MacBook Neo punches above its weight in Windows 11 gaming test

The MacBook Neo is a new value-focused laptop, but unlike other laptops that Apple offers, this one comes with a mobile SoC. It's a specific version of the Apple A18 Pro, which is the same chipset that powers the iPhone 16 Pro series. While many thought this processor would hold the system back, especially since it's running MacOS, benchmarks and real-life performance prove the opposite.

Even when handling MacOS games, the A18 SoC inside the MacBook Neo (available on Amazon) holds surprisingly well. To make things a bit more interesting, ETA Prime has tested Windows 11 on the system, and things turned out to be better than expected.

ETA Prime relied on a virtualization app called Parallels Desktop for this test, and while UTM and VMware Fusion are free alternatives, the YouTuber wasn't happy with the performance coming from them. It's also worth noting that Windows 11 ARM was tested via the application, meaning there's no x86 conversion when running native Windows-on-ARM apps.

Most low-to-mid-range Windows games ran smoothly on the MacBook Neo

Before testing Windows games on this setup, ETA Prime tweaked a setting. The YouTuber has allocated 5 GB of RAM for the virtualization, which is not a lot, but the MacBook Neo is limited to 8 GB of memory for the SoC that it uses.

In the video, ETA Prime focused on the games that don't have a native macOS version, which is basically why such a virtualization setup would make sense. Among the games tested are Marvel Cosmic Invasion, and with the resolution maxed out, the average stayed at around 60 FPS.

Dirt 3 was tested at 1200p resolution with visual settings set to High, and the MacBook Neo ran it at an average of around 75 FPS. Portal 2 was also tested, and with the graphics settings set to Medium, the game ran at over 100 FPS. The system could also run Skyrim at around 60 FPS at 1200p resolution with visuals set to Medium.

ETA Prime tried to run GTA V, but the FPS didn't stay in the playable range. However, it's possible to play this game smoothly on the MacBook Neo using the Crossover application, which uses a Wine container and a Proton layer. Regardless, the performance from Parallels Desktop on this laptop is quite impressive, especially given its 8 GB of RAM limit. Check out the video attached below to learn more.