The entry-level MacBook Neo laptop that Apple introduced in March 2026 saw strong reviews right out of the gate, with early testers praising its build quality, repairability, and reliable performance. The laptop can be a great device for students and users who don’t have complex workflows or computer needs beyond browsing the web, streaming video, and doing light work. The A18 Pro chip is about as powerful as the M1 processor, and some reviews showed the MacBook Neo can also support more intensive tasks and gaming. That said, there are several reasons why the MacBook Neo might not be the right laptop for users who routinely require more power from their computers, including gamers who favor high-end titles. But there is one MacBook Neo mod that can improve gaming performance significantly, as it addresses a big issue that gamers may run into when playing premium games: Cooling.
Like the MacBook Air, the MacBook Neo has a fanless design. Without an internal fan or heat pass-through, the Neo relies on a graphene pad that moves heat to the aluminum case. This can turn into a bottleneck for high-end games. When the processor gets hot, it will throttle performance to cool down, which can reduce frame rate, causing visuals to stutter and impacting the gaming experience. That’s where the cooling mods that a few YouTubers devised can come in handy, as they can improve the heat exchange, reduce the A18 Pro’s temperature, and help maintain performance.
YouTuber ETA Prime came up with a water-cooling trick for the MacBook Neo that anyone can perform, which allowed him to double the frame-rate performance. Separately, YouTubers jakkuh and Zip Tie Tech partnered to create the “fastest MacBook Neo on the planet,” by adding even more powerful water cooling to the MacBook Neo.
The simple mod to increase MacBook Neo performance
To improve MacBook Neo cooling, ETA Prime removed the rear panel and took out the graphene pad that covers the processor. The first thing he tried was to add a copper heatsink, which is just a piece of copper cut to fit on top of the MacBook Neo’s thin motherboard. He applied thermal paste to the chip, placed the copper heat sink on top of it, and then covered the copper with a thermal pad before reassembling the laptop’s case. The performance boost was immediate. Temperature dropped from 105 degrees Celsius (221 degrees Fahrenheit) to 84 degrees Celsius (183 degrees Fahrenheit). Frame rates in “No Man’s Sky” increased from about 30 FPS to 58 FPS.
ETA Prime then applied a second cooling element to his MacBook Neo mod, an external thermoelectric cooler that can be attached directly to the bottom case. This mod doesn’t involve opening the MacBook Neo again and works in tandem with the first mod. After placing the external cooler on the bottom of the case, he observed the laptop’s temperature drop to 74 degrees Celsius (165 degrees Fahrenheit) in “No Man’s Sky.” Performance stayed at 58-59 FPS with V-Sync turned on.
The YouTuber also ran benchmarks to measure the A18 Pro’s performance gains after applying the two mods. Geekbench 6 scores increased from 3,094 to 3,563 and 3,636 in single-core, and from 7,921 to 8,692 and 9,394 in multi-core. The YouTuber released a second video (above), where he ran several games on the MacBook Neo to show how well the mods work. The videos topped 1 million views between them, as of this writing, with the gaming test being the more popular of the two.
You don’t need ambitious projects to cool down the MacBook Neo
Like ETA Prime, YouTubers jakkuh and Zip Tie Tech started with a thermal pad placed over the CPU, which was enough to give them a 14% performance hike. The A18 Pro was able to draw 1 to 2 W more power, and the temperature dropped by 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit). After that, they installed the external cooling system. The process involved using a CNC mill to cut precise parts over a few days while troubleshooting issues along the way and cutting into the MacBook Neo’s bottom case.
Unlike ETA Prime, the YouTubers didn’t manage to drop the temperature of the MacBook Neo after installing their massive contraption. The chip still ran at 105 degrees Celsius (221 degrees Fahrenheit), but it managed to draw almost 8 W of power thanks to the mod. The creators ran a Cinebench test, scoring 1,938 in multi-core tests, which is slightly higher than the M1 MacBook Air’s 1,836 score. The unmodified MacBook Neo hit 1,568 points in the test, while the MacBook Neo featuring a thermal pad on top of the chip reached 1,819 points. ETA Prime’s multi-core Cinebench scores were 1,462 (without a mod), 1,597 (copper and thermal pad), and 1,741 (external cooler).
While jakkuh and Zip Tie Tech did not play any games in their tests, the video also went viral online, topping 700,000 views as of this writing. The conclusion is that a simple thing, like using a heatsink made of copper and a thermal pad, can improve cooling significantly and deliver more sustained MacBook Neo performance for games and other intensive tasks, reducing the need to buy a more expensive gaming computer. The problem with such mods is that they’ll probably void the laptop’s warranty.
