Apple’s latest MacBook Air packs the blazing-fast performance of the M5 chip inside a predictably polished ultraportable. It’s a great daily driver that can do basically anything the average person needs a laptop for. Yes, it’s several hundred dollars pricier than a MacBook Neo, but it’s a much better, more future-proofed computer in every way. It’s worth the upcharge.
I think most folks will make good use of the larger screen on the 15-inch M5 MacBook Air, which starts at $1,299 (we tested that one). But if you want a more portable, slightly cheaper option, there’s also a 13-inch size that starts at $1,099. It has two fewer speakers and its base model has two fewer GPU cores, but otherwise they’re exactly the same. They’re both configurable with up to 32GB of RAM and up to 4TB of storage.
Read Mashable’s full review of the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air (M5).
The M5 MacBook Air successfully beats the awkward middle child allegations. It easily handles the workloads of everyday multitaskers, and it has some premium features that won’t feel outdated in a few years (without going too overboard on nice-to-haves).
Performance: This is one of the fastest laptops on the market, no matter how you stack it. In heavy multi-core workloads like video editing, it rivals premium Windows laptops with Intel’s new high-end Panther Lake chips. In simpler single-core tasks like web browsing, it doesn’t have any competition except for Asus’ pricier new Zenbook A Series laptops and Apple’s own M5 MacBook Pro.
Speaking of: The M4 chip closed the performance gap between Apple’s MacBook Air and Pro series, and that continues in the M5 era. The M5 MacBook Pro is only five percent faster than the Air in single-core tasks and nine percent faster in multi-core tasks. (They’re effectively equals on both fronts.) Their biggest difference lies in the way they handle the stress of these tasks over a longer period of time. Heavy workloads are a breeze for the MacBook Pro, which has fans, but they can make the fanless MacBook Air get a bit warm, resulting in thermal throttling. If you’re occasionally editing videos or playing some light games, you’re totally fine with an Air. If you’re a professional content creator who toils over demanding software on a daily basis, you probably need the Pro.
Battery life: The M5 MacBook Air lasted 17 hours and 40 minutes in our battery life benchmark, which is a video rundown test. That’s a small downgrade from the last generation, but you won’t be screwed if you forget your charger at home.
Design: This is largely the same laptop as the M4 MacBook Air, which isn’t a terrible thing, since that laptop slapped. (It just makes for a boring gen-over-gen update.) It has a crisp 12MP Center Stage webcam, a vivid Liquid Retina display, amazing speakers, a luxe haptic trackpad, a snappy backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, and a sleek all-aluminum design. Like all MacBooks, its build quality is class-leading. You can take your pick from four neutral finishes: sky blue, silver, starlight, and midnight.
Value: The M5 MacBook Air starts with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which puts it in line with rivaling mid-range Windows laptops. Similarly priced PCs that I’ve tested (plus or minus $200) have extra fixings like OLED displays, 120Hz refresh rates, and/or better mixes of ports, but the Air’s overall build quality and performance leave most of its rivals in the dust. While the Neo will tempt many buyers at half its price, the Air is very competitive for what it offers, and has an edge in its future-proofing.
