Every year Apple updates its most popular laptop lineup, and every time the same question arises: is it worth it? The new 13-inch MacBook Air for 2026 features the M5 chip, doubled base storage, and Wi-Fi 7 support. On the outside, the laptop has barely changed, but inside there’s been a noticeable leap, especially in the area of artificial intelligence. The power difference is so significant that we even explored what’s better — MacBook Air M5 or MacBook Pro M5. According to Apple, AI task performance has increased up to 4x compared to M4 and up to 9.5x compared to M1.
MacBook Air is great, just like previous computers in this series. Image: techradar.com
How MacBook Air M5 Differs from MacBook Air M4
The body of the MacBook Air (13-inch, M5, 2026) remains exactly the same as last year’s M4 model. The dimensions haven’t changed: height 1.13 cm, width 30.41 cm, depth 21.5 cm. The only physical difference is that the laptop is 10 grams lighter and now weighs 1.23 kg. It may seem like a small thing, but for a device that was already considered one of the lightest on the market, it’s still a step in the right direction.
The design remains the same. Apple has been using it since MacBook Air M2. Image: techradar.com
The new model is available in four colors: Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, and Midnight. The colors are exactly the same as the M4 model. The blue variant is particularly impressive: when light hits the surface of the body, a beautiful dynamic gradient with a slight metallic sheen appears.
The main upgrade is, of course, inside. The Apple M5 chip features a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU of the new generation with a neural accelerator in each graphics core. The unified memory bandwidth has increased to 153 GB/s — that’s 28% more than M4. Simply put, the laptop has become noticeably faster when working with demanding applications and multitasking.
M5 Chip: What Apple’s New Processor Can Do
While Apple previously emphasized graphics and energy efficiency, in 2026 the main focus has shifted toward AI. Neural accelerators built into each GPU core allow the MacBook Air M5 to work with machine learning models directly on the device, without connecting to the cloud. According to Apple, AI task processing speed is 4 times faster than M4 and 9.5 times faster than M1.
M5 version on the left. The laptop has become more powerful. Image: techradar.com
These aren’t just dry numbers from a presentation. In practice, this means the laptop handles Apple Intelligence — a set of AI features built into macOS Tahoe. This includes text processing, image generation, and working with large language models (LLMs) locally. For comparison: the MacBook Air with M1 simply wasn’t suitable for such tasks, while the M4 model managed but was noticeably slower.
Additionally, the GPU received improved shader cores and a third-generation ray tracing engine. This means games and 3D rendering have also become faster: gaming performance increased by approximately 50%, and rendering in Blender became up to 1.5 times faster compared to M4.
Display and Battery Life of MacBook Air M5
Not everything in the new MacBook Air has changed, and this is important to understand. The display is the same Liquid Retina with an IPS panel, 13.6 inches, resolution of 2560 × 1664 pixels, density of 224 pixels per inch, support for one billion colors, wide P3 color gamut, and True Tone technology. Don’t expect OLED in the MacBook Air anytime soon — Apple plans to introduce this technology first in the MacBook Pro, tentatively no earlier than 2027.
The display in MacBook Air M5, while not OLED, is very high quality. Image: techradar.com
The port selection hasn’t changed: on the left side there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a MagSafe 3 charging connector, on the right — a 3.5mm audio jack with support for high-impedance headphones. The battery still has a capacity of 53.8 Wh (lithium-polymer), and Apple promises up to 15 hours of wireless internet usage and up to 18 hours of video playback.
But there’s a caveat. The MacBook Air is a fanless laptop, which means that under sustained loads, the M5 chip will throttle performance faster than in the 14-inch MacBook Pro, which has the same M5 but with active cooling.
How Much Memory Does MacBook Air M5 Have
Besides the new chip, one of the most notable upgrades is the storage capacity. The base configuration of the MacBook Air M5 now starts with 512 GB SSD, whereas the M4 model had only 256 GB in the base configuration. The maximum available storage has increased to 4 TB (previously the ceiling was 2 TB). RAM goes up to 32 GB of unified memory through CTO configuration.
Another important update is the new Apple N1 wireless chip, which provides support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. For those who frequently work in cafes, coworking spaces, or at home with many connected devices, this is a noticeable improvement in connection stability and speed.
The laptop comes with a new 40-watt dynamic power adapter (with support for up to 60W), as well as a 2-meter USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable. For full fast charging, a 70-watt adapter is required, which is sold separately.
MacBook Air M5 Price and Is It Worth Buying
The MacBook Air M5 price in the US starts at $1,099 for the 13-inch and $1,299 for the 15-inch model. That’s $100 more than the previous M4 version cost, but the base SSD is now twice as large. In Russia, pre-orders started on March 4, and sales began on March 11. Prices in domestic stores start at 129,990 rubles for the minimum 13-inch configuration (16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD).
Don’t forget there’s also a 15-inch version. Image: tomsguide.com
