[needSomeCoffee]

I do not really understand why the Walmart $599 M1 MBA comparison is so lost in the MSM. The Neo is the same price (without edu discount). The Neo CPU benchmarks slightly better until the 4W performance limit factors in more real-world cases (then the M1 wins handily). So much is given up with the Neo: Worse screen, Worse keyboard, No TouchId, Worse Trackpad, etc. Yet Apple is praised for the Neo. No longer matters of course as it appears that the Walmart M1 is history, and we now have the Neo -- worse in almost every way vs. M1 MBA. The only real beneficiary is undoubtedly Apple's margin. I guess the MSM and Apple fanbois hatred of Walmart and the "losers who shop there" influences this, but even so. Neo only benefits Apple vs. Walmarts M1 MBA deal.

Edit / Link: https://www.macworld.com/article/2986234/walmart-m1-macbook-...

[ksec]

>(then the M1 wins handily).

How do you came to this conclusion when both are passingly cooled and A19 Pro is faster. Not to mention AV1 and other newer codec hardware accelerator and NPU / GPU improvements.

Also remember M1 MBA is may be Walmart and US only. Around the world most dont even get a chance to buy M1 at $599. The display dont have P3 but is actually brighter than M1 400 nits. Not sure how Keyboard is worse. Neo also have 1080P webcam rather than 720P.

And if Walmart is selling M1 at $599, I am sure they will also sell Neo at lower than RSP may be even same as educational discount $499. And this point surely Neo would win?

What a lot of people dont talk about, and may be wait until iFixit to confirm. Neo is basically the iPhone 17 of MacBook. It is perhaps the easiest to repair and cheapest MacBook for Apple to services.

[needSomeCoffee]

"...handily...". Apple set the power limit for the A19 at 4 watts. The M1 does not have this limit. So in all tests using processes that tax the CPU, the M1 wins. Apple ignored the greater thermal cooling available with the new case. The A19 would beat the M1 if Apple did not do this. But no one really cares cause... it is Apple. The other points re: Walmart are valid. However, it goes to the point that Apple could sell the M1 at this price point, but chose not to. Seems likely the Walmart M1 at $599 had lower margins (My Guess), so the Neo was born.

[foldr]

This is most likely for battery life. The Neo has a smaller and cheaper battery, so if you didn't limit the power somewhat you'd burn through it too fast.

[zamadatix]

Neo has ~5 more years of support, is not US specific from a specific store,comes at $100 off for students (which is a primary target for the product), and many of the things you say are worse often are a balance of tradeoffs in many ways (e.g. the screen on the Neo is definitely brighter).

I had an M1 MacBook Air and just set a Neo up for my niece. If I had to pick between the two for myself I'd choose the Neo again.

[haunter]

Even cheaper if you buy from Walmart's refurb outlet, they are $380.

[bombcar]

I never even knew Walmart sold refurbs: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Restored-Apple-MacBook-Air-Laptop...

[haunter]

They are also selling them on eBay too and people with photo reviews show that some of these are straight returns, almost brand new, like less than 10 battery cycles

[testing22321]

The Walmart M1 only exists in one country.

[kvuj]

For me the longer software support would play a role in my decisions. The M1 MBA will probably lose support in 4-5 years whereas the Neo has a longer road ahead.

Combine that with the enormously improved single core performance (which matters more in the real world than sustained load for an entry level notebook), fun colors and 499 price tag for students and I can see the interest.

The screen is good compared to the MBA (only loses P3 colors) but the bummer seems to be ports and the "normal" trackpad.

[nouveaux]

Why compare the M1 MBA discounted at Walmart but not give the same edu discount to the Neo? The target audience for Neo is likely people who would be able to use the edu discount.

I know many people who would not care about the differences you have outlined and gladly pay $499 for the Neo.