How Do The MacBook CPUs Compare?

https://www.bgr.com/2121533/apple-a18-pro-vs-m1-macbook-cpus-comparison/

Publish Date: 2026-03-16 09:47:00

Apple has finally unveiled the low-cost MacBook version – the new MacBook Neo – powered by the Apple A18 Pro chip launched in September 2024 that initially featured in the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. This marks the first time an A-series chip, which Apple traditionally uses for iPhones and the entry-level iPad, powers a MacBook. While that’s an impressive technological accomplishment, it may give some buyers reasons to pause. They may wonder whether the $599 MacBook Neo can offer decent laptop performance, or whether they should go for a used version of the older M1 MacBook Air model that Apple launched in 2020. But the 3nm Apple A18 Pro is a great alternative to the 5nm Apple M1, as benchmark tests show. While the performance figures are quite neck and neck, there are some aspects like the number of supported external displays and available memory options that might be dealbreakers for many buyers.

The M1 MacBook Air saw strong reviews at launch, excelling in both performance and battery life. Later, Apple brought the M1 chip to the iPad, starting with the M1 iPad Pro (11-inch and 12.9-inch versions) and the fifth-generation iPad Air. The M1 chip supported 8GB and 16GB of RAM and several storage tiers, ranging from 256GB to 2TB.

Comparatively, the A18 Pro doesn’t have as rich a history, considering that Apple has only launched two products featuring the mobile processor before the MacBook Neo. The 2025 iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max both feature 8GB of RAM, with storage starting at 128GB for the Pro and 256GB for the Pro Max and going up to 1TB for each model. The MacBook Neo is available only in an 8GB variant when it comes to memory, and two storage options: 256GB and 512GB.

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