Apple has announced the new 13-inch and 15-inch Apple MacBook Air with M5. It offers a faster CPU, improved storage and enhanced AI capabilities.
M5
The MacBook Air with M5 features a 10-core CPU with the world’s fastest CPU core for even more responsiveness. It also features an up-to-10-core GPU with a powerful Neural Accelerator in each core. As a result, the MacBook Air with M5 delivers up to 4x faster performance for AI tasks compared to the M4 version. It’s also up to 9.5x faster than the MacBook Air with M1. In addition, with enhanced shader cores and a third-generation ray-tracing engine, Apple says M5 supercharges tasks like gaming and 3D rendering.
Increased storage
The MacBook Air now comes with double the starting storage at 512 GB. You can configure it up to 4 TB which is another first. The new SSD also delivers 2x faster read and write performance compared to the previous generation. Plus, M5 features faster unified memory with 153 GB/s of bandwidth which is a 28 percent improvement over M4. This enables even smoother multitasking and faster app launches.
Performance boosts
The MacBook Air with M5 delivers up to 6.9x faster AI video enhancement performance in Topaz Video compared to the M1 model. It’s also up to 1.9x faster than MacBook Air with M4. Additionally, you get up to 6.5x faster 3D rendering with ray-tracing performance in Blender when compared to MacBook Air with M1 and up to 1.5x faster than with M4. Image processing in Affinity is up to 2.7x faster with MacBook Air with M5 than with the M1 option as well.
Other features
The MacBook Air with M5 features a 13.6-inch or 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display with 500 nits of brightness and support for one billion colors. It also delivers up to 18 hours of battery life which is 50% longer than an Intel-based MacBook Air. The new MacBook Air has a 12 MP Center Stage camera, a three-mic array for enhanced voice clarity and an immersive sound system with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. In addition, you get Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity, along with two Thunderbolt 4 ports which support two external displays. MacBook Air with M5 runs on macOS Tahoe with Liquid Glass and Apple Intelligence.
What we think
The MacBook Air with M5 is a stylish and eye-catching laptop. Its durable aluminum build delivers a design that is thin and lightweight. The MacBook Air also has a fanless design which means it’s completely silent. Despite this, you still get the performance you need for video work and other creative projects. With the increased storage and enhanced battery life, the new MacBook Air is even better value for money. If you don’t need the power of the MacBook Pro series, then the MacBook Air with M5 is an attractive choice.
Pricing and availability
Pricing for the MacBook Air with M5 starts at $1,099 for the 13-inch option and $1,299 if you want a 15-inch screen. The case color options are sky blue, midnight, starlight and silver.
