Apparently you can buy an M1 Air for 599$ brand new: https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/13/macbook-air-with-m1-chi...
Walmart shows new as currently out of stock, they only have restored.
Is it a better deal? A18 Pro seems to be somewhat more capable than an M1.
A very old article, and if you follow any of their links, they are sold out. So it's not so apparent after all