What happened
The new Air was announced on the second day of Apple's March launch week. Apple's announcement listed the changes:
- M5 chip with a 10-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, each GPU core with its own Neural Accelerator. Apple claimed up to four times the AI performance of the M4 Air. It put general gains in apps like Blender and Affinity at around 1.5 times.
- 512GB of storage as standard, double the previous base, with an SSD Apple says is twice as fast.
- N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
- Memory bandwidth up 28% over M4, to 153GB/s.
The design, the 13.6- and 15.3-inch screens, the 12MP Center Stage camera, the two Thunderbolt 4 ports, MagSafe and the 18-hour battery rating all carried over. Apple's current spec sheet lists 16GB of memory as standard, configurable to 24GB or 32GB. The base 13-inch has an 8-core GPU, and the 15-inch gets 10 cores. Colours are sky blue, silver, starlight and midnight.
Launch prices matched the M4 models: $1,099 for the 13-inch and $1,299 for the 15-inch, with education prices $100 lower.
What changed for buyers
The storage change was worth more than the chip. Before, the base Air had 256GB, and anything more cost extra. At launch, 512GB came included at the same $1,099. For most people that was the main reason to choose the M5 over a discounted M4 Air.
Wi-Fi 7 matters only if your router supports it. Even so, it's a sensible extra for a laptop many people keep for five years or more. Apple's own speed claims compared the M5 mostly with M4 and M1. If you have a recent Air and mainly browse, write and make video calls, the case for upgrading was weaker than for owners of Intel or M1 models.
The same week brought the MacBook Neo at $599. Apple now had a cheaper laptop for people who just need the basics, and the Air became the middle option rather than the entry point.
Where things stand now (November 2026)
The M5 Air is still Apple's current MacBook Air, eight months on. Its price is not what it was at launch. On June 25, Apple raised Mac and iPad prices and said memory and storage chip costs had risen faster than ever before. The 13-inch Air went from $1,099 to $1,299, ABC7 reported. Our MacBook Air page lists the 15-inch at $1,499. TidBITS also reported that memory and storage upgrade prices rose sharply.
That moves the Air relative to its neighbours:
- Below: the MacBook Neo is now $699. The gap to the Air widened from $500 to $600. The Neo has only 8GB of memory, which Apple doesn't let you upgrade, and a phone chip. That's enough for school and browsing, but it's a big step down for heavier work.
- Above: the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 launched on November 6 at $1,999, with 16GB of memory and the brighter mini-LED XDR screen. It's $700 more than the 13-inch Air.
The M6 chip is now Apple's newest, while the Air is still on M5. Apple hasn't said when the Air will move to M6. If the yearly pattern holds, the next one would be due around spring 2027, though nothing is confirmed. If you need a laptop now, the M5 Air is still a fine choice. Check our price tracker for retailer and refurbished prices before paying full price.
Bottom line
The M5 MacBook Air was a strong update at launch, mainly because 512GB became standard at no extra cost. June's $200 rise took away much of that advantage. It's still the right Mac for most people who do more than browse. At $1,299, though, it's worth waiting for a sale or checking the refurbished store. Compare it with the Neo and the M6 Pro in our compare tool, and see our buy-now guide for timing.
Found something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it and log the change on our corrections page.
