Apple’s MacBook Neo has shaken up the budget laptop market with its $599 price tag and surprisingly capable A18 Pro chip. But if fresh benchmark numbers are anything to go by, Intel may finally have a worthy response. The company’s upcoming Core 3 304 processor has surfaced on PassMark, and the results suggest that entry-level Windows laptops could soon be much more competitive.
Intel’s Core 3 304 is closing the gap with Apple’s A18 Pro
According to new PassMark results (via x86deadandback), the Intel Core 3 304 achieved an average CPU Mark score of 11,543 points, putting it just 2.2% behind the Apple A18 Pro inside the MacBook Neo, which currently averages 11,804 points. In single-threaded performance, the Intel chip trails by about 7.7% in average scores, though one benchmark submission even matched the A18 Pro’s peak result.
What’s particularly interesting is that Intel is achieving this with a 5-core, 5-thread design, compared to the A18 Pro’s 6-core, 6-thread configuration. The Core 3 304 is expected to be part of Intel’s low-power Wildcat Lake family aimed at affordable laptops, making the comparison especially relevant for budget-conscious buyers.
Of course, synthetic benchmarks only tell part of the story. Battery life, thermals, graphics performance, software optimization, and overall user experience will still play a major role once shipping products arrive. But from a pure CPU perspective, Intel appears to be much closer to Apple’s latest budget silicon than many would have expected.
Maybe the budget Windows laptop isn’t dead after all
The funny thing is that the MacBook Neo’s biggest selling point was never just macOS or battery life. It was the idea that buyers could get flagship-level responsiveness at an entry-level price. If Intel can deliver similar everyday CPU performance with Wildcat Lake, it could remove one of Apple’s biggest competitive advantages in this segment.
That said, benchmarks don’t sell laptops in isolation. OEM pricing, display quality, memory configurations, and battery life will ultimately determine whether these upcoming Windows machines can truly challenge the MacBook Neo. Still, if these early numbers hold up, Intel may have just given budget Windows laptops the opening they’ve been waiting for.
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