10 Hacks Every MacBook Neo Owner Should Know

MacBook Neo One of Apple’s most interesting products in years. The company took the iPhone 16 Pro chip, put it inside a colorful chassis, installed macOS, and presto: you have a brand new MacBook for just $599 ($499 with education discount). It’s a no-brainer for anyone looking for a basic Mac at a great price, but to get it at that price, Apple had to cut some serious corners. As such, you can’t buy a MacBook Neo and expect exactly the same experience you’ll get with a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro—though that doesn’t mean you can’t make some improvements on your own.

The Neo may be a stripped-down Mac, but it’s still a computer, and all computers can be pushed beyond their defaults. To that end, I’ve compiled a list of 10 hacks that all MacBook Neo owners should know—adjustments and strategies you can take to make your Neo last longer, perform better, and get a little closer to the flagship MacBook experience.

Give your Mac more “RAM” by optimizing your storage

It doesn’t matter what Mac you have, but it’s especially important when your hard drive base is as small as a MacBook Neo. While you might think you have the flexibility to fill that 256GB of storage to the brim, you have a lot less of it than you think. Part of that is because macOS takes up a certain amount of storage on its own (for example, the OS takes up about 35GB on my MacBook), but you can also free up space. can do Use, you really shouldn’t.

See, your Mac has 8GB of RAM. It’s not much. When macOS runs out of RAM to work with, however, it won’t just stop working; Instead, it will start using your SSD for extra memory, a process known as “swap”. That said, if you don’t have enough available storage, you’ll start to run into problems: macOS will slow down, apps will be less responsive, and the system may even warn you that you’re dangerously close to running out of space.

So, one of the best things you can do to make the most of your Neo’s limited RAM is by limiting how much storage you’re using. Audit your current SSD situation by going to System Settings > General > Storage. You can see a full breakdown of your Macintosh HD, plus some tips from macOS to optimize your storage: e.g. “Store in iCloud,” if you have enough cloud space, or “Automatically empty trash” if you tend to keep large files in the trash.

You can go deeper if you click on the (i) next to any of the file types listed below. For example, I have 226.43 GB of “documents” on my MacBook. I can see which files are the largest and delete any files I no longer need.

Choose an external SSD to expand your storage

If you are struggling to pay due to your limited storage, Choose an external SSD. You can buy these devices in any configuration, adding 1TB, 2TB, 4TB of storage space to your setup. While it’s less convenient than keeping files locally on your MacBook, it will help keep space available on your Neo to run everything properly. Plus, they’re small, and many connect via a single USB-C cable, so no extra power cables or dongles are needed.

Pair your Apple Watch for easy unlocking and authentication

Over the years, Apple has included Touch ID buttons on its MacBooks. This is a quick way to unlock your laptop without having to type your password every time. While the Neo has an option that comes with Touch ID, the base model sadly does not. If you have an Apple, though, it doesn’t really matter.

You can pair your Apple Watch with your MacBook, so when you wear the watch, it automatically unlocks your Mac—just like Touch ID would. To set it up, go to System Settings, then search for “Apple Watch.” Select “Allow Apple Watch to unlock your Mac,” then tap the toggle next to your watch. Note that both the watch and your MacBook need to be connected to the same Apple account.

Use Activity Monitor to kill demanding apps and processes

As someone who cares about their Mac’s performance, Activity Monitor is my best friend. It’s going to be yours too. This utility lets you see all the apps and processes currently running on your Mac and how much demand they’re putting on CPU, memory, energy, disk, and network. While that sounds particularly technical, don’t worry: the easiest way to use Activity Monitor is to see if any apps are unexpectedly using too much energy, memory, or CPU performance. If Messages, for example, is at the top of the list and using a lot more energy than any other app around it, you can guess that something is up. From here, you can force quit an app, or click the app name from the list and hit the (X) stop button in Activity Monitor to get things working again.

Use your iPhone as an improved webcam

The MacBook Neo’s built-in webcam is actually pretty solid—especially for a laptop at this price. But it’s not as good as what you’ll find on Apple’s M-series MacBooks. If you have an iPhone, though, you’re set, as macOS lets you tap into its camera for all your video calling needs. For setup instructions, Follow the steps in our guide here. You just want to invest in a stand, or Maybe a camera mount for your Mac.

Use lightweight applications to make the most of your Mac’s limited RAM

8GB of RAM is not much in 2026. (In 2022 it was not muchEither.) While I have no reservations about recommending the Neo for anyone with basic computing needs (web browsing, email, messaging, etc.), the more things you do at once on your MacBook, the more pressure you put on memory. But not all processes are equal: you can run more lightweight applications simultaneously than heavy, memory-hungry programs. As such, knowing which apps to use (and when) can go a long way with the Neo.

Perhaps the easiest place to start is with your browser. Chrome is the most popular web browser in the world. It is also a major memory hog. Google isn’t that concerned with making its browser a lightweight and efficient alternative, especially since many users rely on it for its performance and extension library. But if you’re rocking a MacBook Neo, you might want to consider switching out your browser. Safari is honestly a great choice in 2026, and, since it’s Apple-made, it’s optimized to work well with macOS. But it’s limited compared to Chrome—while it does have extensions, there aren’t that many, so you may find the experience lacking. In that case, I’d recommend Firefox: it offers a similar extension experience to Chrome, but runs lighter and more private to boot.

If you’re not sure how your chosen apps are affecting your system, run them and pull up Activity Monitor’s “Memory” tab. You’ll be able to see exactly how much RAM each app uses and decide for yourself if it’s worth keeping on board.

Choose a USB hub to expand your Mac’s port selection

Even if you think you can get away with relying on the MacBook Neo’s two USB-C ports, you really only have one to use. The port closest to the hinge is USB 3.0, which you can use to connect to the display, charge and transfer data at up to 10Gb/s. The other port, however, is USB 2, which can only charge and transfer data at speeds of up to 480Mb/s. That’s pretty slow by today’s standards. In fact, if you plug a demanding piece of hardware into this port, macOS will send you a pop-up advising you to use another port.

As such, you can find out USB hub What you can do on your Mac can open. This option from AnkerFor example, it comes with two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports and an HDMI port. Right there, you add four USB options and a video-out port to the MacBook for a total of two ports. There are other options as well, viz This hub Which comes with an SD card slot.

Use Low Power Mode on battery power to keep your MacBook running longer

The MacBook Neo seems to have pretty solid battery life, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. If your main goal is to extend your time between charges and you’re taking a bit of a hit on performance, you should use Low Power Mode whenever your MacBook is on battery power — not just when it’s low on energy.

If you keep your battery settings in the menu bar, just click on Battery, then select “Low Power Mode”. Otherwise, head for System Settings > BatteryThen set “Low Power Mode” to “On battery only”. Now, anytime you disconnect from the charger, your MacBook will run on low power mode. You’ll notice some slowdown and stuttering, but that’s all in the name of extended battery power.

Use a solid surface for maximum thermal performance

You should know your MacBook Neo, like MacBook Air, does not come with fans. As such, when you push the A18 Pro chip and things start to heat up, macOS has to throttle (or limit) the chip’s performance to avoid overheating. That’s good for your Neo’s health, but bad for pushing it to its full potential.

To help keep the A18 Pro chip from overheating, you’ll want to consider where you place your Neo while you’re using it—especially if it’s working hard. Even though the laptop is your lap not Best surface for heat dissipation. Instead, try using the Neo on a flat, cool surface that can help move that heat as far away from the laptop as possible. If you want something that actively dissipates that heat, consider a cooling pad. Love this option of Targus. These pens have fans built in, which can provide some extra help in cooling your machine.

You can install a thermal pad to improve performance (but you probably shouldn’t).

Here’s the thing: you can do Hack your MacBook to run cooler for longer by installing a thermal pad inside. That way, the chip has an easier time dissipating heat and you can run more intensive tasks for longer before macOS feels the need to slow things down. When YouTuber Zip Tie Tech tried thisThey improved thermal performance by 19% – all by applying a small thermal pad to the back of the SoC component.

Just know, this involves opening your MacBook, and installing something not approved by Apple. Other than accidentally damaging your machine while opening it, the risk here is pretty low, though This violates your MacBook’s warrantySo only really go ahead with this hack if you are comfortable with the risks.