The Macbook Neo laptop (Running AstroDMx Capture)
The Apple MacBook Neo 13-inch Laptop with A18 Pro chip has a Liquid Retina Display, 8GB of Unified Memory, 256GB SSD Storage
The Apple A18 is a 3nm (TSMC N3E) 6-core System on a Chip. It features 2 performance cores (4.04--4.05 GHz) and 4 efficiency cores, a 5-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine capable of 35 Trillion Operations Per Second (TOPS). It supports 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM on-package with 17% more memory bandwidth than previous generations, offers high energy efficiency (3-4W sustained), and is designed for on-device AI.
It has the same CPU performance as the A16 Bionic while consuming 30% less power. Due to its power efficiency the Macbook Neo has an extremely long battery life before requiring re-charging.
Single-Core Performance:
The A18 Pro is a leader in this area, often outperforming the most powerful x86 desktop processors. In Geekbench 6 tests, it achieves single-core scores around 3,400–3,500. This puts it ahead of top-tier desktop CPUs like the Intel Core i9-14900KS and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X in single-threaded tasks.
Multi-Core Performance:
Due to its 6-core architecture (2 performance, 4 efficiency cores), the A18 Pro falls behind high-end x86 desktop and laptop processors in heavy multi-threaded workloads. With a multi-core score of approximately 8,500–9,100, its performance is comparable to mid-range mobile or older desktop x86 CPUs:
The Macbook Neo is the lowest cost laptop that Apple have ever released, but it retains the usual Apple build quality.
All of these factors make the Macbook Neo very suitable for astronomical imaging.
The Macbook Neo was used with two telescopes and two cameras to make initial tests of different aspects of astronomical imaging.
For deep sky imaging we used an Askar 71F quadruplet apochromatic astrograph refractor paired with an SVBONY SV405C OSC camera. The scope was fitted with an Altair V2 magnetic 2” filter holder containing an IR/UV cut filter.
For lunar imaging we used a Skymax 127 Maksutov Cassegrain paired with an SVBONY SV505C OSC camera fitted with an IR/UV cut filter.
Deep Sky imaging
The equipment used
Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture capturing FITS images of M5
The data were debayered, stacked and part processed in PixInsight and further processed in GraXpert, SetiAstroSuitePro and Gimp3. This was the procedure followed for each of the three deep sky objects tested: M5, M3 and the Leo Triplet.
M5
M3
Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture capturing FITS images of The Leo Triplet
The Leo Triplet
Lunar imaging with a Skymax 127 Maksutov Cassegrain paired with an SV505C OSC camera.
1000 frame RAW 8 bit SER files were captured of 9 overlapping panes of the Moon.
AstroDMx Capture capturing RAW lunar SER files
An eight pane mosaic of the 68.5% waxing Moon was captured (we later found that only 8 panes were necessary). Each pane was a 1000 frame SER file captured by AstroDMx Capture running on the Macbook Neo through a Skymax 127 Maksutov using an SV705C OSC camera fitted with an IR/UV cut filter. Initially the SER files were transferred to another computer for stacking and processing. Each pane was a stack of the best 90% of the frames in the SER, stacked in Autostakkert!3. The 9 panes were stitched in MS ICE, wavelet processed in Registax6 and finished in Gimp3.
The final mosaic of the Moon
We then decided to find out how much of the data processing could have been done directly on the Macbook Neo. These were important tests, but it is normally our practice to transfer data to a desktop mini computer for processing and posting.
Planet Stacker X
Planet Stacker X is a native Apple silicon stacking and processing program.
Screenshot of a SER file loaded into Planet Stacker X
Stacking
Screenshot showing the stacking is completed and the opportunity to take the stacked image directly into the processing part of the program or be save to be loaded into this software later
Screenshot of the processing part of the software doing wavelet sharpening
The processed image exported as a 16 bit TIFF file
Planet Stacker X is a modern, native macOS successor to PlanetarySystemStacker (PSS), and was developed by Rain City Astro.
The relationship between the two is defined by their shared purpose and architectural evolution: The developer created Planet Stacker X out of frustration with running PSS on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) Macs. Because PSS is a Python-based application, it requires complex dependency management and often relies on x64 emulation, which can be fragile and slow on newer Macs.
Planet Stacker X shares all the core features of PlanetarySystemStacker, and was built "from the ground up" specifically for macOS frameworks.
Unlike PSS, Planet Stacker X runs natively on Apple Silicon without emulation and utilises GPU acceleration and the Apple Neural Engine to significantly speed up analysis and stacking pipelines.
Planet Stacker X also includes image processing tools that are not found in PSS.
While PlanetarySystemStacker remains a powerful open-source tool for Windows, Linux, and older Macs, Planet Stacker X is a more user-friendly, high-performance alternative for the modern Mac Apple Silicon devices.
Panorama Stitcher
Panorama Stitcher was developed by Olga Kacher for macOS and iOS. It runs natively on Apple silicon. It is built on its own propitiatory engine and is not derived from other stitching software. It uses its own algorithms for automatic alignment and exposure levelling and it features fully automatic drag and drop for loading images.
Screenshot of Panorama Stitcher stitching two overlapping panes of lunar images
The images were stitched using planar motion and were saved as a 16 bit TIFF file.
All eight unprocessed panes were similarly stitched with Panorama Stitcher
The stitched image was processed in the Planet Stacker X image processor
Deep Sky processing with Apple silicon
We installed and tested various software that is native Apple silicon.
Deep sky stacking software
Affinity
Siril
ASI Studio
PixInsight will also run on Apple silicon but we did not install it here.
General image processing software
GIMP3
Pinta
We shall continue to test the Macbook Neo for astronomical imaging, including solar imaging. However, so far it has performed perfectly. This article was written on the Macbook Neo using Libre Office Writer which is an open source alternative to Apple's Pages, and runs natively on Apple silicon.
