The Digester

Apple unveils MacBook Air with M5, starts at $1,099

Mar 9th 2026

Apple announced the MacBook Air with the new M5 chip in 13 and 15 inch sizes, doubling base storage to 512GB, adding Wi Fi 7, and offering performance gains for AI and creative workflows, with pre orders opening March 4 and shipments starting March 11.

  • New 13 and 15 inch MacBook Air models feature Liquid Retina displays, a 12MP Center Stage camera, fanless designs, up to 18 hours of battery life, and go on pre order March 4 with availability March 11.
  • Base storage doubles to 512GB and is configurable up to 4TB with faster SSD technology.
  • The M5 chip brings a faster CPU, a next generation GPU, and a Neural Accelerator in each core.
  • Apple says the M5 delivers up to 6.9x faster AI video, up to 6.5x faster 3D rendering, and up to 2.7x faster image processing versus M1 in selected apps, with smaller gains versus M4.
  • A new N1 wireless chip adds Wi Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and the laptop includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, MagSafe charging, and support for up to two external displays.
  • The 13 inch model starts at $1,099 or $999 for education and the 15 inch starts at $1,299 or $1,199 for education, both come in sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver, and ship with macOS Tahoe features including Apple Intelligence enhancements.

Sources

apple.com