MacBook Air M5 Reviews: Apple's Best Laptop for Most People Gets Faster [Video]

Apple has lifted the review embargo for its new MacBook Air with M5, and early reviews are now offering a closer look at the company's latest ultraportable ahead of its March 11 launch.

Apple unveiled the new MacBook Air earlier this month with the M5 chip, 512GB of base storage, and Wi-Fi 7 support. The laptop remains available in both 13-inch and 15-inch models and continues to feature the thin, fanless aluminum design that has defined the Air lineup.


If you're considering Apple's newest ultraportable, you can pre-order it today:

Pre-Order MacBook Air (M5)
● 13-inch M5 MacBook Air
● 15-inch M5 MacBook Air

You can also track pricing for current Mac models using the iClarified Mac Price Tracker.




Here's what reviewers are saying about the new MacBook Air with M5...


Tom's Guide
"The MacBook Air M5 delivers the goods thanks to its strong M5-driven performance, better connectivity options, all while retaining the same slim design, bright and colorful display, and long-lasting battery life. While it isn't a revolutionary update and costs $100 more, it's a stellar notebook for most people." 

"Naturally, the biggest upgrade is the Apple M5 chip, which we first saw in last year's iPad Pro M5 and 14-inch MacBook Pro M5. Thanks to this processor, the Air M5 offers excellent performance for web surfing, video editing, and even some AAA gaming. While the new M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros can handle heavier loads, the Air M5's performance is more than enough for everyday use." 

TechRadar
"It's safe to say the MacBook Air 13-inch M5 is every bit as good as its M4 predecessor, but a little faster. The differences are so few, in fact, that I could simply direct you to my now year-old MacBook Air M4 review, and just note here that the M5 chip makes Apple's latest, and sure to be quite popular, ultraportable both faster and more efficient." 

"If there is a downside to this update, it's the new starting price. Over the years, the MacBook Air has bounced around the $1,000 mark, dropping just below and then rising up a hundred dollars or so. Now it's back to $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,799, but I'm actually okay with this change, because the Air finally starts with a half terabyte of storage." 



Six Colors
"Like the M4, the M3, the M2, and even the M1 before it, the MacBook Air remains what it's long been-even going back to the days before Apple silicon: the best Mac for most people." 

"Of course, we've had an idea of the ballpark of M5 performance since last fall's first slew of products using the latest chip generation, and there's little surprising here: just the usual generation-over-generation bump, in this case of about 11 percent in both single and multicore performance over the M4 Air. GPU saw more measurable improvement in the M5 Air, with about 31 percent better performance on average." 

NotebookCheck
"The new Apple M5 SoC is very powerful and also very efficient - a perfect match for the passive cooling system of the MacBook Air 15. There is just nothing comparable in the Windows world, neither with x86 chips, nor with ARM CPUs from Qualcomm." 

"Other improvements include Wi-Fi as well as faster PCIe 4.0 SSDs, and this is also the case for the base model starting at $1299. Our review unit is quite expensive due to the RAM and storage upgrades, but you will get pretty much the same performance from the base model, which is our recommendation for most users." 



Filmogaz
"Apple's MacBook Air 15 with M5 chip continues to impress with its powerful performance and fanless design. While some aspects of the display remain unchanged, its capabilities still shine." 

"The Apple MacBook Air 15 M5 excels in delivering powerful performance. Its display, despite minor drawbacks, remains a strong point for general use and even picture editing when calibrated properly." 


Overall, early reviews suggest the MacBook Air with M5 builds on Apple's already successful ultraportable formula. While the design remains unchanged, reviewers highlight the faster M5 chip, improved SSD speeds, and doubled base storage as meaningful upgrades for everyday users.

If you're deciding between Apple's laptops, you may also want to read our comparison of the MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air to see which model may be the better fit.