Before you buy that MacBook Neo — consider you might be able to get a super-cheap MacBook Air instead

• May 8, 2026

If you’ve got the latest MacBook Neo in your shopping cart ready to go, I have a deal that could potentially just stop you in your tracks. It’s on the equally excellent, but higher-end, MacBook Air M5.

Right now, Best Buy has this model listed for just $949 (was $1,099) on its baseline 16GB RAM / 512GB configuration. That’s a great deal in itself, but what’s really caught my eye is the retailer’s trade-in program. Using this program, you can currently stack that upfront saving with some serious additional discounts.

From my own testing, it looks like you can get up to $600 off by trading in an older MacBook Air right now. Similarly, the retailer also accepts Windows laptops from well-known brands, so this could be a good opportunity to make the switch.

In some circumstances – depending on the value of your trade-in – you could potentially get a MacBook Air for even cheaper than $599, which is the starting price of the new MacBook Neo. If you can, it feels like a real no-brainer to go for the higher-end model here.

Best Buy’s latest MacBook Air deal

Is the MacBook Air better than the Neo?

Better is subjective, but the Air is certainly a higher-end laptop than the Neo. It’s designed from the ground up to have more performance – and, under normal circumstances, rightfully fetches a higher asking price than the Neo.

That said, if you’re not trading in, there is still a strong case for the Neo at $599. If you’re someone who just wants a laptop for the basics and even some demanding tasks within reason, the Neo is fantastic. It’s just on those more demanding workloads where the Air is going to have more headroom.

The Air does come with a fair share of upgrades, too. Alongside the better chipset, the baseline Air configuration comes with 16GB of RAM and a speedier 512GB SSD. On top of that, you’ve also got a haptic mouse pad, better audio, and better ports overall.

For further details, I’d recommend checking out our Apple MacBook Air 13 (M5) review and Apple MacBook Neo review pages.

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If you’ve got the latest MacBook Neo in your shopping cart ready to go, I have a deal that could potentially just stop you in your tracks. It’s on the equally excellent, but higher-end, MacBook Air M5. Right now, Best Buy has this model listed for just $949 (was $1,099)…