GoKawiilThe M5 Pro and M5 Max in the new MacBook Pros are interesting not because they deliver a solid speed increase for Apple’s fastest laptop processors but because they also include substantial under-the-hood changes. And the MacBook Neo is interesting because, while the hardware has limits, it’s quite a capable and high-quality computer for its $599 starting price.
And then there’s the M5 MacBook Air, which was also released this week.
Apple sent us a 16-inch M5 Max MacBook Pro, the MacBook Neo, and a 15-inch MacBook Air to test, and the MacBook Air was the only one without a standard review embargo. As if to say, “we know the other stuff is more interesting—if you want to cover the Air, get to it when you can.”
So here we are.
Still the MacBook for most people
Last year’s M4 MacBook Air was pretty near the Platonic ideal of the $999 laptop that Apple has been refining since the introduction of the first $999 iBooks in the early 2000s. The Apple Silicon iteration of the Air has always been a solid, mass-market machine, but the M4 version was the rare iteration that didn’t feel like it needed one or two $200 upgrades to be useful and future-proofed.
The M5 Air brings good news and bad news on that front, depending on your perspective. The 13-inch M5 Air starts at $1,099, $100 more than before, and there’s no Air at $999 anymore. Both the M1 and M2 Airs stuck around for a while in that spot after being replaced—not so for the M4 Air. The 15-inch Air starts $200 higher at $1,299, though it at least guarantees you the 10-core version of the M5 GPU rather than the 8-core version in the $1,099 13-inch Air.
But the M5 Air also comes with 512GB of storage rather than 256GB, previously a $200 upgrade. In an ideal world, I’d prefer to keep the $999 version and see Apple lower the price of its storage upgrades. But I suppose it’s basically a wash, especially now that the Air sits upmarket of another product rather than being the entry-level option.