M5 MacBook Air & Pro: Features, pricing & availability

As expected, Apple has announced updated versions of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. The MacBook Air is now available with the M5 chip, while the MacBook Pro can now be ordered with the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips.

M5 MacBook Air

Physically, it doesn’t appear much, if anything, has changed with the MacBook Air. It still comes in two sizes – 13 and 15 inches – and it still comes in four finishes: Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, and Midnight. You still get a Liquid Retina display, 12MP Center Stage camera, and two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports.

The big change is that it now gets the M5 chip, which features 10 CPU cores and up to 10 GPU cores. Apple claims up to 1.5x faster 3D rendering and 1.5x faster image processing than the model it replaces. Storage now also starts at 512GB (configurable up to 4TB). The new SSD is also twice as fast. Finally, the new MacBook Air also gets Apple’s N1 wireless chip, which means support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Battery life is unchanged at up to 18 hours.

The other change is the price. Prices now start at S$1,599, which is S$100 more. That’s unfortunate, but probably inevitable given the global memory shortage situation. If it’s any consolation, the starting storage has been doubled.

Those waiting to get a new MacBook Air should be happy with this release. Yes, the price has gone up slightly, but you get a faster chip and double the storage. 512GB should suffice for the majority of people.

M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro

The 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros have also been updated, and now get Apple’s latest M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. These chips are interesting because they are built on a new Fusion Architecture that, according to Apple, combines two dies into a single SoC. This new architecture enables Apple to create its most powerful core design yet, which is now called “super cores.” What used to be called efficiency cores are now called “performance cores”.

The M5 Pro is available with up to 18 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores, while the M5 Max can be equipped with up to 18 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores. The 18-core CPU features 6 super cores and 12 performance cores. Apple claims up to 30% better CPU performance and up to 20% better GPU performance when compared to the previous generation.

Storage has been improved. MacBook Pros with the M5 Pro now get 1TB of storage as standard, while those with the M5 Max will come with 2TB of storage. Apple also says the SSDs are twice as fast as those found in the last-generation MacBook Pros.

Elsewhere, the MacBook Pros appear to be unchanged. The display is still the same Liquid Retina XDR, and you can opt for a nano-texture finish that significantly reduces glare and reflection.

Sadly, prices have gone up. The 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro now starts at S$2,999 – that’s S$250 more than the last-generation. As for the 16-inch MacBook Pro, that now starts at S$3,649 – S$150 more than the model it replaces.

The price increases are significant, but then Apple doubled the starting storage, and these should be more capable laptops. I can’t wait to test them and see just how fast these new chips are.

To complement these new MacBooks, Apple also announced a new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR.

Availability and pricing

Pre-orders for these new MacBooks will start tomorrow, on March 4, and they will be available in stores on March 11. You can find them on the Apple Online Store, and they should be available on Apple’s official storefronts on Lazada and Shopee.

These are the starting prices of the various models.