The MacBook Neo is Apple’s most affordable laptop to date and is tuned for entry-level buyers who need a computer for email, web browsing, video watching, and other simple tasks. However, YouTuber ETA Prime discovered Apple’s latest entry-level device is surprisingly capable for PC gaming thanks to the iPhone 16 Pro SoC housed inside. The YouTuber tested several games and found that the Neo could achieve playable frame rates in AAA titles, including Cyberpunk 2077.
ETA Prime tested several games on the MacBook Neo: Hades 2, Drive Rally, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Hollow Knight: Silksong, BioShock 2, Roblox, Resident Evil Village, RoboCop: Rogue City, and Cyberpunk 2077. Hades 2, Drive Rally, and Roblox ran at 60 FPS at 2816 x 1762. Bioshock 2 Remastered and Resident Evil Village, but ran at significantly lower resolutions to do so. Hollow Knight: Silksong encountered strange behavior during the YouTuber’s tests, only achieving 56 FPS average with the built-in display. However, it achieved over 100 FPS when the laptop was plugged into a high-refresh-rate external display.
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The most demanding games the YouTuber tested were Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Robocop: Rogue City, and Cyberpunk 2077. Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran at an average of 42 FPS at 1280 x 720, upscaled from 896 x 584. Robocop: Rogue City ran at around 45 FPS using the same resolution and upscaling ratio, and Cyberpunk 2077 ran at around 40 FPS at 1204 x 753, upscaled from 708 x 443. We also benchmarked the MacBook Neo in Cyberpunk 2077 in our review, but only ran the built-in benchmark, achieving 33 FPS.
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ETA Prime’s tests prove that Apple’s entry-level MacBook is capable of playing PC games, even AAA games, if you are willing to make sacrifices to image quality. Further, it proves Apple’s modern iPhones have the hardware chops to run PC games since the Neo uses Apple’s A18 Pro rather than M-series silicon. PC emulation on Android is growing in popularity and is already possible on flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered phones such as the Red Magic 11 Pro. The only problem now for iPhones is that PC emulation support is in a weak spot compared to Android.
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