{"id":283966,"date":"2026-06-30T06:51:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/macbook-neo-vs-macbook-air-which-apple-laptop-should-you-buy\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T07:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T11:00:11","slug":"macbook-neo-vs-macbook-air-which-apple-laptop-should-you-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/macbook-neo-vs-macbook-air-which-apple-laptop-should-you-buy\/","title":{"rendered":"MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air: which Apple laptop should you buy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air: which Apple laptop should you buy?<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.stuff.tv\/features\/macbook-neo-vs-macbook-air-which-apple-laptop-should-you-buy\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-06-30 06:51:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.stuff.tv<\/a><\/p>\n

Trying to decide between the MacBook Neo or MacBook Air for your next laptop? It\u2019s not as easy a decision as one may think \u2013 though that hasn\u2019t always been the case.<\/p>\n

It used to be simpler, y\u2019know. For years, if someone asked which Apple laptop to buy, the answer was almost always the same \u2013 the MacBook Air. It struck a sweet spot between price, portability, and performance, that very few laptops \u2013 Apple\u2019s or otherwise \u2013 could match.<\/p>\n

Then the MacBook Neo arrived, bringing macOS to a lower price point without asking buyers to spend four figures. Far from simply a cheaper MacBook Air, Apple has saved money in some clever places, and whether those compromises matter depends entirely on how you use your laptop.<\/p>\n

Luckily for you, we\u2019ve reviewed both laptops extensively, with editor-in-chief Dan Grabham testing the MacBook Neo, and contributor Craig Grannell reviewing the latest MacBook Air. The comparison below is based on their thorough testing, and, by the end of this page, you should have a much better idea of whether the MacBook Neo or MacBook Air is the best MacBook for you.<\/p>\n

Price and release date<\/h2>\n

\"\"MacBook Air M5<\/p>\n

The MacBook Neo and MacBook Air both landed in March 2026. The Neo in particular made quite an impact, arriving as Apple\u2019s answer to everyone who wanted a MacBook without spending four figures. It remains the cheapest way into the Mac ecosystem, but its value proposition has, sadly, shifted since launch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The base 256GB MacBook Neo model now starts at $699 \/ \u00a3699, while the 512GB version with Touch ID costs $799 \/ \u00a3799. That\u2019s an increase of $100 \/ \u00a3100 across the board, all thanks to supply shortages fuelled by the AI boom. Boo, hiss etc. The increase undoubtedly dents some of its appeal, although it\u2019s worth remembering many people expected the Neo to launch at around this price anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also still comfortably cheaper than the MacBook Air, which, following its own price increase, now starts at $1299 \/…<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air: which Apple laptop should you buy? https:\/\/www.stuff.tv\/features\/macbook-neo-vs-macbook-air-which-apple-laptop-should-you-buy\/ Publish Date: 2026-06-30…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":283967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.stuff.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/macbook-neo-review-8.jpg?quality=75","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-283966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-macintosh","tag-macbook-air"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283966"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283966"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283968,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283966\/revisions\/283968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}