Lenovo's IdeaPad Vibe wants to be the colorful, cheaper MacBook Neo alternative
Lenovo has unveiled the IdeaPad Vibe at IFA 2026, a laptop that takes direct aim at Apple's MacBook Neo with a matching $699 starting price, more ports, and a palette of seven Pantone-developed colors. AMD Ryzen AI 400 models ship in October — a full month before Apple's Neo rival ships its Snapdragon-powered sibling in November — making it one of the first serious Windows challengers to hit shelves.
The specs
The Vibe comes in 14-inch and 15-inch sizes with a choice of IPS or 120Hz OLED panels. There's a catch on the OLED: it's only available in two of the seven colors — Lowkey Grey and Moody Blue. Pick any of the remaining five shades and you get an IPS screen instead.
The IdeaPad Vibe is available in seven Pantone-developed colors, with OLED panels restricted to Lowkey Grey and Moody Blue.
Chip choice matters here. AMD Ryzen AI 400 configurations support up to 32GB of RAM and carry a 65Wh battery. Snapdragon X models are capped at 24GB of RAM and a smaller 50Wh battery — a meaningful difference for anyone doing heavy multitasking. An Intel variant is also planned, though no launch window has been set.
Connectivity is a genuine selling point. The Vibe packs 2×USB-A, 2×USB-C, HDMI, a microSD slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack — a port lineup that makes Apple's adapter-dependent ecosystem look thin. One note: both USB-C ports run at 5Gbps only, not USB 4, so transferring large files to external drives won't be as fast as it could be.
Weight starts at 1.3kg. The chassis is either all-metal or a metal-lid/plastic-base combination depending on the configuration. The swappable keycaps — a design touch borrowed from the gaming world — let you match or contrast the keys with the body color.
The competition
Dell and Acer have already shown their own budget MacBook Neo rivals. Lenovo's pitch is customization: more color options, more RAM headroom on AMD, and more ports than the Neo. Lenovo also bundles its Qira AI assistant for cross-device continuity, per the Lenovo press release, positioning the Vibe in Microsoft's Copilot+ PC category.
AMD models start at $699 in October, with Snapdragon versions following in November at the same price, reports 9to5Google. UK and European pricing is listed at €799 as a floor, but no sterling price has been confirmed yet — expect retail markups once local listings go live.
