M5 MacBook Air vs. M4, M3, M2, M1: Should you upgrade?

The arrival of new MacBooks each spring marks the beginning of the season for potential laptop renewals. Apple refreshed its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines with new M5 processors last week and introduced a new MacBook Neo for budget shoppers. This new crop of devices may have you wondering if it’s time to move on from your current MacBook.

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

If you have an Intel-powered MacBook from the previous decade, the answer is easy: Don’t think twice and buy a new M5 MacBook Air. I prefer the larger 15-inch model and think it’s worth the extra $200 over the 13-inch model, but either the 13.6-inch or 15.3-inch M5 Air is larger than the 13.3-inch screen of the older Intel MacBook Air and offers significantly better performance.

If you have a MacBook Air with an Apple 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 take a look at each generation of Apple’s M-series MacBook Air lineup from the past six years and answer the question of whether or not to upgrade for each.

What’s new in the M5 MacBook Air?

Let’s start with what has changed and what has not changed with the M5 MacBook Air that Apple just introduced.

The design and displays remain the same, as do the color options, with this year’s update. The changes are on the inside, starting with the Apple M5 processor. With 10 CPU cores and eight or 10 GPU cores, 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 ray tracing performance.

The minimum storage and starting price have been increased. Apple has ditched the smaller 256GB SSD and now offers a minimum of 512GB of storage 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, an increase of $100 for each. When you consider that Apple had previously charged $200 for double the storage space on the M4 Air, the M5 Air’s price is $100 less than what you would have paid last year for a MacBook Air with a 512GB SSD.

Starting memory remains at 16GB, but the M5 chip supports faster unified memory – 153GB/s bandwidth compared to 120GB/s on the M4. Storage has also become faster. Apple says the SSDs in the M5 models deliver twice the read and write speeds of the previous M4 model.

The M5 Air also offers improved networking. Includes Apple N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.

Apple M5 MacBook Air laptop in front of a houseplant — Along with the new M5 processor, this year’s MacBook Air comes with a minimum 512GB SSD.

Matt Elliott/CNET

MacBook Air comparison table

	release date	an offer	chip	CPU cores	GPU cores	practical
MacBook Air M5	March 2026	13.6 and 15.3 inches	M5	10 (4 Super / 6 Efficiency)	8 or 10	3nm(N3P)
MacBook Air M4	March 2025	13.6 and 15.3 inches	M4	10 (4 performance / 6 efficiency)	8 or 10	3nm(N3E)
MacBook Air M3	March 2024	13.6 and 15.3 inches	M3	8 (4 Performance / 4 Efficiency)	8 or 10	3nm
M2 MacBook Air	June 2023	15.3 inches	M2	8 (4 Performance / 4 Efficiency)	8 or 10	5 nm (N5P)
M2 MacBook Air	July 2022	13.6 inches	M2	8 (4 Performance / 4 Efficiency)	8 or 10	5 nm (N5P)
M1 MacBook Air	November 2020	13.3 inches	M1	8 (4 Performance / 4 Efficiency)	7 or 8	5 nm

Should I upgrade from the M4 MacBook Air?

The MacBook M5 Air has the same design as the M4 and offers only evolutionary performance gains from generation to generation rather than revolutionary leaps over last year’s model. It was approximately 9% to 13% faster in Geekbench 6 tests and 12% to 18% faster in Cinebench 2024 tests compared to the M4 Air.

Battery life took 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 made another jump in efficiency 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.

The only reason to upgrade from an M4 MacBook Air to an M5 is to move from the 13-inch model to the 15-inch model. But if you have an M4 Air and are happy with its size, I would definitely recommend keeping it for at least another year.

There’s no pressing need to upgrade from the M4 MacBook Air, and I’d also say that the 15-inch M4 model — even a year after its release — remains a good option for MacBook shoppers looking to save a little money. You can get the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air with a 512GB SSD upgrade $1099 at Amazon. That’s $300 less than its full price and $200 less than you’d pay for the same M5 model.

I wouldn’t make the same argument with the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air. You can get it for $999 on Amazon With a 512GB SSD, which is only $100 less than the same M5 Air. I think it’s worth the extra $100 to get 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 disruptive about the new M5 model that makes an upgrade necessary.

Verdict: Don’t upgrade

MacBook Air M5 in sky blue — The M5 MacBook Air comes in the same colors as before, including the sky blue color option that was introduced with the M4 model last year.

Matt Elliott/CNET

Should I upgrade from the M3 MacBook Air?

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

For starters, the M3 chip was the first Apple chip to be manufactured using the 3nm process, and the M5 chip is built on the same 3nm process. The M3 has fewer CPU cores than the M4 and M5 chips, but its GPU packs a significant lead. It was the first M series processor to offer a GPU with hardware acceleration for ray tracing and mesh shading. (Ray tracing allows for more realistic lighting and reflections in games, and mesh shaders help render complex 3D scenes more efficiently for better frame rates.) So, now that we’re familiar with three generations of 3nm M-series chips, it’s reasonable to expect Apple to move to a new manufacturing process later this year with the M6, which could bring dramatic improvements in power and efficiency.

Second, the design of the MacBook Air has not changed since 2022, with the introduction of the M2 Air, which ditches the tapered wedge shape of the M1 Air in favor of a thinner, flatter design that continues through the M5 Air. Could the M6 Air bring with it a design overhaul? It’s certainly not unlikely.

Verdict: Don’t upgrade

Apple MacBook Air keyboard and trackpad — For the fourth year in a row, the design of the MacBook Air remains unchanged.

Matt Elliott/CNET

Should I upgrade from the M2 MacBook Air?

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

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

The performance gap is large enough between the M2 and M5 chipsets to justify moving up from the older M2 Air, especially if you bought the 13-inch model in 2022 before the 15-inch Air was released and want to size up. But if you buy the 15-inch model of the MacBook Air in 2023, I might suggest holding onto it for another year in the hopes that we’ll see a new design and a bigger performance boost next year with the M6 Air.

Verdict: Probably a promotion

Watch this: New MacBooks with M5, M5 Pro and M5 Max chips arrive

04:17

Should I upgrade from the 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 MacBook Neo, priced at $599the latest M5 Air or even last year’s M4 will feel much faster. You’ll also get a sleeker design and a larger screen, whether you opt for the 13.6-inch Air or opt for the large 15.3-inch model.

Verdict: Definitely an upgrade

MacBook Air performance results

M5 MacBook Air 15 open, sitting on a wooden table. — The 15-inch MacBook Air is my favorite of the two sizes.

Josh Goldman/CNET

CPU Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M5 2026 16890Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4 2025 15049Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 2025 14942Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M3 2024 12063Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M3 2024 12034Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M2 2023 9859Apple MacBook Neo 8958Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M1 2020 8710