Apple MacBook Air (M5) Review: The Goldilocks MacBook | WIRED

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Rating:9/10

Open rating explainerInformation

WIRED

Still unbeatable in its balance of price and performance. The M5 chip truly makes this a “do-it-all” laptop and also brings faster storage. Doesn't cut corners in port speeds or keyboard like the MacBook Neo.

TIRED

Design hasn't changed in five years. Higher starting price than in the past.

Apple often touts the MacBook Air as the world's most popular laptop, and it earned that crown. For years, it's been the best laptop you could buy for around $1,000 and was the cheapest MacBook in Apple's lineup.

But with the introduction of the entry-level MacBook Neo, that calculus has changed. The MacBook Air is now the middle option, which means it needs to justify its $500 price difference over the Neo. To make things worse, the latest M5 refresh is one of the least exciting updates to the device in years, offering almost no significant changes other than the chip inside. It would have been easy for the MacBook Air to become lost in the mix. And yet, when considering which MacBook I recommend most people buy, the MacBook Air still has the do-it-all, Goldilocks quality that sets it apart.

The Airy Laptop

Photograph: Luke Larsen

The MacBook Air is steadfast. The newer MacBook Neo might be flashier thanks to its bolder approach to color, but the MacBook Air has the all-around better design. It's the most portable MacBook in the lineup, and remains one of the thinnest laptops you can buy. Like the Neo, it's a fanless laptop, meaning it is completely silent, even under the heaviest workflows. That gives the experience of using the MacBook Air a light, weightless feel.

The battery life also contributes to that feeling of freedom—being able to move from place to place and take your work with you, without worrying too much about being chained to an outlet. It's not just about how long the battery lasts, either. Regardless of what you're doing, the MacBook Air performs comparably on battery to how it does plugged in.

I tested the 15-inch model, which doesn't feel as portable simply due to its footprint. It doesn't matter how thin a laptop is if it takes up this much space on your desk or lap. Its strengths are still in its expansive screen real estate and the robust-sounding speakers. I appreciate being able to use Split View in apps more easily and anyone using highly detailed applications with lots of menus and overlays will benefit from a larger workspace.

Photograph: Luke Larsen

But for the most part, all of that has been true of the MacBook Air since 2020. Improvements since then have included upgrading the webcam from 720p up to 1080p in 2021, and enlarging the sensor up to 12 megapixels in last year's model. The ports remain limited, but they can now support two 5K external monitors. That means two Studio Displays if you really want. And the upward march of Apple Silicon has been relentless. This year's only addition outside the M5 is the introduction of Apple's new N1 wireless chip, which brings the latest Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity to the MacBook Air.

Apple was making room in its lineup for the MacBook Neo to make its grand appearance, but the result is that the 2026 MacBook Air is stacked. It's probably overkill for a lot of people in terms of performance, especially with the improvements that the M5 brings over the M4. As I saw when I reviewed the M5 MacBook Pro 14-inch last year, it's a pretty dramatic boost across the board, whether that's CPU, GPU, or for on-device AI.

As tested in Cinebench 2026, I'm seeing an average of 10 percent difference in CPU performance over the M4 MacBook Air. The big leap is GPU performance, where the M5 has a 30 percent advantage over the M4. That's impressive and meaningful, to the point where it's on par with what Apple was calling a Pro level chip just a couple of generations ago. A more powerful GPU means not just better performance in games but also faster video render times, improved on-device AI processing, and much more.

The question remains, though: Do people who buy the MacBook Air actually use this laptop for those tasks? Maybe occasionally? Its ability to perform well enough in those tasks contribute to making it feel like anything is possible. You can dip your toe as a hobby and not be limited by the computer. Professionals know those limits are real, which is what the MacBook Pro is for.

The Neo Problem

Photograph: Luke Larsen

As I mentioned up top, the MacBook Air has a problem this year. It's no longer the default MacBook people should buy—it needs to justify why it costs so much more than the Neo. Here are some obvious reasons you should get a MacBook Air:

- The M5 chip is supremely powerful

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