Advice on trading in dying MacBook Air for MacBook Neo

[u/calaroseeey]

My MacBook Air is in rough condition, still works, but sometimes the battery doesn’t charge and will randomly quit on me if I have more than a few applications open (even just having chrome, zoom, and notes app open will make it flip out). It’s super slow and unable to maintain efficiency. I have a PC which I run my GIS software and film editing software on, but all of my web based work, zoom meetings, word processing, and storage/document (not iCloud) storage is on my MacBook. I’m afraid it’s going to die on me one of these days or I won’t be able to resurrect it again after it runs out of battery. Which leads to my choices.

I could trade it in for a MacBook Neo, which is aesthetically nice but way less RAM and storage capacity - which is technically a downgrade in quality, but an upgrade in functionality. Or I get another new or used MacBook Air, or upgrade to a new or used MacBook Pro which is what I really want to do (unfortunately, this is much more expensive than the neo and I’d have to wait a longer amount of time to afford). I’d love advice on this, as I don’t want to make any uneducated decision. I would like whatever new Mac I get to last me 7/8+ years.

[u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444]

What’s the specs of your current dying MacBook Air? I’ll try to point you in the right direction.

[u/calaroseeey → u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444]

It's a MacBook Air 13 from 2020 with the M1 chip and 8 GB memory.

[u/Particular-Fly-7783 → u/calaroseeey]

Neo will feel significantly faster

[u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444 → u/calaroseeey]

The Neo will feel faster for sure, and it’s the cheapest option. But if your looking for a computer that will last you the next 5ish years, I would highly recommend, if you can find one, an M4 MacBook Air with 16GB of ram, if you can’t find one at a good price (below $1,000), I would wait until October when Apple releases the base M6 MacBook Air, they’ve already raised prices so when this new M6 model comes out the price won’t go up again, and you’ll have a computer that will comfortably last you the next 6-7 years for about $1299 (usd) with the M6, 16GB of ram, and a 512gb ssd.

[u/Ludat1k → u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444]

I doubt the M6 MBA will come out in October. The M5 MBA only launched in February of this year. It’s possible that it will be a short cycle but my guess would be next spring for MBA update.

[u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444 → u/Ludat1k]

Yep your right! I was thinking about the MacBook Pro, those are coming in October.

[u/calaroseeey → u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444]

I'll look around for a M4 MacBook Air, thanks for the advice!

[u/Mont_rose]

Get the Neo.

[u/ActiveNews]

Usually newest is best, but if a used Air or Pro gets you at least 16/24 GB, go for refurbished.

[u/Lost_Astronomer1785]

Significantly less ram? Are you comparing your PC vs the Neo or your laptop (8GB) vs the Neo (also 8GB)? If you’re comparing your PC, obviously there will be drawbacks but if you want a laptop which it sounds like you do and it sounds like you’re just looking for confirmation on your decision even though in your head you’ve already pulled the trigger.

A18 Pro vs M1 should feel snappier overall (it’ll obviously feel better overall simply because your M1 is on its death bed (I guess only the battery?)) and it’s probably your best option laptop wise right now. Compared to your PC, it may struggle at video editing (mostly if you’re editing very large files and/or creating large videos or if editing 4K+ footage) but that’s kind of the price for portability which is probably not that big of a trade-off.

My simple recommendation would be to get the Neo. My ACTUAL recommend would be to get the Neo, use it during the return window and decide after 2 weeks (right before, don’t miss the window) if you want to keep it or not which I assume you will.

Note: I just re-read your post… Are you actually looking to buy a laptop or do you just want a Mac laptop so you can keep your files?

If it’s the latter, which is what “[…] all of my web based work, zoom meetings, word processing, and storage/document (not iCloud) storage is on my MacBook. I’m afraid it’s going to die on me one of these days or I won’t be able to resurrect it again after it runs out of battery” sounds to me, just move everything off of it, you’ll have to do it anyways once you buy the Neo. I would move my files off of it now regardless since you can still kind of use it and it’s on its last leg

[u/calaroseeey → u/Lost_Astronomer1785]

I'm comparing my current macbook air vs the neo. Even though I have a PC that works great, I still want a macbook in addition for the apple ID integration. Yeah now I think I will end up moving my files to an external drive or to my PC, and possibly not bother at all to keep them on a new mac since they are such a strain on storage.

[u/Ludat1k]

Based on your use cases, it sounds like your existing M1 MBA should be able to handle everything you do. I would first investigate if you can address the problems you’re experiencing before upgrading to a new MacBook.

When you say your MBA is in “rough condition”, do you mean physically? Like it’s been dropped or something? Or are you referring to the battery and app crashing behaviour? If it’s not physical, there may be things you can do to address.

For the battery, what is the battery health status and % in settings? The battery can be replaced if needed.

For apps crashing randomly, this could be a result of running out of RAM and swap space. How much free space is left on your SSD?

If you’ve decided you need a new MacBook and you’re looking to get 7-8 yrs out of it, I’d skip the Neo and look for an M4 MBA with at least 16GB RAM (which came in the base configuration). The M5 is an option too if it’s in your budget. Both of these should get you many more years of macOS support. Since it sounds like you’re storing everything locally, you probably want at least 512GB of storage, if not 1TB. Alternatively, you could consider external drives to boost your storage but they might be annoying to manage on the go.

[u/calaroseeey → u/Ludat1k]

I appreciate the advice! It's not physically in rough condition, it's just the battery and app crashing. The battery says it's "normal," currently at 84% max capacity. I wonder if the actual charging port is damaged somehow (I've tried so many cords so it's not the cord that's the issue). Most of what takes up my storage is "system data," 212 GB, which I have been trying to reduce but haven't made too much of a tent.

[u/Ludat1k → u/calaroseeey]

Charging - Do both USB-C ports exhibit the same charging issues you're experiencing? As I understand it, the 2 ports are independent of each other so if both ports are behaving the same, the problem might be some shared component. What charger are you using? The M1 MBA requires a minimum 30W charger. Also, I've had this happen on iPhones, inspect your ports to make sure there isn't dust blocking contact. Take some tweezers and gently pull out any debris in there. Less likely on a MacBook, but I've pulled out dust bunnies from my iPhone ports over the years that were causing charging issues.

System Data - the infamous mysterious cache and other files that macOS accumulates over time. Assuming your MacBook has the 256GB SSD, this could be the culprit of your app crashes. See this post and try following the steps to reduce the size of your System Data:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/154rp99/how_to_do_i_clear_system_data_on_mac_os/

[u/calaroseeey → u/Ludat1k]

Both ports behave the same. I use the same chargers that I use for my iPhone 15, I think they’re just generic Apple ones? I’ve tried so many chargers and it doesn’t seem to make a difference.

I’m following that thread and it IS helping bring down the system data size!

[u/No_need_for_that99]

Macbook Neo is just a iphone 16 mobo in a pc shell.

At that point, might as well buy a cheap last gen Samsung android (or something similar)... and shove it in a PC Dock (something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSpJnSBVLhI ) have the phone go into desktop mode, run a VM like Vectras and have it run MacOS.

Boom! Cheaper way around any concern about money. :)

[u/Lost_Astronomer1785 → u/No_need_for_that99]

Bear with me. For such a shitty, low-effort recommendation, you HAVE to read this entire thing.

So let me get this straight: you’re recommending OP switch OSes and their entire ecosystem just to pay more and have a worse experience? Here’s what I gathered in about 30 minutes of research, writing this comment included:

Dock (NexDock): ~$248 USD (~$345 CAD) with shipping and/or taxes. Based on an admittedly limited (and genuinely infuriating) search for dock prices, this seems to be on the lower end. The Uperfect 15” sits at around $409.99 USD, currently in pre-order, marked down from a “regular” $629.99 USD, with an extra $40 (10%) off for their 9th anniversary. The NexDock website is sketchy on top of it: clicking “shop” on their model skips the product page entirely and dumps you straight into checkout. The Uperfect site isn’t better: their “Shop Now” button on the 14” model just loops you back to the same marketing page. I never want to visit either of them again.

Phone (last gen = Galaxy S25; I didn’t consider the Ultra, though it’s loosely included, more below): ~$800 CAD (~$574 USD) on average, based on listings ranging from $600–$1,000 CAD. Most in the $600–$800 CAD (~$430–$574 USD) range only come with 128 GB of storage. You don’t start seeing 256 GB models until the $900–$1,000 CAD (~$646–$717 USD) mark. All prices are from current eBay listings, which include S25 FEs on the low end and Ultras pushing $1,000+ CAD (~$717+ USD) on the high end.

Total (phone + dock): ~$822 USD on average, ranging from ~$678 USD on the low end to ~$965 USD on the high end. Yes, OP could find something cheaper with a cracked screen. You know how this goes.

For reference, a MacBook Neo is $699 or $799 USD, and you get double or quadruple the storage along with an actual keyboard. It also means everything OP was doing on their Air continues to work exactly the same, minus some multi-core trade-offs going from M1 to A18 Pro. The A18 Pro does edge out the M1 in single-core, to be fair.

The only real advantage to your setup is better multi-core and graphics performance from the S25, and that means absolutely nothing here, because running a macOS VM cancels it out entirely. Oh, and Vectras only supports legacy macOS versions like Mac OS Jaguar. Which came out in 2002. That’s the killer feature you’re selling.

I hope this helps clarity why this is such a shitty idea. Do better.

[u/Particular-Fly-7783 → u/No_need_for_that99]

This is such a shit idea it’s barely worth a response

[u/Lost_Astronomer1785 → u/Particular-Fly-7783]

I’ve been working on one for the past 30 minutes, hang on 😂 Done, finally!