While MacBook Neo is hogging all the limelight in Apple’s new circuits, I am here to talk about another Mac that got an update this week – the new M5 MacBook Air. Did Apple just bump up the processor and call it a brand new model? Is the lack of buzz around this Mac justified? I am here to break it down for you.
For starters, as the name suggests, the 2026 MacBook Air features Apple’s latest M5 chip. It comes with a 10-core CPU and up to 10 GPU cores, four times faster than the M4 MacBook Air at handling AI tasks. The chip also adds improved graphics cores, a third-generation ray-tracing engine, and faster 153GB/s memory, delivering a 28% performance boost over the M4.
Apart from the processor, the M5 MacBook Air now features Apple’s custom N1 wireless chip, enabling Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity.
It starts with 512GB of storage, configurable up to 4TB, with the SSD offering up to 2× faster read and write speeds compared to the previous generation.
The M5 MacBook Air is now available for pre-order and will go on sale on March 11. In India, prices start at ₹1,24,900 for the 13-inch model and ₹1,44,900 for the 15-inch variant.
Yes, the MacBook Air didn’t get any game-changing upgrade but it didn’t need to. It was already a great machine, which has just gotten better. MacBook Neo might be the best choice for a student or casual user, but anyone who plans to use their Mac for work will find this new M5 MacBook Air to be the ideal choice.
