The $599 MacBook Neo is a fantastic budget laptop for everyday work and entertainment. Gaming-wise, it’s built to run many of the games available on Apple Arcade, as well as some casual/indie titles, as we said in our MacBook Neo review. But how well can it run more graphically demanding titles?
YouTuber Andrew Tsai, known for Apple gaming benchmarks, recently uploaded a detailed test video in which he ran 10 titles and Nintendo Switch emulation on the MacBook Neo (via TechRadar).
The results, while limited by the 8GB RAM ceiling and occasional throttling, show the compact laptop punching well above its weight. This is especially true for native macOS games and older/optimized titles.
How games performed
It’s actually a miracle that this natively optimized macOS game actually can work and is somewhat playable on the MacBook Neo running an iPhone chip.”
Andrew Tsai
Andrew Tsai put the MacBook Neo through its paces across a mix of native macOS titles, Windows games via CrossOver, and even Nintendo Switch emulation. As you’d imagine, well-optimized native games run surprisingly well, while memory-hungry titles quickly hit the 8GB RAM wall.
The demanding Cyberpunk 2077 performed surprisingly well. Running on its native macOS version at the absolute lowest settings and 720p resolution (with MetalFX upscaling from an internal 360p source), Cyberpunk delivered “just about playable” performance, according to Tsai, often holding 30–40+ FPS. However, dense city areas caused some stuttering. He called managing this on the tiny, fanless machine a miracle.
Lighter titles shone. Minecraft Java Edition was the star here, easily hitting 50–300 FPS at 1080p depending on the preset, and even with shaders and mods, it stayed in a smooth 50–60 FPS range. World of Warcraft ran acceptably on reduced settings, dipping only in crowded areas but remaining perfectly usable for casual play.
Control also performed very well, reaching around 40–50 FPS at 1080p on low settings with MetalFX upscaling. Both Resident Evil titles Tsai tested showed solid results: Resident Evil 2 Remake came close to a steady 60 FPS at 1080p with default graphics and upscaling. At the same time, Resident Evil Requiem (RE9) delivered respectable performance straight out of the box. Dark Souls Remastered also impressed, running near 60 FPS at 1080p low and feeling smooth and responsive.
CrossOver results were more mixed. The 2D game Mewgenics ran great, but bigger Windows titles struggled. Counter-Strike 2 became completely unplayable due to memory constraints, and the open-world Elden Ring averaged only the mid-20s FPS at a low 450p resolution, plagued by stuttering and poor frametimes.
For Nintendo Switch emulation, the MacBook Neo maintained a mostly stable 30 FPS, with minor hitches during shader compilation.
Bottom line
Native macOS-optimized games excel, proving Apple silicon’s gaming potential even in a budget, fanless MacBook. Windows titles via CrossOver are hit-or-miss and heavily limited by the 8GB RAM limit, as anything memory-hungry quickly becomes unplayable. Sustained sessions may throttle due to passive cooling, but for short bursts or lighter/older games, the MacBook Neo is surprisingly competent.
While it won’t replace one of the best gaming laptops or a higher-RAM MacBook Pro, the MacBook Neo shows that even Apple’s cheapest laptop can deliver real gaming fun. This will become truer as more native ports arrive.
We're going to perform more extensive gaming tests on the MacBook Neo ourselves, so stay tuned for that when it arrives!
