[Digital Today reporter Kyungmin Hong] Apple’s entry-level laptop MacBook Neo appears to have a design in which the battery, speakers and touchpad take up most of the internal space, while actual computing components account for a relatively small share.

On March 10 local time, IT outlet 9to5Mac cited IT YouTuber Dave2D (데이브2D) as saying that an analysis of the MacBook Neo shows high quality for its price but constraints in memory capacity and some hardware specifications.

The MacBook Neo is filled in large part with the battery, speakers and touchpad, and the area occupied by computing components is relatively small, the analysis found. It is priced at about $500 to $600 but features an all-aluminum body and a hinge that allows it to be opened with one hand. The box includes a 20W charging adapter and a charging cable. The display supports a 60Hz refresh rate and the sRGB color gamut but does not support the full P3 color gamut, making its display performance lower than higher-end models.

The MacBook Neo is equipped with an A18 Pro processor based on an iPhone chip. The chip and 8GB of memory are rated as providing sufficient performance for general tasks such as web browsing, email, photo editing and simple video work. Graphics performance is also at a level that can run casual games, but performance limits appear in graphics-intensive work. Storage speed was confirmed at about 1,600 MB/s for read speeds.

Memory is fixed at 8GB and cannot be upgraded, and performance limits may appear in high-load tasks such as video editing or large projects, it said. The MacBook Neo is rated as a product designed primarily for the education market, including students and general users, rather than for high-performance work. Users cannot upgrade either storage or memory, but internal parts are designed to be disassembled and replaced relatively easily with screws.

The product uses a new mechanical touchpad instead of the haptic touchpad used in existing MacBooks. It operates with a plate structure floating above a central button, and is rated as more precise than the mechanical touchpads on most Windows laptops. Rapid clicking may sometimes result in intermittent failure to register inputs.

The MacBook Neo also has a large speaker that takes up a significant part of the internal space. The speaker can output sound loudly, but bass performance is rated as limited.

Battery performance is also in focus. The battery has a 36.5Wh capacity and is rated as capable of lasting a day depending on brightness settings. A 20W charger is included by default, but charging up to 30W is possible and a full charge is said to take more than 1 hour.

In terms of connectivity, it offers only 2 USB-C ports and 1 headphone jack. One port supports USB 3 and the other supports USB 2, and it does not support MagSafe charging. Experts rated the price as clearly competitive for value, but said choosing the higher-end MacBook Air may be a better option for those who want higher performance and features.