Apple now sells four kinds of MacBook, from the $699 MacBook Neo to an OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro that tops $4,000. We compared current US prices, education discounts, displays and battery life from Apple's own pages, checked 11 November 2026, alongside Macworld's independent battery tests.
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Short answer. In the US on 11 November 2026, Apple's MacBook Neo starts at $699 ($649 with education pricing), the M5 MacBook Air at $1,299 for 13 inches and $1,499 for 15 inches, and the MacBook Pro at $1,999 with the M6 chip. The touchscreen PROLED XDR MacBook Pro starts at $2,899. Apple claims up to 16 hours of video streaming for the Neo, 18 hours for the Air and up to 24 hours for the 14-inch M6 Pro; Macworld measured 13 hours 15 minutes on the Neo and 18 hours 24 minutes on the 13-inch Air. Most students and office workers are best served by the Air. The Neo suits light, browser-based work on a tight budget, and the Pro is for sustained creative or technical workloads that justify its brighter 120Hz display and extra ports.
We have not used these laptops. This is a research-based comparison, not a hands-on review. Prices and specifications come from Apple's own US product, specs and store pages, checked 11 November 2026. Independent battery results come from Macworld's published reviews, and we name Macworld whenever a figure is theirs. Every battery figure labeled "Apple claim" is Apple's own rating, measured by Apple under its own conditions, not by an independent lab.
We compared the models on five things that decide most purchases: what you pay (including Apple's US education pricing), the display, battery life, how much memory and storage you get, and what you can plug in. If you want a refresher on reading the numbers below, our guide on how to read a product spec sheet explains terms like nits, refresh rate and unified memory.
Apple's Mac page lists four laptop families on 11 November 2026: MacBook Neo, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro with a Liquid Retina XDR display, and a newer MacBook Pro with a PROLED XDR display, which is an OLED touchscreen. The MacBook Neo is real and on sale: Apple's specs page describes a 13-inch laptop with the A18 Pro chip, the same chip family Apple first used in the iPhone 16 Pro, according to Macworld.
| Model | Chip | Starting price | Base memory / storage | US education price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo 13-inch | A18 Pro | $699 (256GB); $799 (512GB, adds Touch ID) | 8GB / 256GB | $649; $749 |
| MacBook Air 13-inch | M5 | $1,299 | 16GB / 512GB | From $1,199 |
| MacBook Air 15-inch | M5 | $1,499 | 16GB / 512GB | From $1,399 |
| MacBook Pro 14-inch | M6 | $1,999 | 16GB / 1TB | Not shown when checked |
| MacBook Pro 14-inch | M5 Pro / M5 Max | $2,499 / $4,099 | 24GB / 1TB (M5 Pro) | Not shown when checked |
| MacBook Pro 16-inch | M5 Pro / M5 Max | From $2,999 | 24GB / 1TB (M5 Pro) | Not shown when checked |
| MacBook Pro PROLED XDR 14-inch | M5 Pro / M5 Max | $2,899 / $4,499 | 24GB / 1TB (M5 Pro) | Not shown when checked |
| MacBook Pro PROLED XDR 16-inch | M5 Pro / M5 Max | From $3,399 | 24GB / 1TB (M5 Pro) | Not shown when checked |
Prices went up this year. Macworld reports that Apple raised MacBook Air prices by $200 in June 2026 (the 13-inch Air launched at $1,099 in March) and that the MacBook Neo rose from its $599 launch price to $699. Apple's pages now show the higher prices. The Neo-to-Air gap is $600 at list price, and the Air-to-Pro gap is $700.
Apple's education store, open to college students and educators, takes $50 off the Neo and $100 off the Air at the starting configurations. The education MacBook Pro page did not show prices when we checked it, so we cannot confirm the Pro's education discount.
Display quality is the clearest dividing line in the lineup. Apple uses three technologies: a standard LCD called Liquid Retina on the Neo and Air, a mini-LED panel called Liquid Retina XDR on the regular MacBook Pro, and a tandem OLED touchscreen called PROLED XDR on the most expensive Pro.
| Model | Size and resolution | Brightness | Color | Refresh rate | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo | 13.0-inch, 2408 x 1506 | 500 nits | sRGB; no True Tone listed | 60Hz (per Macworld) | No |
| MacBook Air 13-inch | 13.6-inch, 2560 x 1664 | 500 nits | P3 wide color, True Tone | 60Hz (per Macworld) | No |
| MacBook Air 15-inch | 15.3-inch, 2880 x 1864 | 500 nits | P3 wide color, True Tone | 60Hz (per Macworld) | No |
| MacBook Pro 14/16-inch (XDR) | 14.2-inch 3024 x 1964; 16.2-inch 3456 x 2234 | 1,000 nits sustained, 1,600 nits peak HDR, up to 1,000 nits SDR outdoors | P3, True Tone | ProMotion up to 120Hz | No |
| MacBook Pro PROLED XDR 14/16-inch | 14.2-inch 3024 x 1986; 16.3-inch 3472 x 2266 | 1,000 nits sustained, 2,000 nits peak HDR and outdoor | P3 and Adobe RGB | ProMotion 10Hz to 120Hz | Yes |
The practical difference between them is color: the Neo covers only the sRGB color space and Apple does not list True Tone, while the Air supports the wider P3 range. That matters if you edit photos or design for print, and barely matters for essays and spreadsheets.
The regular MacBook Pro's mini-LED screen is the first big jump. It is roughly twice as bright for everyday use outdoors, much brighter for HDR video, and refreshes at up to 120Hz, which makes scrolling look smoother. Video editors and photographers working in HDR will notice. The PROLED XDR model goes further with OLED contrast, Adobe RGB support, touch input and, according to Apple, a lighter body: 3.0 pounds for the 14-inch M5 Pro version against 3.5 pounds for the non-touch 14-inch M5 Pro. Macworld's reviewer Roman Loyola found the screen itself, more than touch, to be the strongest reason to pay the $400 premium. If you mostly work on an external monitor, that premium buys you little.
Apple rates every model for video streaming and wireless web browsing. These are Apple's claims, tested by Apple, and real use with heavier apps will drain the battery faster.
| Model | Video streaming (Apple claim) | Wireless web (Apple claim) | Battery |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo | Up to 16 hours | Up to 11 hours | 36.5 Wh |
| MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) | Up to 18 hours | Up to 15 hours | 53.8 Wh |
| MacBook Air 15-inch (M5) | Up to 18 hours | Up to 15 hours | 66.5 Wh |
| MacBook Pro 14-inch (M6) | Up to 24 hours | Up to 16 hours | 72.4 Wh |
| MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5 Pro / M5 Max) | Up to 22 / 20 hours | Up to 14 / 13 hours | 72.4 Wh (XDR); 72.6 Wh (PROLED) |
| MacBook Pro 16-inch (M5 Pro / M5 Max) | Up to 24 / 22 hours | Up to 17 / 16 hours | 100 Wh |
Independent results are available for some models. Macworld loops a locally stored video at 150 nits brightness until the battery dies. Using that method, Macworld's Roman Loyola recorded 13 hours 15 minutes on the MacBook Neo, and Jason Cross recorded 18 hours 24 minutes on the 13-inch M5 MacBook Air. Macworld's buying guide reports roughly 24 hours for a 16-inch PROLED XDR MacBook Pro with M5 Max and 128GB of memory. We did not find an independent test of the 14-inch M6 MacBook Pro.
What the numbers mean in practice: the Neo's web-browsing claim (11 hours) is the figure to watch for students, because browser-based coursework is closer to that test than to video playback. It should cover a school day, but with less margin than the Air's 15-hour claim. Macworld's own Neo result came in about three hours under Apple's video claim, while its Air result slightly beat Apple's.
The chips split the lineup into clear tiers. Apple lists these configurations on its specs pages:
| Model | CPU / GPU | Memory options | Storage options | Ports | External displays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo | 6-core / 5-core (A18 Pro) | 8GB only | 256GB or 512GB | 1 USB 3 (10Gb/s), 1 USB 2 (480Mb/s), headphone jack | One, up to 4K at 60Hz |
| MacBook Air (M5) | 10-core / 8- or 10-core | 16GB, 24GB or 32GB | 512GB to 4TB | 2 Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | Up to two |
| MacBook Pro 14-inch (M6) | 12-core / 12-core | 16GB, 24GB or 32GB | 1TB to 4TB | 3 Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | Up to two |
| MacBook Pro (M5 Pro) | 15- or 18-core / 16- or 20-core | 24GB to 64GB | 1TB to 4TB | 3 Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | Up to three |
| MacBook Pro (M5 Max) | 18-core / 32- or 40-core | 36GB to 128GB | 2TB to 8TB (XDR); up to 16TB on PROLED per Macworld | 3 Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | Up to four |
The Neo is the only current MacBook with 8GB of memory, and it cannot be upgraded at purchase or later. Macworld's review found the A18 Pro faster than Apple's older M3 chip in single-core tasks and about equal to the M1 in multi-core and graphics work. That is plenty for documents and streaming, but 8GB leaves little headroom for heavier software over several years. Macworld recommends 16GB as the minimum for most buyers who plan to keep a laptop for several years.
The Air and the M6 Pro both start at 16GB and top out at 32GB. The Air has no fan, so Macworld notes that its performance drops during long exports or gaming sessions, after about 10 minutes in its gaming tests. The Pro models have active cooling and hold their speed longer. A newer chip name does not automatically mean more power: Macworld points out that the M5 Pro and M5 Max offer more CPU, GPU and memory capacity than the standard M6.
Ports are a practical difference that is easy to overlook. The Neo has two USB-C ports, but only one is a fast USB 3 port; the other runs at USB 2 speed. The Air adds MagSafe charging and two full Thunderbolt 4 ports. Every MacBook Pro adds HDMI and an SD card slot, which saves photographers and presenters from carrying adapters.
The Neo is not a smaller Air. Based on Apple's specs and Macworld's review, these are the compromises:
In return you get an aluminum MacBook weighing 2.7 pounds, the same as the 13-inch Air per Apple, at roughly half the price.
| If you are... | Consider | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A student on a tight budget, mostly browser and documents | MacBook Neo 512GB ($799; $749 education) | Lowest price, Touch ID and double the storage of the base model; accept 8GB and the shorter battery claim |
| A student or office worker who will keep the laptop four or more years | MacBook Air 13-inch ($1,299; from $1,199 education) | 16GB memory, P3 display, Thunderbolt ports and an 18-hour video claim that Macworld's test matched |
| Someone who wants a bigger screen without Pro pricing | MacBook Air 15-inch ($1,499; from $1,399 education) | 15.3-inch screen and six speakers at 3.3 pounds |
| A photographer, presenter or light video editor | MacBook Pro 14-inch M6 ($1,999) | Brighter 120Hz mini-LED screen, HDMI and SD slot, fans for sustained work, 1TB storage as standard |
| A developer, video editor or 3D artist with heavy workloads | MacBook Pro M5 Pro or M5 Max (from $2,499) | More CPU and GPU cores, up to 64GB or 128GB memory, Thunderbolt 5 and more external displays |
| A creative who works mainly on the laptop screen | MacBook Pro PROLED XDR (from $2,899) | OLED touchscreen with Adobe RGB and lighter weight; skip it if you use an external monitor |
The hardest call is between the Air and the M6 Pro. Macworld's advice is to compare an Air configured with the same memory and storage before deciding, because the Pro starts with 1TB. Apple lists a 13-inch Air with 24GB and 1TB at $1,599, which narrows the gap to $400 for a much better screen, more ports and active cooling.
The MacBook Neo is Apple's cheapest laptop in late 2026. It has a 13-inch Liquid Retina display, the A18 Pro chip, 8GB of memory and 256GB or 512GB of storage. Apple lists it at $699 and $799 in the US, checked 11 November 2026.
For browser-based coursework, documents, streaming and video calls, yes. Apple claims up to 11 hours of web browsing, and Macworld measured 13 hours 15 minutes in its video test. Its fixed 8GB of memory, missing keyboard backlight and single external display support make it a weaker long-term choice than the MacBook Air for heavier work.
On Apple's US education store on 11 November 2026, the MacBook Neo started at $649 instead of $699 and the MacBook Air at $1,199 instead of $1,299 for the 13-inch model and $1,399 instead of $1,499 for the 15-inch. Education prices for the MacBook Pro were not shown when we checked.
By Apple's claims, the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 and the 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro lead at up to 24 hours of video streaming. The 16-inch M5 Pro also has the longest web-browsing claim at 17 hours. These are Apple's figures, not independent tests.
Buy the Air if you want the lightest, quietest laptop for everyday work and study. Choose the 14-inch M6 Pro at $1,999 if you need its brighter 120Hz mini-LED display, HDMI and SD card slot, fans for long exports, or 1TB of storage as standard. A 13-inch Air with 24GB and 1TB costs $1,599, so the real gap is often smaller than it first looks.
Only if you spend most of your time on the laptop's own screen. The PROLED XDR model adds an OLED touchscreen with 2,000 nits peak brightness, Adobe RGB color and a lighter body, with the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips as the non-touch model. If you mostly use an external monitor, the non-touch Pro is better value.
Macworld recommends 16GB as the minimum for most buyers who plan to keep a laptop for several years, and 24GB to 32GB for creative work. Memory cannot be upgraded after purchase on any current MacBook, and the MacBook Neo is limited to 8GB.