MacBook Neo (13-inch, A18 Pro) vs MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Neo A18 Pro1 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £6993Apple UK store | £1,1994launch price |
| Chip | A18 Prochip | M4chip |
| CPU | 6-coreCPU | 10-coreCPU |
| GPU | 5-coreGPU | 10-coreGPU |
| Memory | 8GBunified memory, base | 16GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 256GBstorage, base | 256GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to16 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 11 March 20265ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 4 March 2026. | 12 March 20254ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 5 March 2025. |
| Security updates | Not available6Security updates | Not available6Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Neo A18 Pro is £699 on Apple’s UK store; the MacBook Air M4 is £1,199 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
True to scale
Footprints from above, from Apple’s published dimensions, drawn to one scale and superposed. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.
Body
| Specification | MacBook Neo A18 Pro1 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 12.7 x 297.5 x 206.4 mm | 11.5 x 340.4 x 237.6 mm |
| Weight | 1.23 kg | 1.51 kg |
| Colours | Silver, Blush, Citrus, Indigo | Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight |
| Ports | One USB 3 (USB-C) port, one USB 2 (USB-C) port, 3.5mm headphone jack | Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports | No Thunderbolt ports.7 | 2 |
| Thunderbolt version | Not available8 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.7 | No USB-A ports.9 |
| HDMI | No HDMI port.10 | No HDMI port.11 |
| SD card slot | No SD card slot.10 | No SD card slot.11 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | No MagSafe port.7 | Yes |
| Keyboard | Magic Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID |
| Touch ID | Available on the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID configuration12 | Yes |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Neo A18 Pro1 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 13 in | 15.3 in |
| Resolution | 2408 x 1506 | 2880 x 1864 |
| Pixel density | 219 ppi | 224 ppi |
| Display type | Liquid Retina display | Liquid Retina display |
| Brightness | 500 nits | 500 nits |
| Wide colour (P3) | No wide colour (P3) display.10 | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | No nano-texture display option.10 | No nano-texture display option.11 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Neo A18 Pro1 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple A18 Pro chip | Apple M4 chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 6 | 10 |
| Performance cores | 2 | 4 |
| Efficiency cores | 4 | 6 |
| GPU cores | 5 | 10 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | Apple A18 Pro with 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU12 | M4 with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU |
| Memory (base) | 8GB | 16GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 8GB12 | 32GB |
| Memory options | 8GB | 16GB, 24GB or 32GB |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents13 | No, as Apple documents13 |
| Memory bandwidth | 60 GB/s | 120 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 256GB | 256GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 512GB | 2TB |
| Storage options | 256GB or 512GB | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode |
Battery and power
| Specification | MacBook Neo A18 Pro1 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 36.5 Wh | 66.5 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles14 | 1,000 cycles14 |
| Video playback (claimed) | 16 h | 18 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 11 h | 15 h |
| Included power adapter | No power adapter in the box.10 | 35 W |
| Fast charging | No fast charging.10 | Yes |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Neo A18 Pro1 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 6 | 5.3 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.10 | No Ethernet port.11 |
| External displays (base) | 1 | 2 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Neo A18 Pro1 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera | 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View |
| Camera resolution | Not available15 | 12 MP |
| Speakers | Dual-speaker sound system | Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers |
| Microphones | Dual-mic array with directional beamforming | Three-mic array with directional beamforming |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Neo - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple UK store — MacBook Neo, 256GB — From £699 ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with the M4 chip and a sky blue colour ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Say hello to MacBook Neo ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩MacBook Neo (13-inch, A18 Pro): No Thunderbolt ports. No USB-A ports. No MagSafe port.
↩Doesn’t apply: no Thunderbolt port
↩MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Neo (13-inch, A18 Pro): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No wide colour (P3) display. No nano-texture display option. No power adapter in the box. No fast charging. No Ethernet port.
↩MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Neo - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Not published by Apple (Apple states resolution: 1080p FaceTime HD camera)
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Neo A18 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with, part numbers. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Neo - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Say hello to MacBook Neo, read 9 Oct 2026.
MacBook Air M4. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with the M4 chip and a sky blue colour; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers, read 9 Oct 2026.
If you own one of them
Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my MacBook Neo (13-inch, A18 Pro)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Air M4 (15-inch, 2025)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.