MacBook Air 15″ M5 Review: Finally, the Air Makes Sense
MacBook Air 15″ M5 Review: Finally, the Air Makes Sense
https://tbreak.com/macbook-air-15-m5-review-uae/
Publish Date: 2026-05-14 07:57:00
Source Domain: tbreak.com
The MacBook Air 15″ M5 (AED 5,499) is a strong upgrade for anyone on an M3 or older — roughly 13% faster CPU, 25–30% better GPU, and nearly double the SSD speeds over the M4. With the AED 2,599 MacBook Neo now handling casual users, the Air finally fits a clearer role, though 60Hz and two-port limits still sting at this price.
The MacBook Air M5 is, by almost every external measure, identical to the MacBook Air M4. Same design, same ports, same display. If you lined them up side by side, you would be hard-pressed to find any difference. What Apple has done instead – as they do every year – is work on the inside: a new M5 chip, a bump to WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and a larger (speedier!) base storage of 512GB that replaces the 256GB that shipped with the M4. So don’t go expecting a redesign, and to be honest, Apple has no reason to drastically touch what has been a class-leading chassis anyway.
What has changed this year is the context around it. The 15″ MacBook Air M5 starts at AED 5,499 – AED 500 more than where the M4 launched – while the 13″ starts at AED 4,599. And sitting below both of them now is the MacBook Neo at AED 2,599. The Air used to be Apple’s entry point into the Mac lineup, and for casual users – people who just want a laptop for browsing, streaming, and documents – that price was always a tough ask when a capable Windows laptop cost half as much. The Neo fills that gap well. It’s not as powerful as the Air and doesn’t match it on build quality or features, but it gives casual users a proper MacBook at a price that actually makes sense for what they need.
So the need for an Air has changed; it’s now for people who want to do more with it, and in that sense, the new M5 delivers the goods.
Design and Ports: Still Class-Leading, Still Two Ports Short
The MacBook Air 15″ hasn’t changed its physical form by a whole lot since Apple introduced the larger size with the M2 generation, and that’s fine – it was already excellent. If it ain’t…
