Apple announced M5 updates for its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines earlier today. With preorders starting tomorrow, March 4, and the new models shipping next week, you may be wondering if it’s time for a new MacBook.
The 15-inch M4 MacBook Air is my current favorite overall laptop, and the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air is the top pick for students. So, the M5 Air has some large laptop shoes to fill. Let’s take a look at what’s changed to help you answer the question: Should you upgrade?
While Apple promises performance gains from the M5 processor, the change I’m most excited to see is the bump in storage. The M4 version offered a 256GB SSD, which is too small for most laptop users. With the M5 Air, the storage floor has been raised to a 512GB SSD that won’t fill up so fast.
In getting rid of the 256GB SSD, Apple also did away with the MacBook Air’s $999 starting price. The M5 Air starts at $1,099 for a M5 processor with 10 CPU cores and 8 GPU cores, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. But don’t let the higher starting price fool you; the M5 Air is the better deal.
Since I would advise against anyone buying a laptop with a puny 256GB SSD, the cheapest M4 Air I would recommend costs $1,199. Apple charged $200 for doubling the storage to a 512GB SSD, which also came with a slight CPU upgrade of an M4 chip with a 10-core GPU.
With the M5 Air, the 512GB SSD comes standard, saving you the $200 upcharge. For my money, the baseline $1,099 M5 Air is a better deal than the $999 M4 Air with a 256GB SSD or the $1,199 M4 Air with a 512GB SSD.
The M5 version looks identical to the M4 MacBook Air and comes in the same four colors: silver, starlight, sky blue or midnight.
Now, there are two GPU cores to consider in the above comparison. In both baseline models for the M4 and M5 MacBook Air, you get a processor with a 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU. And when you added the $200 upgrade for the 512GB SSD on the M4 model, it also added the slightly upgraded M4 chip with the 10-core GPU.
So, the M5 Air provides a cheaper way to get a 512GB SSD than the M4 version. And if you include the processor upgrade on the M5 Air to get the 10-core GPU, it adds $100 and you arrive at the the same $1,199 price as the identically configured M4 Air.
Even when you look at the $1,199 M4 Air and the $1,199 M5 Air, the M5 version is the better deal. (In this era of RAM shortages leading to higher laptop prices, it’s good to see pricing remain roughly the same for the MacBook Air.) In addition to the better performance that Apple promises from the new M5 chip itself, the latest MacBook Air also has faster memory and a faster SSD. The GPU cores on the M5 chips include neural accelerators to boost AI and ray-tracing performance. The largest performance gains that Apple claims you’ll see come from the change in GPU architecture in the area of on-device AI performance.
MacBook Air: M4 vs. M5
| 13-inch MacBook Air (M5) | 13-inch MacBook Air (M5) | 13-inch MacBook Air (M4) | 13-inch MacBook Air (M4) | |
| Price | $1,099 | $1,199 | $999 | $1,199 |
| CPU | M5 | M5 | M4 | M4 |
| No. of CPU cores | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| No. of GPU cores | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| Starting RAM | 16GB | 16GB | 16GB | 16GB |
| Starting storage | 512GB | 512GB | 256GB | 512GB |
| Screen size | 13.6 in | 13.6 in | 13.6 in | 13.6 in |
| Screen resolution | 2,560×1,664 pixels | 2,560×1,664 pixels | 2,560×1,664 pixels | 2,560×1,664 pixels |
| Weight | 2.7 lbs | 2.7 lbs | 2.7 lbs | 2.7 lbs |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 0.44 x 11.97 x 8.46 in | 0.44 x 11.97 x 8.46 in | 0.44 x 11.97 x 8.46 in | 0.44 x 11.97 x 8.46 in |
| Connections | Thunderbolt 4 x2, headphone, MagSafe 3 | Thunderbolt 4 x2, headphone, MagSafe 3 | Thunderbolt 4 x2, headphone, MagSafe 3 | Thunderbolt 4 x2, headphone, MagSafe 3 |
| Battery | 53.8-watt‑hour | 53.8-watt‑hour | 52.6-watt‑hour | 52.6-watt‑hour |
MacBook Air: To upgrade or not to upgrade?
If you need a MacBook Air with the fastest AI performance, then the M5 upgrade is a good investment, even if you just bought an M4 Air last year. For the rest of us who need a MacBook Air for general home use, basic office tasks or to carry around campus, the M5 Air isn’t likely to offer significant performance gains from the M4 to necessitate an upgrade.
Read more: Apple M5 vs. M4
For M2 and M3 Air users, I might also hold off if your laptop is holding up OK and the battery is still holding a charge. For the fourth year in a row, we didn’t get a design change and must be nearing an overhaul for the MacBook Air. We haven’t seen a new look for the MacBook Air since the introduction of the flat chassis of the M2 Air in 2022 that replaced the wedge-shaped M1 Air. I would hate to buy the last update before we see a new design. Plus, Apple is rumored to have some bigger changes in store later this year, from a true budget MacBook to a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen OLED display. Maybe one of these new models would be a better fit for you.
I’ll be able to give you a better answer to the upgrade question after I get something to test and can assess the application, graphics and AI performance of the new M5 MacBook Air. Look for full reviews of the 13-inch and 15-inch M5 Air models on CNET soon.
