{"id":219530,"date":"2026-03-03T15:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T20:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/macbook-air-m5-vs-macbook-air-m4-whats-actually-different\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T21:05:09","slug":"macbook-air-m5-vs-macbook-air-m4-whats-actually-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/03\/macbook-air-m5-vs-macbook-air-m4-whats-actually-different\/","title":{"rendered":"MacBook Air M5 vs. MacBook Air M4: What’s actually different?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MacBook Air M5 vs. MacBook Air M4: What’s actually different?<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/computing\/macbooks\/macbook-air-m5-vs-macbook-air-m4-the-5-biggest-upgrades<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-03-03 15:17:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.tomsguide.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Apple has just announced the MacBook Air M5! While the 13- and 15-inch laptops haven\u2019t received a new design, they both now pack the Apple M5 chip, first introduced with the iPad Pro M5 and MacBook Pro M5. Cupertino didn\u2019t settle for a mere chip upgrade, as the company\u2019s thinnest laptop line also introduces connectivity updates and more base storage.<\/p>\n

The MacBook Air M4 was already arguably the best laptop for most people, as we noted in our review of the 13-inch and 15-inch models. Apple hasn\u2019t discontinued it either and offers the 13-inch Air M4 for $999, or $100 less than the latest version. Because of that, choosing a MacBook Air model isn\u2019t as straightforward as before.<\/p>\n

To help you decide which MacBook Air to get, here are the key differences between the M5 and M4 models, based on what Apple detailed and on our prior reviews.<\/p>\n


\n You may like
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

MacBook Air M5 vs. MacBook Air M4: Specs (starting)<\/span><\/h3>\n

Swipe to scroll horizontally<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Row 0 – Cell 0 <\/span><\/td>\n\n

MacBook Air M5<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

MacBook Air M4<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Price<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$1,099<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$999<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Display<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

13.6 inches (2560 x 1664)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

13.6 inches (2560 x 1664)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Chipset<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Apple M5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Apple M4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Memory<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

16GB<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

16GB<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Storage<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

512GB<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

256GB<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Battery life<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

18 hours (rated)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

18 hours (rated), 14 hours 15 minutes (tested)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Ports<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2x Thunderbolt 4 \/ USB-4, 1x MagSafe, 1x headphone jack<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2x Thunderbolt \/ USB-4, 1x MagSafe, 1x headphone jack<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Connectivity<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Colors<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Dimensions<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Weight<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2.7 pounds<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2.7 pounds<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

MacBook Air M5 vs. MacBook Air M4: Price<\/span><\/h3>\n

\n

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)<\/span><\/p>\n

Apple has set the price of the 13-inch MacBook Air M5 at $1,099\u2014a $100 increase over the previous generation\u2019s launch price. The 15-inch MacBook Air is also getting a $100 price bump, and it’s now at $1,299.<\/p>\n

But as noted in the intro, Apple is keeping the 13-inch MacBook Air M4 in the lineup for just $999. Thanks to that, the M4 is effectively the new…<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MacBook Air M5 vs. MacBook Air M4: What’s actually different? https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/computing\/macbooks\/macbook-air-m5-vs-macbook-air-m4-the-5-biggest-upgrades Publish Date: 2026-03-03 15:17:00…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":219531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/zHgPmTu9Y4i77vRsGh6FwH-2000-80.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[50,51],"class_list":["post-219530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-macintosh","tag-macbook-air","tag-macbook-pro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219532,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219530\/revisions\/219532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}