A MacBook Neo with liquid cooling scored 1,938 points in Cinebench, beating the MacBook Air M1 and setting a record. See how the A18 Pro processor performs.
© Apple
A recent experiment has shown just how powerful the MacBook Neo can be with an alternative cooling system. Priced at $600 and featuring the Apple A18 Pro processor, this laptop uses passive cooling and reduces performance under heavy loads to avoid overheating. YouTubers Jack and Alex decided to test the processor's limits. First, they applied a 2.5 mm thermal pad to the chip, which boosted performance by 14% and lowered temperatures by 3 degrees compared to the standard setup.
Not satisfied with this modest gain, they built a liquid cooling system for the laptop. Using a desktop milling machine, they crafted a copper water block with micro-fins and an acrylic cover with sealing, cut a hole in the MacBook Neo's case, and connected the loop with tubing and a home pump, allowing direct water contact with the processor. The laptop with external water cooling ended up looking like a Frankenstein creation but ran stably without throttling.
The results exceeded expectations. In Cinebench 2026, the liquid-cooled MacBook Neo scored 1,938 points in the multi-core test, a 21.2% increase over the standard MacBook Neo and even surpassing the MacBook Air M1's 1,836 points. In 3DMark Solar Bay Extreme, the laptop achieved 1,540 points, setting a new record for the model. This experiment confirms that the MacBook Neo's power limitation is solely due to its passive cooling, and the A18 Pro processor's potential is significantly higher.
While cutting a hole in the case and attaching an external pump is highly impractical for everyday users, this project shows that more efficient cooling could make the MacBook Neo and MacBook Air lines much more powerful. This experience highlights Apple's processor capabilities and prompts consideration of potential cooling improvements in future models.