The $599 MacBook Neo was designed for lighter workloads, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play games on it. Sure, you’ll get better performance on one of the best gaming laptops or the M5-powered 15-inch MacBook Air. But if you want to play select titles on Apple’s most affordable MacBook, you aren’t just limited to mobile games.
I recently posted about spending 48 hours with the MacBook Neo and found it surprisingly capable of handling everyday tasks like web surfing and streaming. But as a gamer, I had to see where the A18 Pro chip would actually redline. To that end, I decided to push this machine to its limits, testing a range of titles from Apple Arcade, the App Store and Steam.
For my testing, I monitored frame rates using the Metal Performance HUD. I also played at a game’s default resolution and graphical settings when possible, since I know most folks don’t touch those settings. This gave me a solid (and fair) foundation to see how games run on the Neo.
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Can the Neo’s 8GB of unified memory and fanless design actually maintain a stable, playable experience, or will the hardware buckle under the heat? Read on to find out!
Apple Arcade and macOS native titles
These games have native Apple Silicon optimization, which means the MacBook Neo should be able to run them decently. That’s not just Apple’s claims — I tested a few to see how they perform on the Neo. Overall, the results were impressive!
Resident Evil 4 Remake
By default, Resident Evil 4 Remake had a choppy frame rate in the mid-20s. However, enabling the upscaling and frame-boosting MetalFX option brought it into the mid-40s. Sure, that’s not the 60 fps minimum I want for games, but 40ish fps isn’t exactly sluggish either.
The game’s fps can dip during action scenes, but I never saw it drop below the 30s, which is commendable. However, it can reach the low 60s if you’re indoors, where the game doesn’t have to render large environments or dozens of crazed villagers.
Resident Evil 4 Remake also looks great on the MacBook Neo’s 13-inch Liquid Retina display. Whether it was the introductory dark forest or the overcast Spanish village, everything came through in sharp and vivid detail. I kept the resolution at 1080p and set the graphics settings to low.
Oceanhorn 3
We tested Oceanhorn 3 in our MacBook Neo review, but I wanted to try it for myself. This is basically Apple’s answer to The Legend of Zelda, and it’s one of the more visually ambitious games on Apple Arcade. Though it generally runs well, it pushes the A18 Pro further than Sneaky Sasquatch.
Oceanhorn 3’s performance differs depending on your current environment. For instance, the game can remain at a consistent 60 frames per second at 1408 x 881 resolution if you’re inside a dungeon or other indoor area. However, the fps hovers between 45 and 60 when you’re exploring outdoor environments. Performance also takes a dip during heavy combat sequences.
This test was a bit of a mixed bag. Oceanhorn 3’s art style is undeniably appealing, but at this resolution (which I wasn’t able to change), the game can appear blurry on the Neo’s display. This is a reminder that while the Neo is a capable laptop, it’s still balancing thermal headroom against raw visual fidelity. Overall, though, Oceanhorn 3 is very much playable on the Neo.
Sneaky Sasquatch
Sneaky Sasquatch is a popular game on Apple Arcade, and it’s the No. 1 title on the store at the time of writing. It’s a quirky game where you play as a, well, sneaky sasquatch who dodges forest rangers, steals food from park visitors, and even fails upward into corporate jobs. Due to its popularity, it was perfect for my testing.
Not surprisingly, Sneaky Sasquatch runs like a dream on the MacBook Neo. At 2816 x 1762 resolution, it ran buttery-smooth at 60 frames per second. The affordable MacBook doesn’t have to strain very hard, given this game’s simple graphics. The Neo’s fanless design is also as quiet as the silent sasquatch!
Overall, this is the kind of game the Neo was made for. Sneaky Sasquatch proves that 8GB of RAM is more than enough for Apple Arcade.
Steam games
Steam is available for Macs, but it doesn’t have many games available on Valve’s storefront. Still, there’s a decent selection. To that end, I decided to run a lighter title and something more demanding to see how the Neo would handle them.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 still makes even the best gaming rigs sweat, even five years after its launch, so I consider this the end boss for the MacBook Neo. How well does the MacBook Neo handle such a graphically demanding title?
At 720p resolution, low graphics settings, and MetalFX set to performance mode, the game fluctuated between 30 and 45 frames per second. In less crowded areas, frame rates got closer to 40, but I frequently saw them dip into the low 30s while driving through the densely packed Night City or when I had to teach some cybernetic thugs a lesson.
There are some tradeoffs here. Due to the aggressive upscaling, the game can look soft. Finer details, such as text or power lines, can look blurry or choppy. Because the Neo has only 8GB of RAM, the game may stutter in dense areas. And since the Neo is fanless, it can get pretty warm. After 15 to 20 minutes of playing, I noticed performance degradation.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
To counter the demanding Cyberpunk 2077, I fired up Hollow Knight: Silksong from the Steam store. This is still a very popular game, so that’s also a reason I wanted to see how it ran on the Neo. Let’s dig into the results.
There are very few compromises here. At 2816 x 1762 resolution, the game maintained a locked 60 frames per second. It only ever dipped during transitions between areas or during the 30 fps cinematics. I also didn’t feel any input lag, with every attack and parry feeling instant. The graphics also remained sharp throughout.
This is yet another game that’s perfect on the Neo. Silksong’s moody visuals and flashy effects pop on the Neo’s 13-inch display. It also runs as smooth as silk, pun intended. Silksong shows you can have a great time playing small indie games on the MacBook Neo.
MacBook Neo: Limits
The MacBook Neo can punch above its weight when gaming, but don’t expect an experience comparable to that of a dedicated gaming laptop or even the iPad Air M4. There are some hard physical limits here that you just can’t ignore.
The paltry 256GB of storage on the base model is one of the biggest hurdles. When games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Resident Evil 4 can easily devour 100GB combined, you’ll constantly find yourself deleting one game just to make room for the next.
Then there’s the thermal ceiling. Since the Neo is fanless, it relies on its aluminum chassis for passive cooling. This leads to something called heat soak. During shorter sessions, the laptop can handle the load well enough, but if you play for more than 30 minutes, the chassis starts to overheat. That’s when the A18 Pro hits its thermal limit and starts throttling, which results in graphical stuttering and lower frame rates as the system tries to stay cool.
Lastly, there’s the 8GB RAM cap and the limited memory bandwidth. At 60GB/s, the Neo’s data pipeline is much narrower than the 153GB/s on the M4 Air. When you’re playing demanding open-world games, the system struggles to swap assets in and out of that small 8GB pool fast enough. This results in micro-stutters during high-speed driving or intense combat. While lighter games like Silksong aren’t a problem, the Neo can feel the squeeze once you play a more taxing title.
MacBook Neo: Gaming performance overview
Here’s a recap of how each game I played performed:
|
Resolution |
Settings |
FPS (Avg) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hollow Knight: Silksong |
2816 x 1762 |
Native / High |
60 (Locked) |
|
Sneaky Sasquatch |
2816 x 1762 |
Native / Arcade |
60 (Locked) |
|
Resident Evil 4 Remake |
1080p |
Low / MetalFX |
40–45 |
|
Oceanhorn 3 |
1408 x 881 |
Default |
45–60 |
|
Cyberpunk 2077 |
720p |
Low / MetalFX |
30–45 |
Bottom line
The MacBook Neo isn’t a gaming laptop, but it’s more capable of gaming than you’d expect. If you mainly play Apple Arcade games, you’re going to have a fun time. However, you’ll have to compromise when it comes to bigger games.
If you want a better gaming experience, you’re better off with an M5 MacBook Pro or a dedicated gaming rig. If you just want to occasionally play less demanding titles or something light from Apple Arcade, then the MacBook Neo is enough.
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