MacBook Neo’s Next Competitor Is HP’s $700 OmniBook 5

When Apple’s budget MacBook was released in March, it was a solid bargain — the design incorporated the iPhone’s A18 Pro chip to tamp down the price and it shipped at $599. Factoring in the education discount, it was a nearly unbeatable deal for students.

In the months since, the realities of RAMageddon and its impact on component supply chains have caused that starting price to creep higher, currently settling around $700. While the Neo is still far more affordable than most other computers right now, the higher price has opened the door for some real competition from other big manufacturers.

Dell has already released the XPS 13, Lenovo will soon release the IdeaPad Vibe and now it’s time for HP to step into the ring with a new budget laptop. The company just announced its $700 OmniBook 5 — and it looks like another strong contender in the affordability championship.

HP OmniBook 5 14 AI PC

One thing that should leap out at folks right away about HP’s latest OmniBook is that it features a 14-inch 2K (1,920×1,200-pixel resolution) OLED display. That screen is bigger than the 13-inch Neo and even manages to beat out the 13.6-inch MacBook Air.

The 300-nit max brightness could be cause for concern on a sunny day, but the size of this display is currently unprecedented at the $700 price. (The only real competitor is the soon-to-launch IdeaPad Vibe, but Lenovo’s computer requires an OLED panel upgrade.)

The OmniBook lineup has always tended to achieve really solid battery life, and according to HP, the OmniBook 5 will also be able to go the distance. It lasted up to an astonishing 42 hours on a single charge during the company’s local video playback test.

That’s not a one-to-one analog for CNET’s online battery streaming test, but it’s still a much higher number than the 13-hour battery life we clocked for the Neo (and eight hours longer than the current battery life title holder, the OmniBook 3 16). These are genuinely impressive (and important) feats to pull off within the constraints of this more affordable price range.

On the other hand, you’re certainly not going to be impressed by what’s packed inside of this computer: The starter OmniBook 5 includes an Intel Core 5 315 processor and just 8GB of RAM and a meager 256GB of onboard storage. This is pretty much standard for a budget computer right now and doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but those low specs carry you much farther on MacOS than they will on a machine running Windows, like this one.

The OmniBook 5 can be configured with up to Intel Core 7 350 silicon, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, but if you’re going to spend any more cash you’d probably be better off taking the leap and buying a midrange computer that meets your needs instead. The display can also be upgraded, with a 2.5K OLED touchscreen option available.

The port selection is about what you’d expect from a budget laptop like this, which is to say fairly underwhelming. The dual USB-C ports fall well short of the Thunderbolt 4 standard, and USB-A connections are entirely absent, so you’ll almost certainly require an adapter to link up your full suite of peripherals to this computer.

HP isn’t hiding its inspiration with the color choices for this laptop. The OmniBook 5’s aluminum chassis will come adorned in muted silver, blue, pink and green shades that closely mimic the Neo’s lineup of pastel hues.

The HP OmniBook 5 14 AI PC will be available to order on HP’s website and Best Buy sometime in October for a starting price of $700.

HP debuts a slim new business laptop

The HP ProBook 4 G2iS 14 AI PC was announced alongside the new budget OmniBook, and while it’s not the headlining piece of tech, it’s a sleek new workhorse computer. This model is a little less than half an inch thick and weighs 2.59 pounds, which will likely make it an appreciably lightweight device to tote around between home and work.

This laptop has a 14-inch 3K (2,880×1,800-pixel resolution) OLED display rated for up to 500 nits of brightness, though there’s no touchscreen capability available here. You can outfit it with either an Intel Core 5 or 7 Wildcat Lake processor, up to 32GB of memory and a 1TB SSD. WildCat Lake processors have an NPU capable of 17 TOPS, which is an underwhelming number for running local AI tasks and well short of Microsoft’s minimum of 45 TOPS for its Copilot Plus PC platform. Intel’s Panther Lake series gets you to 49 TOPS, while Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 series raises it to 809 TOPS.

The chassis has a wide array of ports, including two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports and an audio combo jack.

The HP ProBook 4 G2iS 14 AI PC will be available to order on HP’s website and Best Buy sometime in October. The company has yet to release pricing information for this laptop.

Tyler is a writer for CNET covering laptops and video games. He’s previously covered mobile devices, home energy products and broadband. He came to CNET straight out of college, where he graduated from Seton Hall with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. When Tyler’s not asking questions or doing research for his next assignment, you can find him in his home state of New Jersey, kicking back with a bagel and watching an action flick or playing a new video game.

You can reach him at tgraham@cnet.com.

See full bio