India, March 11 -- Apple finally has a truly lower-cost laptop once more, but the cheaper option comes with sharper trade-offs than the price tag first suggests. The MacBook Air with M5, however, offers strengths that could make it a better match for some buyers.

This makes a difference. While for years people referred to the Macbook Air as Apple's entry-level model, in reality, it has become a high-end consumer laptop. The Neo changes things by providing an option that is not as expensive as the Air but rather one that is created for those who use lighter loads and have tighter budgets.

The big difference is price, plain and simple. The MacBook Neo starts at Rs 69,900 in India, a whopping Rs 50,000 less than the 13-inch MacBook Air M5,...