M5 MacBook Air vs. M4, M3, M2, M1: Should You Upgrade?

The arrival of new MacBooks each spring marks the start of the laptop renewal season. Apple updated its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines with new M5 processors last week and introduced the new MacBook Neo for budget buyers. These new devices may have you wondering if it’s time to move on from your current MacBook.

We tested it and reviewed it MacBook Neo, M5 MacBook Air again MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips so you can compare the performance and features of these new M5 machines with those of older generations to help you answer the question: Should I upgrade?

Read more: Is the MacBook Neo more than just a student laptop?

If you have an Intel-based MacBook from ten years ago, the answer is simple: Don’t think twice and buy a new M5 MacBook Air. I prefer the larger 15-inch model and I think it costs $200 more than the 13-inch model, but the 13.6-inch or 15.3-inch M5 Air will be larger than the 13.3-inch display of the older Intel MacBook Air and offer better performance.

If you have a MacBook Air with Apple’s M-series processor, the answer to the question varies, depending on whether you have an Air with an M1, M2, M3 or M4 chip. Let’s examine each generation of Apple’s M-series MacBook Air roster from the past six years and answer the upgrade-or-not-upgrade question for each.

What’s new with the M5 MacBook Air?

Let’s start with what has changed and what hasn’t changed with the M5 MacBook Air recently introduced by Apple.

The design and displays remain the same, as do the color choices, with this year’s update. The changes are in, starting with Apple’s M5 processor. With 10 CPU cores and eight or 10 GPUs, the M5 has the same number of cores as the previous M4 chip, but the M5 introduces a new GPU architecture that places a neural accelerator on each core to boost AI and tracking performance.

Minimum storage and initial price have both increased. Apple did away with the 256GB SSD underneath and now offers 512GB of storage at least on the M5 Air. Pricing now starts at $1,099 for the 13-inch M5 MacBook Air and $1,299 for the 15-inch model, a $100 increase for each item. If you consider that Apple previously charged $200 to double the storage on the M4 Air, the M5 Air is $100 less than what you’d pay last year for a MacBook Air with a 512GB SSD.

Read more: Should you choose a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro?

Primary memory sits at 16GB, but the M5 chip supports faster integrated memory — 153GBps of bandwidth compared to 120GBps on the M4. Storage, too, has gotten faster. Apple says the SSDs in the M5 models offer twice the read and write speeds of the previous M4 model.

The M5 Air also offers advanced networking. It includes the Apple N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.

Should I upgrade from an M4 MacBook Air?

The MacBook M5 Air has the same design as the M4 model and only offers the benefits of evolution, generation over generation instead of a dynamic jump from last year’s model. It was about 9% to 13% faster in our Geekbench 6 test and 12% to 18% faster in our Cinebench 2024 test than the M4 Air.

Battery life made a huge leap from the Intel-based models to the M1 MacBook Air and has improved quite a bit since then, but the MacBook Air hasn’t taken another step forward in performance or battery life. Any MacBook with an M-series processor offers excellent battery life, lasting 15 hours or more on a single charge in our tests.

One reason to upgrade from an M4 MacBook Air to an M5 model is from a 13-inch model to a 15-inch model. But if you have an M4 Air and you’re happy with its size, I’d definitely recommend holding on to it for at least another year.

There’s no urgent need to upgrade the M4 MacBook Air, and I’d argue the 15-inch M4 model — even a year after its release — remains a good choice for MacBook buyers looking to save a little money. You can get the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air with a 512GB SSD upgrade $1,099 at Amazon. That’s $300 less than its full price and $200 less than you’ll pay for the same M5 model.

I wouldn’t make the same argument for the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air. You can find it $999 at Amazon with a 512GB SSD, which is only $100 less than the equivalent M5 Air. I think it’s worth the extra $100 for the new M5 model if you’re deciding between it and the M4 Air.

But, again, if you already own an M4 MacBook Air, there’s nothing shocking about the new M5 model that makes an upgrade necessary.

Decision: Don’t upgrade

Should I upgrade from an M3 MacBook Air?

There is a bigger gap in performance between the M3 and M5 Air than the M4 and M5. In Geekbench 6, the M5 Air was 33% faster in the single-core test and 40% faster in the multicore test than the M3 model. In Cinebench 2024, the M5 Air was 41% faster in the single-core test and 57% to 71% faster in the multicore test. Even with those high percentages, most people with a two-year-old M3 Air don’t need to upgrade.

First, the M3 chip was Apple’s first chip built on a 3-nanometer process, and the M5 is built on the same 3nm process. The M3 has fewer CPU cores than the M4 and M5 chips, but its GPU includes major improvements. It was the first M-series processor to offer a GPU with hardware acceleration for ray tracing and mesh shaders. (Ray tracing allows for more realistic lighting and gaming renderings, and mesh shaders help render complex 3D scenes more effectively for better frame rates.) So, as we’re three generations into the 3nm M series chips, it’s reasonable to expect that Apple will move to a new manufacturing process as soon as this year with the M6, which could result in improved power and efficiency.

Second, the design of the MacBook Air hasn’t changed since 2022, with the introduction of the M2 Air, which ditched the sharp, sharp design of the M1 Air in favor of the slim, flat design that continues with the M5 Air. Could the M6 ​​Air bring a redesign? It is certainly not out of the question.

Decision: Don’t upgrade

Should I upgrade from an M2 MacBook Air?

Apple started releasing the M2 MacBook Air in 2022. Along with the new M2 processor, it introduces a new design and a larger 13.6-inch display. And a year later, Apple released the first 15-inch MacBook Air using the same M2 chip.

The M2 chip was the last to be built on the 5nm process before Apple moved to 3nm. The M5 MacBook Air was 59% faster than the 15-inch M3 Air in the Geekbench 6 single-core test and 71% faster in the Geekbench 6 multicore test. (The 15-inch M3 MacBook Air predates the Cinebench 2024 test, so we don’t have its results.)

The performance gap between the M2 and M5 chips is large enough that you can move on from the older M2 Air, especially if you bought the 13-inch model in 2022 before the 15-inch Air was released and wanted to go up in size. But if you bought a 15-inch MacBook Air model in 2023, I might suggest you hold it for another year in the hope that we will see a new design and a big improvement in performance next year with the M6 ​​Air.

Verdict: Maybe upgrade

Watch this: The new MacBooks come with M5, M5 Pro and M5 Max chips

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Should I upgrade from an M1 MacBook Air?

If you’ve been holding on to your M1 MacBook Air since 2020, it’s time to upgrade. You can get better performance from $599 MacBook Neoand the latest M5 Air or last year’s M4 model will feel very fast. You’ll also get a sleeker design and a larger display, whether you opt for the 13.6-inch Air or go bigger with the 15.3-inch model.

Verdict: Definitely upgrade

MacBook Air performance results