The base M5 MacBook Air comes with 512GB of storage, double that of the M4, but it also comes with a price that has frustrated reviewers: it starts at $1,099, $100 more than the previous generation. The question facing anyone considering an upgrade is whether Apple's latest improvements justify asking users to spend significantly more on what remains, in many ways, the same laptop.
The underlying hardware is undeniably quicker. The M5's multithreaded CPU performance is up to 15 percent faster than the M4, and it offers 30 percent faster GPU performance. For creative professionals and power users, enhanced shader cores and a third-generation ray-tracing engine improve tasks such as gaming and 3D rendering, while faster unified memory with 153GBps of bandwidth enables smoother multitasking and faster app launches.
Yet performance alone does not drive the new price tag. Apple updated the wireless chip to its own N1 (with Wi-Fi 7 support and Bluetooth 6) and doubled the starting storage to 512GB while raising the price by $100. The storage increase addresses a real problem. 256GB was simply not enough for many users in what is a workhorse portable. The SSD also has 2x faster read and write performance compared to the previous generation.
The storage bump carries weight, particularly for students and creative workers. Yet reviewers remain split on whether the total package deserves the higher asking price. Some publications, like TechRadar, argue that the $100 price increase is acceptable given that the updated laptop offers twice the starting storage of the preceding M4-based variant. Others take a harder line. Tom's Guide noted that the laptop costs an extra $100 for most of the same features found in the M4 model, though reviewers acknowledged the doubled storage and improved wireless as helpful improvements.
The Air's role in Apple's lineup has also shifted. The MacBook Air line now lives between the new A18 Pro MacBook Neo and the high-performance MacBook Pro, meant for the laptop for every student and office worker who prioritizes portability and battery life over raw power. With the Neo offering an entry point below $600, the Air at $1,099 no longer serves as Apple's price-conscious option. That positioning carries implications for value perception: a student weighing a sub-$600 machine against a $1,099 Air will see a different trade-off than one comparing Air models year to year.
If you own an M4 Air, the calculus is straightforward. Those using the M4 MacBook Air have no reason to buy the new M5 MacBook Air. The performance gains, while measurable, do not justify the cost of replacement. Battery life remains essentially flat; the physical design is unchanged. The M5 is a refinement, not a transformation.
For new buyers, the picture is less clear. The MacBook Air is the workhorse of the MacBook lineup, sitting in the middle, premium and performant enough to please almost everyone. The doubled storage addresses a genuine weakness in the previous generation. The M5 chip is genuinely faster, even if the gap to the M4 is not dramatic. Whether $1,099 represents fair value depends on what you intend to use the machine for, how long you plan to keep it, and whether you value the extra 256GB and improved wireless over the money you might spend elsewhere.
Apple has found a profitable sweet spot with the Air, and each update risks pricing out the customers it is designed for. That tension, unresolved, sits at the heart of the M5's mixed reception.