More bang for your buck: 7 easy ways to boost your MacBook Neos performance for free

Date:
Sun, 12 Apr 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Description:
Help your new MacBook Neo run faster than ever with these quick performance tips.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter The MacBook Neo might only have a mobile-class A18 Pro chip on the inside, but it offers far more performance than youd expect from a $599 laptop. At that
price point, its incredibly impressive, and is going some way to redefining what we can expect from the best budget laptops in 2026.

Yet that doesnt mean its perfect, and there are plenty of tasks that the MacBook Neo struggles with. Still, you dont have to settle for that if you want to tune up your Apple laptop and eke more performance out of its chip, youve got lots of avenues to explore. Here, weve rounded up some of the best ways you can improve the performance of your MacBook Neo. From freeing up storage space to judiciously adjusting a handful of settings, trying these tips could give you even more bang for your buck than you already get.
Article continues below You may like 7 of the most important settings to change on your new MacBook Neo Can a MacBook Neo handle everyday work? I tested it and its very good news I put the MacBook Neo through the same
tests as I did the MacBook Air M1 I think the results will surprise you 1. Manage your storage (Image credit: Future) Its a simple fact: the less free space your Macs storage drive has, the more sluggish your machine gets. If youve found your MacBook Neo has slowed to a crawl, its a good idea to check how much storage space youve got left by opening the System Settings app and making your way to General > Storage .

If its low, there are a few things you can do. The first is to look under the Recommendations section on the Storage page and click Optimize next to Optimize Storage . This will automatically remove things like Apple TV shows youve already watched. You can also offload files to iCloud (provided you
have enough space), automatically empty the Trash, and more. All of these options cut down on the space used up by files on your Mac.

While youre doing that, its worth shopping around for external storage drives and, once you have one, offloading hefty files onto that. Make sure you get
an SSD rather than an HDD (also known as a hard drive), as the speed differences are incredible.

However, theres one very important point to make here, and thats on the value of configuring your Mac properly before you buy it. Its very difficult (if
not impossible) to upgrade your Macs internal storage, so you should make
sure you equip your Mac with enough storage space before you pull the
trigger. That way, you dont need to worry about external SSDs or clearing out space on the regular. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from
us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. 2. Update macOS (Image credit: Future) Updating your Mac is not just a good way to keep it protected from emerging threats it also ensures you get the latest speed and performance fixes, too.

Apple makes a big fuss about all the new features its been working on when it reveals new macOS versions every year, but an underappreciated aspect of
these updates is the way they can speed up your Macs performance. Apple regularly tunes its software to ensure it functions optimally, and thats something youre missing out on if you stick to older versions.

Before you get started updating your Mac, make sure youve backed everything
up (perhaps using one of our picks for the best backup software ) in case something goes wrong. Then open System Settings and go to General > Software Update , wait for the new version to appear, then click Update Now . What to read next MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air M5 which should you buy? 5 hidden macOS settings that can improve your Macs gaming performance The MacBook Neo isn't just cheap it's cheaper and easier to repair too 3. Restart your Mac It can be tempting to forgo shutting down your Mac and simply close its lid when youre done at the end of the day indeed, one reason the power button on the Mac mini is so awkward to reach is because Apple knows most people dont actually shut down their computers . But doing so has notable benefits and
can help to improve your Macs performance, even if its only in a small way.

You see, when you shut down your Mac, macOS clears its memory, deletes unneeded temporary files and caches, restarts demanding processes, and allows some app updates to complete. All of those things benefit your Mac and help
to improve its performance by removing elements that could be holding it
back. Conversely, the longer you go without shutting down, the worse these problems can get.

If you dont want to shut down your Mac for a prolonged period of time, even a simple restart will help. That allows all the processes above to work in the same way as shutting down.

Theres also the added bonus that shutting down your Mac means its not drawing on your battery. This can have performance benefits of its own, as Apple starts to automatically cut back on performance when your laptop is running out of juice. 4. App improvements Generally speaking, macOS is an efficient operating system thats pretty good at managing apps and preventing them from getting out of control. But that doesnt mean youll be able to write off app-related problems altogether.

One way you can keep a leash on things is by regularly quitting apps youre
not using. We dont just mean closing the main app window, as the app itself
is still running when you do this. Instead, press Command + Q or click the apps name in the menu bar , then click Quit , which closes the app entirely. By only having in-use apps open, you reduce the strain on your Macs
resources.

Aside from that, you can make a concerted effort to use more efficient apps. Google Chrome , for example, might be one of the best web browsers , but its also notorious for hogging your Macs memory and battery life. Switch to an alternative browser, and you will likely feel the performance benefits right away. 5. Use the correct USB port (Image credit: Future) This might sound
like an odd one after all, the two USB-C ports on the MacBook Neo look identical. Why would there be any difference between them?

Well, in an effort to cut costs, Apple has used a cheaper, slower option for one of the ports. The USB-C slot closest to the trackpad runs at USB 2
speeds, which top out at 480 Mbps. The port closest to the MacBooks hinge, meanwhile, is USB 3.0, which means it can hit speeds of up to 5Gbps. Thats a big difference.

If youve got anything plugged in that relies on fast transfer speeds one of the external SSDs we mentioned earlier, for instance youll definitely notice something is wrong if youve got it plugged in to the front USB-C port. Switch it to the back one, and its performance will increase substantially. 6. Login and background items (Image credit: Future) Every time you start up your Mac, a plethora of apps and processes fire up alongside macOS itself. These run
the gamut from apps youve installed to automatic updaters and everything in between. Accumulate too many and your MacBook Neo will feel the strain.

Fortunately, theres a simple way to fix this. Open the System Settings app
and navigate to General > Login Items & Extensions . Under the Open at Login header, youll see everything that gets going once youve logged in to macOS.
If you see something you dont need anymore, click the minus button (-) at the bottom of the list.

Below this is a section titled App Background Activity . This governs which apps are allowed to launch background processes (such as checking for updates or syncing files to the cloud). Like login items, background activity can gobble up a lot of your Macs resources. As before, check through the list and disable anything you dont need using the toggles on the right-hand side.

Theres also an Extensions section at the bottom of the window. This concerns extra functionality added by apps, and these sometimes run in the background. The impact of disabling these is likely to be minimal, but its worth having a look just in case. Click the i button next to each entry to see the relevant extensions and disable them if needed.

And if an app has started misbehaving, or if youve noticed macOS slow down
for no discernible reason, try opening the Activity Monitor app (you can find it by pressing Command + Space and typing its name into the Spotlight search bar). Activity Monitor lists all open apps and processes and shows how much
of your Macs resources theyre using, including memory, storage, CPU, and
more.

On the CPU tab, for example, you can sort items by CPU usage, then close anything thats out of control. Be careful here, though, and only close things if you know exactly what they are. Otherwise, you could risk causing an error in macOS. 7. Adjust visual settings (Image credit: Future) The macOS
operating system isnt overly flashy, but it does rely on a few visual effects (especially with the arrival of the Liquid Glass redesign in macOS 26 ).
While theres nothing overly taxing, you might want to rein some things in a bit to help your Mac run a little smoother.

One option is to cut down on motion and transparency effects. First, open System Settings and head to Accessibility > Display . There, enable the
toggle next to Reduce transparency . This makes operating system elements like menus and the Dock opaquer, thereby reducing the load on your Macs graphics processor.

Now go back to Accessibility and click Motion , then enable the toggle by Reduce motion . As the name implies, this uses simpler animations and cuts
out some motion altogether, such as when you open and close the Notification Center. Not only can this help you with motion sickness, but it also lessens the impact on your Macs chip, freeing up resources and helping to improve its output. Bonus: third-party tools While all the above tips have focused on
what you can do with your Mac itself, you can also level it up with a few third-party accessories. An external SSD is one weve already mentioned, and you shouldnt underestimate how it can help with storage constraints.

Elsewhere, you might want to invest in a laptop cooling pad or similar solution if youre frequently running things that get your MacBook Neo hot and bothered. Since this laptop doesnt come with a fan, certain demanding tasks can cause it to overheat, which in turn leads to throttled performance. Granted, most people with a MacBook Neo arent likely to be crunching enormous datasets with their laptop, but you might find that keeping it cool leads to better performance from time to time.

Although its an extreme example, one YouTuber hooked up a custom water
cooling rig to their MacBook Neo and claimed to have doubled its performance
. I Water Cooled the MacBook Neo and DOUBLED the FPS! - YouTube Watch On Were not suggesting you try anything like that, but it shows whats possible with a well-cooled machine. A much simpler cooling pad or fan could therefore be a worthwhile investment. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too. Today's best Apple MacBook Neo deals Apple MacBook Neo 599 549 View Deal See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/macbooks/more-bang-for-your-buck-7-easy-wa ys-to-boost-your-macbook-neos-performance-for-free


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