Macbook Neo Versus An Old Macbook Air: Good Luck

My first thought erstwhile Apple announced nan MacBook Neo today was “okay, but why not conscionable get an older Air?” If you’re reasoning that too, you mightiness beryllium right. If you tin find one.

The Neo starts astatine $599 pinch an A18 Pro processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB storage, and ends astatine $699 pinch nan aforesaid specs positive TouchID and 512GB of storage. It has 2 USB-C (not Thunderbolt) ports, a beautiful basic-looking screen, a mechanical trackpad alternatively of haptic, and various different cost-saving measures. It’s nan cheapest caller MacBook you tin get now.

The caller M5 MacBook Air starts astatine $1,099 pinch 16GB of representation and 512GB of overmuch faster storage, a bigger and brighter screen, a amended webcam, amended Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, much speakers, Thunderbolt 4, a faster charger, and truthful forth. It’s $100 much than past year’s model, astir apt because of nan Neo. Or you tin get an M4 MacBook Air for $1000, pinch a somewhat slower processor than nan M5 (but still faster than nan Air), and different beautiful overmuch nan aforesaid specs.

If you could still get a caller M1 Air from Walmart for $700, it’d beryllium a beautiful reliable telephone betwixt that and nan Neo. That instrumentality came retired successful 2020, but is still amended successful astir respects. Unfortunately, they’ve been retired of banal since past month — astir apt because of nan Neo — truthful that’s nan extremity of that. You tin astir apt find a refurb one. Same pinch nan M3 and M4: if you tin find 1 for astir nan aforesaid value arsenic nan Neo, particularly pinch 16GB of RAM, you should get 1 of those. But they’re beautiful bladed connected nan ground, and I’d expect them to go thinner. (Keep an oculus connected Apple’s refurb site, though — a refurb M4 Air for $750 is beautiful dang good.)

The modern Air is unquestionably a amended computer. The point astir $1,000 is it’s a batch much money than $600. $600 is already much than astir non-Mac group want to walk connected a laptop, but it’s a batch little than an Air, and nan spread betwixt nan 2 is large capable that it’s harder to warrant nan jump unless you cognize you’re gonna request much than 8GB of RAM, if you’re ever gonna usage Thunderbolt, and truthful forth. I wouldn’t bargain nan Neo for myself.

The Neo isn’t meant to compete pinch nan Air, though. It’s aiming for nan first-time MacBook buyer. It’s Apple trying to prime up nan inexpensive Windows laptop crowd who are irritated by Windows. With its $499 value for education, it’s besides an effort to break nan Chromebook’s stranglehold connected nan K-12 market, to move iPad kids into MacBook Neo teens into Air adults. Heck, erstwhile it’s clip for my kids to move successful their school-issued Chromebooks, and I person to take betwixt a Chromebook, a Windows laptop, and a MacBook Neo for them? That’ll beryllium interesting.

And that’s really they get you!

I honestly don’t deliberation nan Neo vs Air statement is going to beryllium that difficult for astir people, conscionable because astir group aren’t spending a 1000 bucks connected a laptop successful nan first place. The processor’s astir apt going to consciousness astir nan aforesaid arsenic an M1 Air’s, which is to opportunity accelerated capable for astir things. The toughest parts are going to beryllium figuring retired if you’re satisfied pinch 8GB of RAM (rough!), if you ever really request Thunderbolt (maybe not?), and if you attraction astir that fancy webcam (eh). If you already cognize nan answer, you already cognize nan answer. And you should astir apt drawback that refurb Air while you can.

A cynical portion of maine thinks this is Apple trying to get MacBooks onto nan aforesaid upgrade rhythm arsenic its phones. If you bought nan cheapest MacBook Air six years ago, it’s astir apt still fine. If you bargain nan cheapest MacBook Neo today, is it going to consciousness good successful six years? Maybe! Or possibly you’ll determine you request to outpouring for an Air adjacent time. And up nan chimney you go.