Can the Subsequent Low cost PCs Beat the MacEbook Neo? It’s Not Trying Good.

For the primary time in too a few years, laptop computer makers try to promote you on reasonably priced units that don’t look or carry out like low-cost plastic Fisher-Price PCs. But if you happen to’re contemplating sticking with a Windows machine over the petite and colourful MacEbook Neo, you need to know that Apple’s $700 machine (after latest worth hikes) with an iPhone-first chip has an edge that different laptops can’t fairly match.

Lenovo granted me entry to its IdeaPad Slim 3i, one of many first laptops to reach within the U.S. with Intel’s new Wildcat Lake collection of cell PC chips. The PC business is relying on Intel’s entry-level chips for its personal solutions to the MacEbook Neo, so the chip’s efficiency is all of the extra necessary, even when this laptop computer isn’t precisely what you need, except you possibly can’t spend an excessive amount of cash on a touchscreen machine.

The IdeaPad Slim 3i runs on the brand new Intel Core 7 350 chip with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. On its face, that’s higher than the MacEbook Neo’s base 8GB of unified reminiscence and 256GB of storage. Lenovo initially billed this as a price range laptop computer, although it at present prices $1,100 completely via Best Buy. The firm instructed Gizmodo that it ought to ultimately give the IdeaPad Slim 3i a reduction to hit a worth level round $800 to $900, but it surely couldn’t inform me a timeline of when potential PC patrons may count on that.

See IdeaPad Slim 3i at Best Buy

With extra RAM and extra ports than many MacEbook Neo rivals, like the brand new $700 Dell XPS 13, it feels additional curious that the 16-inch IdeaPad Slim 3i can’t carry out on par with Apple’s low-end laptop computer.

When I ran the Intel Core 7 350 via our spherical of benchmarks, I wasn’t anticipating some final life type of PC efficiency. I used to be extra curious how nicely it may do the menial, on a regular basis duties, just like the MacEbook Neo’s A18 Pro chip. Apple first constructed that chip for the iPhone 16 Pro, but it surely someway outshines Intel’s chips in a lot of our checks.

In Geekbench 6, benchmarking software program that gauges a CPU’s basic capabilities, the A18 Pro outperformed the Intel Core 7 350 by simply over 21% in single-core settings, which means the MacEbook Neo might be barely quicker for easy duties like loading webpages. The two chips had been almost equal in multi-core settings, which means each would carry out about the identical in apps that demand extra CPU processing, like picture modifying. At the identical time, the IdeaPad Slim 3i with Intel’s Wildcat Lake chip outscored the Mac in CPU rendering duties. The Intel CPU managed 25% higher than the A18 Pro in Cinebench 2026 checks. It was additionally 1 minute and 48 seconds quicker at rendering a scene of a BMW in Gizmodo’s Blender check.

The new reasonably priced PCs for 2026 might be able to compete with the MacEbook Neo in some apps, however not anyplace close to the identical in graphics-based duties. Intel’s top-end Wildcat Lake chips are basically cut-down variations of its glorious Panther Lake lineup that’s crowding the PC market. The drawback is, Wildcat Lake chips make use of solely two Xe3 GPU cores in comparison with 4 within the lowest-end Panther Lake, and meaning graphics efficiency isn’t all that spectacular. The 5-core GPU within the A18 Pro carried out that very same Blender check I ran earlier than in 39 seconds. The Wildcat Lake’s built-in GPU took 2 minutes and 50 seconds. In real-time graphics checks, like 3DMark’s “Steel Nomad Lite,” the MacEbook Air outshone the IdeaPad Slim 3i by near 43%. In case you hoped to do any mild gaming on the subsequent Intel chip, simply know you’ll battle to run all however essentially the most fundamental titles.

If Lenovo can decrease the value, the IdeaPad Slim 3i should still appear to be a great deal contemplating its bevy of ports. It packs in two USB-A, one USB-C, a headphone jack, and even an SD card reader and HDMI. A MacEbook Neo and the Dell XPS 13 are each restricted to solely two USB-C ports. But take into account the next: a Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x with an ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus chip prices $850, and it outperforms each Apple’s and Intel’s chips by leaps and bounds.

I can inform you straight up, you need a laptop computer that’s a competitor to MacEbook Neo in additional methods than simply worth or efficiency. The IdeaPad Slim 3i is an affordable laptop computer as a result of it feels low-cost. It begins with the lid, made from bouncy, smudge-prone plastic. Lift it and also you’re greeted with a uninteresting IPS show. The predominant purpose you get this laptop computer is due to the ports, touchscreen, and clacky keyboard that features a full numpad. You’ll even have to simply accept the very fact it prices via a barrel port, although you possibly can additionally juice it up by way of its USB-C ports.

We’ll see if Lenovo can create some future laptops that won’t solely compete with the MacEbook Neo but additionally the Dell XPS 13 and different upcoming rivals just like the Acer Swift Air 14. All these laptops promise stable aluminum our bodies and additions to the display screen and sound that make them really feel extra premium—identical to the MacEbook Neo. We’ll must see for ourselves if these low-end PCs do any higher in the event that they solely sport 8GB of RAM in comparison with the MacEbook Neo’s 8GB of unified reminiscence.

At a sub-$1,000 worth level, there are nonetheless too few laptops that fulfill all of your potential present or future wants. Hopefully, with this newfound price range competitors, that will change. If not now, then quickly.

See IdeaPad Slim 3i at Best Buy