Buy a used M1 MacBook Air or a new MacBook Neo? A practical showdown

Apple (苹果)’s new entry-level MacBook Neo has reopened a familiar question for buyers in China and beyond: is it better to buy a brand‑new, pared‑down laptop or hunt for a used M1 MacBook Air from 2020? The short answer: it depends on which compromises you can live with. The long answer requires looking at chips, ports, and real‑world tradeoffs — not just headline specs.

Design and media: similar silhouettes, different compromises

On the surface the two machines feel close. Both use aluminum bodies, full‑size keyboards and large trackpads, and neither has a notch — instead Apple packs the webcam into visibly thick bezels. The Neo is slightly smaller and lighter (1.23 kg, flat‑edged, 1.27 cm thick) versus the M1 Air’s wedge profile (1.29 kg, 0.41–1.61 cm). Neo’s 13‑inch Liquid Retina panel is 100 nits brighter; the M1 Air’s 13.3‑inch Retina supports P3 wide color and True Tone. Webcam resolution differs: Neo’s 1080p vs M1 Air’s 720p. Storage and ID placement also differ — Neo’s base 256GB model omits Touch ID unless you pay for 512GB.

Performance, I/O and battery: newer silicon, trimmed ports

Under the hood Neo uses an A18 Pro variant (the same family as iPhone 16 Pro) with a 2P+4E CPU and a 5‑core GPU with hardware ray tracing and an expanded media engine (ProRes/ProRes RAW and AV1 decode). The original M1 Air uses Apple’s first‑gen Silicon (4P+4E, 7/8‑core GPU) with no dedicated media engine. Geekbench scores reportedly show Neo ahead in single‑core (about 3461 vs 2347) and slightly ahead or comparable in multi‑core and Metal graphics. Crucially, Neo trims I/O: one USB 3 (10Gb/s) and one USB 2 (280Mb/s) port and no Thunderbolt/USB4, whereas the M1 Air’s two ports support Thunderbolt/USB4 at up to 40Gb/s. Battery life favors the M1 Air on paper (15h web / 18h video vs Neo’s 11h / 16h).

Price, buying risk and the bigger picture

Neo’s aggressive pricing — $599 / ¥4,599 — contrasts with the M1 Air’s 2020 launch price of $999 / ¥7,999. That gap makes secondhand M1 Airs tempting, but you’ll need patience and vigilance to avoid mismatched specs or seller issues. It has been reported that Apple’s marketing choices (calling Neo’s chip A18 Pro rather than a variant name like “M1 Plus”) have amplified consumer confusion about whether Neo is a true successor or a cost‑cut compromise. And amid ongoing US‑China technology frictions and export‑control scrutiny of advanced semiconductors, Apple’s chip and supply strategies remain closely watched — factors that could influence availability and pricing over time.

Which should you buy? If you want a new warranty, modern camera and hardware video features and can live without Thunderbolt, Neo is compelling for its price. If you need docks, external displays at high bandwidth, larger SSD options, or upgradable memory configurations, a carefully sourced M1 MacBook Air (or a higher‑spec new MacBook Air/Pro) will be the safer long‑term choice.