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

The arrival of new MacBooks each spring marks the start of the potential laptop refresh season. Apple updated its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines with new M5 processors last week and introduced the new MacBook Neo for buyers on a budget. This new series of machines may have you wondering if it’s time to ditch your current MacBook.

We have tested and reviewed the MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5 And 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 answer the question: should I upgrade?

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

If you own an Intel-based MacBook from the previous decade, the answer is simple: 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 the 13.6-inch or 15.3-inch M5 Air will be larger than the 13.3-inch screen on an older Intel MacBook Air and offer significantly better performance.

If you own a MacBook Air with one of Apple’s M-series processors, the answer to the question depends on whether you own an Air with an M1, M2, M3, or M4 chip. Let’s review each generation of Apple’s M-series MacBook Air over the past six years and answer the question to upgrade or not to upgrade for each.

What’s new with the MacBook Air M5?

Let’s start with what has changed and what hasn’t changed with the MacBook Air M5 that Apple has just presented.

The design and displays remain the same, as do the color choices, with this year’s update. The changes are on the inside, starting with Apple’s 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 improve AI and ray tracing performance.

The minimum storage and starting price have both increased. Apple has removed the undersized 256GB SSD and now provides 512GB of storage as a minimum on the M5 Air. Pricing now starts at $1,099 for the 13-inch MacBook Air M5 and $1,299 for the 15-inch model, an increase of $100 for each. Considering that Apple previously charged $200 to double the storage on the M4 Air, the M5 Air costs $100 less than what you would have paid last year for a MacBook Air with a 512GB SSD.

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

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

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

Should I upgrade from a MacBook Air M4?

The MacBook M5 Air has the same design as the M4 model and only offers scalable performance gains from one generation to the next rather than revolutionary advancements over last year’s model. It was about 9-13% faster on our Geekbench 6 tests and 12-18% faster on our Cinebench 2024 tests than the M4 Air.

Battery life took a huge leap between the Intel-based models and the M1 MacBook Air and has improved slightly since then, but the MacBook Air didn’t take another step forward in efficiency or battery life. Any MacBook with an M-series processor delivers 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 model is to upgrade from the 13-inch model to the 15-inch model. But if you own an M4 Air and are happy with its size, I highly recommend keeping it for at least another year.

There’s no rush to upgrade from an 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 buyers looking to save a little money. You can get the 15-inch MacBook Air M4 with the 512GB SSD upgrade for $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 MacBook Air M4. You can get it for $999 at Amazon with a 512GB SSD, which is only $100 less than the same M5 Air. I think it’s worth shelling out 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 earth-shattering about the new M5 model that makes the upgrade necessary.

Verdict: Don’t upgrade

Should I upgrade from a MacBook Air M3?

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

For starters, the M3 chip was Apple’s first chip made on the 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 a major step up. It was the first M-series processor to feature a hardware-accelerated GPU for ray tracing and mesh shaders. (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 three generations into the 3nm M-series chips, it’s reasonable to expect Apple to move to a new manufacturing process as early as the end of this year with the M6, which could lead to drastic improvements in power and efficiency.

Second, the design of the MacBook Air hasn’t changed since 2022, with the introduction of the M2 Air, which removed the tapered, wedged shape of the M1 Air in favor of a thinner, flatter design that continues through to the M5 Air. Could the M6 ​​Air lead to a design overhaul? It’s certainly not out of the question.

Verdict: Don’t upgrade

Should I upgrade from a MacBook Air M2?

Apple launched the MacBook Air M2 for the first time in 2022. Along with the new M2 processor, it introduced a new design and a slightly 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 manufactured using a 5nm process before Apple moved to 3nm. 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 Geekbench 6 multi-core test. (The 15-inch MacBook Air M3 predates the 2024 Cinebench test, so we don’t have results for that.)

The performance gap is large enough between the M2 and M5 chips to justify upgrading from an older M2 Air, especially if you bought the 13-inch model in 2022 before the 15-inch Air came out and wanted to increase the size. But if you bought the 15-inch model of the MacBook Air in 2023, I might suggest holding on to it for another year in hopes of seeing a new design and even bigger performance improvement next year with the M6 ​​Air.

Verdict: Probably an upgrade

Should I upgrade from a MacBook Air M1?

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

Verdict: Definitely upgrade

MacBook Air performance results