Early reviews praise the M5 MacBook Air for its performance and fast SSD speeds, but criticize the laptop’s $100 higher price tag compared to previous models.
Apple upgraded the MacBook Air with its M5 chip on March 3, delivering significant performance enhancements. The starting storage was also increased to 512GB, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 now available on the ultra-thin laptop as well.
Given that the new chip is the main change, though, most reviews of the M5 MacBook Air focus largely on its processing hardware and how it compares to previous models in everyday tasks.
The M5 chip, coupled with a few largely incremental upgrades, will cost users $100 more over the preceding M4-based model, and nobody’s happy about the change.
Tom’s Guide
In its review of the 15-inch MacBook Air with Apple’s M5 chip, Tom’s Guide, for instance, says the laptop “costs an extra $100 for most of the same features” found in the M4 model.
The M5 MacBook Air is identical to its M4 counterpart.
The M5 version maintains the same design and display of its M4 counterpart, but the changes it does offer make the laptop a viable option for those looking to upgrade from an earlier MacBook Air.
The publication described the 512GB starting storage, improved connectivity features of the N1 wireless networking chip, and performance increases as “nice bonuses.”
In gaming tests, CyberPunk 2077 and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows at 1200p resolution and medium graphical settings delivered under 30fps on the 15-inch M5 MacBook Air. Interestingly, Cyberpunk 2077 ran at a higher 34fps on the preceding M4 MacBook Air, with the same resolution and graphics settings applied.
In a battery test, which involved web surfing over Wi-Fi with the M5 MacBook Air display set to 150 nits of brightness, the 15-inch laptop stayed on for 15 hours and 30 minutes, up from 15 hours and 22 minutes on the M4 model. SSD speed tests showed a noteworthy improvement over the M4 MacBook Air.
Overall, the publication says the M5 MacBook Air is a good option for those looking to purchase a premium laptop under $1500. M4 MacBook Air owners have no reason to upgrade, though, per the review.
TechRadar
TechRadar, meanwhile, similarly views the M5 MacBook Air as an iterative improvement of an already great product. In essence, the publication says the 13-inch MacBook Air with the M5 chip is “every bit as good as its M4 predecessor, but a little faster.”
The M5 MacBook Air works great with Apple’s pro apps.
The review considers the $100 price increase acceptable, given that the updated laptop offers twice the starting storage of the preceding M4-based variant. Although no one expected the M5 MacBook Air to feature a touchscreen, the publication criticized Apple for not including it, noting that it’s available on similarly priced Windows laptops.
TechRadar tested the M5 MacBook Air with apps like Lightroom, Final Cut Pro, and Pixelmator Pro, and said that the ultra-thin laptop handled everything thrown at it. SSD speeds were also notably faster compared to those of the M4 MacBook Air.
In essence, the author of the review called the M5 MacBook Air the best ultraportable they’ve ever used, and they say the laptop is great for those who really need portability.
SixColors
For its review of the M5 MacBook Air, SixColors focused heavily on the performance upgrades, relative to the M4 model.
The M5 MacBook Air uses the same tried-and-true design Apple introduced in 2022.
The publication says the new-and-improved M5 MacBook Air saw an 11 percent increase in single-core and multi-core performance over the preceding M4-based variant. GPU performance was 31 percent better on average, per the review.
To be more specific, the 15-inch M5 MacBook Air received a Geekbench 6 score of 4,167 points for single-core performance and 16,979 points in multi-core performance tests.
Even so, the review says “there’s little reason to upgrade” from the M4-based MacBook Air, as “the difference between the M4 and M5 is negligible for most users.”
Coming from the M1 MacBook Air, the M5 MacBook Air offers a single-core performance jump of a noticeable 75 percent. Single-core performance is also up 57 percent, compared to the M2 MacBook Air, meaning the owners of these two laptops should consider upgrading to the M5 model.
When copying a 29GB Final Cut Pro project from an external SSD, the M5 MacBook Air proved to be approximately 30% faster. SixColors also highlighted the improved memory bandwidth of the M5 model — 153GB/s, up from 120GB/s on the M4 MacBook Air.
Aside from the M5 chip, N1 wireless connectivity chip, and SSD improvements, though, the laptop is effectively the same as its predecessor, and the review makes this clear.
M5 MacBook Air review roundup: Improved performance, but not much else
Overall, the M5 MacBook Air is effectively a spec bump upgrade. While the N1 chip is a welcome upgrade, bringing Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 compatibility, and the SSD upgrades are a nice touch, the true change is the M5 chip.
Owners of the M1 and M2 MacBook Air should consider upgrading to the M5 model, as the performance upgrades are significant. Those using the M4 MacBook Air, meanwhile, have no reason to buy the new-and-improved M5 MacBook Air.