AMD trolls Apple and says MacBook Neo fails in gaming
The chip manufacturer AMD is targeting Apple’s successful entry-level notebook. A new advertising campaign criticizes the competitor’s lack of game compatibility. But the comparison is seriously flawed in crucial areas.
AMD attacks Apple’s box office hit
Apple has caught the entire Windows PC world on the wrong foot with the MacBook Neo and they are now trying desperately to find the fly in the ointment: AMD has accordingly launched a new marketing campaign that targets Apple’s entry-level model MacBook Neo. The chip manufacturer criticized on one website that only five of the 20 most popular PC titles can run natively on the Apple device. The company offers its own ecosystem complete compatibility across platforms such as Steam or Epic Games Store. An HP OmniBook X Flip is used for the direct comparison.
A Ryzen 5-220 processor works in the compact Windows computer. Apple, however, uses its own A18 Pro chip in the MacBook Neo, which is based on the Arm architecture. The system cannot therefore run classic Windows games directly. AMD also highlights other technical hardware differences in the comparison in order to aggressively emphasize the advantages of its own platform. The HP notebook offers loud VideoCardz some advantages in terms of equipment. This includes a 512 gigabyte SSD compared to the 256 gigabyte of the Apple device as well as direct touchscreen support. HP also installs more diverse ports such as HDMI and classic USB-A. The fanless MacBook Neo starts at 699 euros – the HP OmniBook X Flip has an RRP of 999 euros.
Weaknesses in the graphics processor
Despite the advertised compatibility, the argument has a clear catch. The Ryzen 5 220 only uses the older Radeon 740M as the integrated graphics unit. The component is hardly suitable for complex titles. In addition, games can be started natively on the Windows system, but the refresh rates of current titles often drop to unplayable values. In practice, the mere ability to start a game is of little or no use to users if the graphical performance is not sufficient for smooth operation. The MacBook Neo simply doesn’t want to be a gaming device; it primarily scores points with customers because of its good price-performance ratio.
