When Apple announced the MacBook Neo today my first thought was “Okay, but why not get an old Air?” If you are also thinking like this then perhaps you are right. If you can find one.
Pricing for the Neo starts at $599 with an A18 Pro processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage, and ends at $699 with the same specs plus TouchID and 512GB of storage. It has two USB-C (not Thunderbolt) ports, a very basic-looking screen, a mechanical trackpad instead of haptic, and several other cost-saving measures. This is the cheapest new MacBook you can get right now.
The new M5 MacBook Air starts at $1,099 with 16GB of memory and 512GB of faster storage, a bigger and brighter screen, a better webcam, better Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, more speakers, Thunderbolt 4, a faster charger, and more. That’s $100 more than last year’s model, probably because of the Neo. Or you can get an M4 MacBook Air for $1000, which has a slightly slower processor than the M5 (but still faster than the Air), and otherwise has almost the same features.
If you can still get a new M1 Air from Walmart for $700, it’s going to be a very tough decision between that and the Neo. That machine arrived in 2020, but is still better in most respects. Unfortunately, they are probably out of stock since last month Because Neo’s – so this is the end of it. You can possibly find an upgrade. Same with the M3 and M4: if you can find one at the same price as the Neo, especially with 16GB of RAM, you should buy one of those. But they’re pretty thin on the ground, and I would expect them to get even thinner. (However, keep an eye on Apple’s refurb site – the refurb M4 Air is quite nice for $750.)
The modern Air is undoubtedly a better computer. The thing about $1,000 is that it’s a lot more money than $600. $600 is already more than most non-Mac people spend on a laptop, but it’s much less than the Air, and the difference between the two is so big that it’s hard to justify the jump unless you know you’ll need more than 8GB of RAM, if you’re ever going to use Thunderbolt, etc. I won’t buy Neo for myself.
However, Neo is not intended to compete with air. It’s aimed at first-time MacBook buyers. This is Apple trying to get on board with the cheap Windows laptop crowd that is angry at Windows. With a $499 price tag for education, it’s also an attempt to break Chromebooks’ grip on the K-12 market, turning iPad kids into MacBook Neo teens into Air adults. Heck, when it’s time for my kids to turn in their school-issued Chromebooks, and I have to choose between a Chromebook, a Windows laptop, and a MacBook Neo for them? it would be interesting.
And that’s how they get you!
I honestly don’t think the Neo vs Air debate is going to be that tough for most people, simply because most people aren’t spending a thousand bucks on a laptop in the first place. The processor will probably feel similar to the M1 Air, i.e. plenty fast for most things. The hardest part will be figuring out whether you’re satisfied with 8GB of RAM (roughly!), whether you really need Thunderbolt (probably not?), and whether you care about that fancy webcam (eh). If you already know the answer, you already know the answer. And you should grab that Refurb Air whenever you can.
A cynical part of me thinks this is Apple trying to get MacBooks on the same upgrade cycle as its phones. If you bought the cheapest MacBook Air six years ago, it’s probably still fine. If you buy the cheapest MacBook Neo today, will it look OK in six years? Perhaps Or maybe you decide you have to try Air next time. And on top of the funnel you go.
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