I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Mac Book Neo’s $100 price bump means budget Windows 11 laptops are now the better buy | Tech Radar
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I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Mac Book Neo’s $100 price bump means budget Windows 11 laptops are now the better buy
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Apple can be its own worst enemy sometimes. After shaking up the industry with both the Mac Book Air M5 (slim, light and great value for money) and the Mac Book Neo (which redefined what we should expect from an affordable laptop), it spurred its laptop-making rivals, such as Dell and Acer, to up their game and compete.
The result is a reinvigorated laptop market with huge amounts of choice, with Apple continuing to lead the pack due to price and quality.
However, Apple has just announced some pretty major price hikes for a variety of its products, including the Mac Book Neo (
Those increases, especially for the Mac Book Air, are brutal, and make it a lot harder to justify. The Mac Book Neo also becomes less of a no-brainer.
The problem for Apple is that these price hikes come at a time when its Windows 11 competitors are steadily bringing out brilliant alternatives - and it means they are now better value propositions in many cases, especially during Amazon Prime Day.
The reason behind Apple's price rises is the global memory shortage, but that means many Windows 11 laptops could see price rises as well (and some have risen in price already).
However, because of the huge variety of Windows laptops that are made by a range of manufacturers, there's a lot more choice for consumers to shop around for — and now Apple no longer has a lead when it comes to price, performance or design, those Windows laptops suddenly become a whole lot more tempting, as the current Prime Day sales prove.
Below, I've picked out some great US and UK deals for Mac Book Neo, Air, and Pro alternatives. Fair warning: they do run Windows 11, so you'll need to put up with that, but to be fair, Microsoft's operating system is getting a steady stream of fixes and new features these days.
If you want to stick with Apple, then check out our collection of Apple Prime Day deals that can help you avoid the price rise.
Today's best Mac Book Neo alternative deals in the US
Processor: Intel Core i 3-1315U RAM: 16GB Storage: 256GB
This is a great price for a relatively modern laptop with a well-performing, efficient Core i 3 CPU. On top of that, you get 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a solid battery life of up to 12 hours, which represents good value for money overall. I like it as a capable, all-around, everyday machine.
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7730U RAM: 16GB Storage: 512GB
The Acer Aspire Go 15 is a lightweight and surprisingly powerful laptop for the price, which is now less than the Mac Book Neo, and offers more storage space and RAM. We reviewed it last year and scored it an impressive four stars out of five. Although it's not a high-end laptop by any stretch, it is very usable, lightweight, and features plenty of ports. This particular configuration features a Ryzen 7 chipset, meaning it's powerful enough to take on most applications.
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 5 RAM: 16GB Storage: 512GB
This Dell 16 Plus laptop deal is a perfect example of why Apple is in trouble with these price rises. Thanks to an absolutely huge $800 price cut from Dell (can you ever imagine Apple offering a similar discount?) This 16-inch laptop is now less than the Mac Book Neo, but it offers a bigger screen, a more powerful CPU, plus more RAM and SSD storage as well. This is a deal you don't want to miss, even if you're an Apple fan.
Processor: AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 RAM: 16GB Storage: 512GB
The Dell 14 Plus is one of our favorite mid-range Windows laptops thanks to its excellent design and competitive specs. If I were looking for a decent everyday laptop for everything from work to demanding productivity applications, then I'd be very tempted by this deal.
Today's best Mac Book Air alternative deals in the US
This powerful and versatile Lenovo Yoga 7 offers impressive performance for the price, with high-end components such as a modern AMD Ryzen AI 7 processor, a healthy 16GB of RAM to boost performance, and a large 1TB SSD for storage. You can comfortably handle everyday tasks, demanding work, video calls, media streaming and more with this laptop, all with the option to flip it around to a 16-inch touchscreen tablet when the need arises, too.
Processor: AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 RAM: 16GB Storage: 1TB
The Dell 14 Plus is one of our favorite models from Dell in the past few years. It really surprised us when we reviewed it because it offers great performance and a well-thought-out design at an excellent price. Today's best deal is on this Ryzen 7-equipped configuration, which offers plenty of power in this machine's portable 14-inch form factor.
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 RAM: 16GB Storage: 512GB
This HP Omnibook 7 hits the sweet spot between performance and price, thanks to a hefty discount at the official store today. Not only do you get a powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 chipset, but 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD mean you're not skimping on any other specs here, either. As a 2-in-1 laptop, this machine is also foldable, if you want to use it like a tablet - something that no Mac Book offers.
Processor: Snapdragon X Elite RAM: 32GB Storage: 512GB
One of the best deals on the entire Dell site is undoubtedly this discount on the latest Snapdragon-equipped Dell XPS 13. This stylish and lightweight machine is perfect for those who want battery life and performance in a premium package. This particular configuration also includes 32GB of RAM, which is a very rare thing indeed these days at this price. Note, this is a Snapdragon chipset model, however, so make sure all your obscure apps are supported.
Today's best Mac Book Pro alternative deals in the US
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 256V RAM: 16GB DDR5 Storage: 1TB SSD
As I said in my Galaxy Book 6 Ultra review, Samsung has come the closest to Apple's slick ecosystem. One of the best things about Mac Books is how they can easily integrate with i Pads, i Phones and Air Pods, and Samsung, which makes tablets, smartphones, headphones and more, has come up with a similar (if not quite as slick) system, which makes the (slightly older) Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360 a brilliant Mac Book Pro alternative, especially if you already have other Samsung devices. The specs also compare favorably to the Mac Book Pro, especially with this discount.
Graphics card: RTX 5070 Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9-275HX RAM: 32GB DDR5 Storage: 2TB SSD
With an RTX 5070 graphics card, Ultra 9 chipset, and a whopping 32GB of RAM, this one is all set for excellent performance right out of the box, while featuring a relatively discrete and slick design for a gaming laptop, and a price that undercuts the Mac Book Pro.
Graphics card: Ge Force RTX 5080 Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX RAM: 16GB Storage: 1TB
Need a monster of a laptop? Forget Amazon, Best Buy has you covered: the MSI Vector 16 HX AI packs a mighty RTX 5080 GPU along with a cutting-edge Intel Core Ultra HX chip with built-in NPU for handling AI workloads as well as multitasking when gaming. This is a great Mac Book Pro alternative for creative professionals, even if you don't play games.
Today's best Mac Book Neo alternative deals in the UK
This is a great price for a relatively modern laptop that comes with a well-performing Intel Core i 5 CPU. On top of that, you get 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD for storage, and incredible battery life, which represents good value for money overall. It's slightly larger with the 16-inch display, which could hamper portability, but it's a solid everyday machine for the price, and it's now much cheaper than the Mac Book Neo.
This is a great price with a well-performing and efficient Snapdragon X CPU. On top of that, you get 16GB of RAM, a surprisingly large 1TB SSD for storage, and incredible battery life, which represents good value for money overall. I like it as a light, portable and capable all-around everyday machine.
Today's best Mac Book Air alternative deals in the UK
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 RAM: 16GB Storage: 1TB
This is a fantastic price for one of the latest Samsung laptops with a modern Intel Core Ultra 7 processor and several other top-spec components. At £350 off, this is a great price for a laptop that's tailor-made for powerful performance and offers fantastic battery life of up to 18 hours. This is a particularly strong option if you want to combine power, performance, and style in one package.
Processor: Snapdragon X Plus RAM: 16GB Storage: 512GB
The latest Microsoft Surface Laptop is one of our favourite Windows devices and received a glowing five-stars in our Microsoft Surface Laptop review, so I'm obviously going to call out this solid saving at Amazon. This particular specification includes a powerful Snapdragon X Plus processor, a healthy 16GB of RAM and a reasonable 512GB SSD. That storage feels a little light for the price, but the levels of performance and battery life from the CPU are top-tier to go alongside the swish-looking display and keyboard.
Processor: AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 RAM: 16GB Storage: 1TB
The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED is one of the best laptops students can buy, as it uses AMD's Ryzen AI 7 350 processor. It's capable of storming through intense CPU tasks, utilizing AI like Copilot+, and gaming thanks to its Radeon 860M integrated GPU.
Today's best Mac Book Pro alternative deals in the UK
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 5 325 RAM: 16GB Storage: 512GB
Thanks to a huge £300 saving, the Galaxy Book 6 Pro is now a formidable Mac Book Pro competitor, especially when you consider the performance, design and ecosystem integration this laptop offers. If you have a Samsung tablet, for example, you can quickly use it as a second screen, much like you can do with an i Pad and Mac Book. The rest of the Galaxy Book 6 Pro's build quality is extremely high, and what we've come to expect from Samsung's high-end laptops.
Graphics card: Ge Force RTX 5060 Processor: Intel Core 7 RAM: 16GB Storage: 1TB
Alienware gaming laptops never come cheap, but I actually rate this deal on the newest Aurora 16 model at the official Dell Store. With a stonking £550 off, you're paying a fair price here considering you're getting an RTX 5060 graphics card and 16GB of RAM. Couple that with a really nice design, and you've got an extremely solid 16-inch gaming laptop here, and it's a solid Mac Book Pro alternative, as you can challenge the GPU with creative workloads.
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 RAM: 32GB Storage: 1TB
This thin and light powerhouse of a laptop from MSI is a fantastic alternative to the base Mac Book Pro model thanks to its stunning 2.8K OLED screen, 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD, which gives you the kind of performance you'd expect from the more expensive Mac Book Pro. With a 14% price cut for Prime Day, it's an even more tempting alternative, and the overall design of this laptop is excellent.
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 285H RAM: 32GB Storage: 2TB
Another great thing about Windows 11 laptops is that because of the range of manufacturers, there are some really interesting spins on the usual form factor. So, while Apple won't even consider putting a touchscreen on a Mac Book, over on the other side we have weird and wonderful beauties like this, which features two touchscreens. It works well and can be a real boon for creative tasks, and it's also fitted with some of the most powerful mobile components on the market as well.
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Matt is Tech Radar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining Tech Radar in 2014, he's reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.
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- News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
- Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
- Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
- Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
- Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards
