Whether you're a right-to-repair activist or a school system hoping for the magic combination of power, macOS, and a repairable laptop, the MacBook Neo is a surprisingly satisfying breath of fresh air.
Apple's MacBook Neo has already been proven to be quite inexpensive to repair and easy to disassemble. That said, the tech industry was still holding its breath for iFixit's verdict on the laptop.
As was expected, iFixit found the MacBook Neo to be one of Apple's most reparable laptops since 2012, if ever. It's easily accessed, sectioned, and lacks any overly aggressive glue.
The first thing of note is the visible battery clip that appears as soon as the cover is removed. It's going to be dead simple to swap out batteries when needed.
The biggest differentiator here is how the battery is mounted. No adhesive, no glue, just eighteen measly screws.
The internal components are all spread out and easily accessed as well. The speakers, USB-C ports, and trackpad aren't layered in some weird way, and each can be addressed without removing the other.
The storage and RAM are soldered, so users won't be replacing them after purchase. Of course, that's generally expected for Apple products.
There aren't any real surprises with the teardown. The trackpad is back to an old design, and its support makes up 7% of the MacBook Neo's weight.
The chassis is actually lighter than the MacBook Air, but what makes the MacBook Neo nearly match the MacBook Air's weight is the display. It weighs 1.69 ounces more.
The keyboard is also now a removable component. It is attached with an impressive 41 screws in total.
iFixit rated the MacBook Neo with a repairability score of 6 out of 10. AirPods are at the bottom of that scale with a 0, while iPhone 17 Pro sits at the top with a 7.
