Apple’s new MacBook Air gets its biggest speed boost in years
Apple's MacBook Air has a new engine under the hood – meet the MacBook Air M5
Apple has launched a new MacBook Air powered by its M5 chip. It is the latest update to the world’s most popular laptop, bringing processing speeds that dwarf earlier models – including the M1, which is still in millions of hands worldwide.
On AI tasks specifically, the gap is striking. Apple claims the M5 is nine and a half times faster than the M1 for AI workloads, and four times faster than last year’s M4. That matters as more software, from photo editors to writing tools, leans on on-device AI processing.
The M5 chip itself carries a 10-core CPU alongside a GPU of up to 10 cores. Unusually, each of those GPU cores has its own Neural Accelerator built in. The result, Apple says, is a machine that handles everything from 3D rendering to large language models without breaking a sweat.
MacBook Air storage has overdue for an update for a while now, and thankfully, Apple has listened. The base model now ships with 512GB, double what the previous generation offered, and a top-end 4TB option appears for the first time.
The new SSD is also twice as fast for reading and writing files, which makes a real difference when importing large photo libraries or video footage.
Connectivity gets a neat little upgrade, too, with Apple’s new N1 wireless chip adding Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. That should mean fewer dropped connections and snappier performance on fast networks.
According to Apple, in Blender, 3D renders with ray tracing finish up to 6.5 times faster than on an M1 machine. Affinity image processing is 2.7 times quicker. And, against a current Intel Core Ultra X7 laptop, ordinary web browsing runs 50-percent faster.
Everything else remains largely unchanged, which won’t disappoint fans of the existing design. The Air is still fanless and silent, still remarkably thin, and still available in both 13-inch and 15-inch sizes.
The colour lineup – sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver – is the same as well, and the battery remains at up to 18 hours.
The laptop ships with macOS Tahoe, which introduces a visual overhaul Apple calls Liquid Glass, plus deeper integration with Apple Intelligence. New features include real-time message translation and improved Shortcuts automation.
On sustainability, Apple notes the chassis uses fully recycled aluminium, and the battery contains 100-percent recycled cobalt. Recycled content accounts for 55-percent of the machine overall, which I think is pretty impressive.
Pre-orders go live tomorrow, on March 4, with laptops reaching customers and hitting store shelves on March 11. Pricing starts at $1099 / £1099 for the 13-inch and $1299 / £1299 for the 15-inch. That’s $100 / £100 more expensive than the previous version – is that because a new, cheap MacBook is just around the corner?
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Spencer Hart
Buying Guide Editor 
