Summary: Apple raised prices across almost the whole Mac line on June 25, 2026. The general consensus is that this is due to a RAM shortage, and Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Microsoft all did similar things. A lot of the good sub $1,000 deals are gone for now: the MacBook Air M5 that drifted near $949 earlier this year is $1,299 today, and the MacBook Neo went from $599 to $699. It is a rough time to buy a computer,
TL;DR: this page is meant to list every Apple Silicon chip from the M1 through the M5 Max, including all the lower-spec binned variants Apple buries in the fine print, with verified specs, practical buying advice, and a dedicated section on which chips can actually run local AI models. Inspired by the popular r/mac comparison table, expanded with official Apple sources, all binned variants, and honest flagging of estimated values. Bookmark it. I will keep it updated. The M5 Max
Disclosure: This is my own personal opinion. I have not been paid by Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, AMD, or anyone else to write it. TL;DR: The MacBook Neo is not the most powerful laptop here, and it is not the best specs bargain. At $599, it is the simplest smart laptop buy in a very messy 2026 market. Buy the Neo for the cheapest Mac that still feels fast and polished. Buy the M4 MacBook Air for the better long-term Mac.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I have not been paid by Apple or anyone else to write this. The Short Verdict The MacBook Neo is the fastest single-core laptop you can buy for $599 or even lower at $499 educational pricing! It also drops to phone-class performance after about 60 seconds of sustained CPU load. Both of those things are true at the same time, and thankfully even (Apple) phone class performance is still quite speedy. I ran 30
Update, May 26th and May 14th, 2026 with additional CPU benchmarks and GPU benchmarks. The short version is unchanged: the MacBook Neo is VERY fast for bursty everyday use but fairly limited for sustained, memory-heavy, or pro workloads. If you don’t have an interest in the computer industry and its history, you can probably skip everything else below. Otherwise, read on! Availability Heads Up (late May) Due to high demand, Apple has been periodically backordered on MacBook Neos lately, but
Question: How many external monitors do the brand new 24 inch M1 retina iMacs support? (announced/released April/May 2021) Answer: According to Apple, the M1 iMac appears to support ONE external display of up to 6K, Every iMac features two Thunderbolt ports for superfast data transfers, giving customers high-performance options to connect to more devices, including support for up to a* 6K display, like Apple Pro Display XDR […] *emphasis added on “a” (single) display… not plural… Source: Apple.com This is
Last updated: April 28th, 2020 The iPad was first introduced in 2010 without a camera. Since then, the capabilities and models of the iPad family have steadily expanded. In this time of physical/social distancing and teleconferencing via a myriad of apps (Zoom, Skype, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Facetime, etc.), camera quality has become even more important. Unfortunately, it can be hard to keep track of the camera changes over the iPad line after so many years. Therefore, I compiled a handy
The new 2016/2017 MacBook Pro is a fine looking piece of machinery. It packs a legitimately high-end display into a svelte package and it also offer excellent battery life. For a graphic designer or individual that deals with an exclusively Apple ecosystem it is a splendid update to a historically solid line of machnes. However, for an attorney and IT professional dealing with legacy applications and a variety of real world situations, there are some major drawbacks to Apple’s mobile workstation.