M5 MacBook Air review: Still the best MacBook for almost everybody
- Thread starter JournalBot
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Y’know, they can either continue to use their current MacBooks indefinitely on Sequoia, or upgrade to a later version once Apple gets their act together and cleans up the UI disaster that Tahoe has inflicted on us with future versions of macOS.
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Fair point with the fanless aspect especially... Bloody impressive though the performance they put out.
Even the Neo can play CP2077 with decentish settings.
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My refurbished M4 just arrived this afternoon. I really wanted the Neo until I discovered it not only weighed the same as the 13" Airs, but was actually slightly larger in volume as well. Not the replacement for my 2016 12" MacBook I had hoped for. For a mere $150 more I got the MacBook 13" Air which should future proof me far longer, maybe even until Apple gets around to building a laptop as light and elegant as my 12".
Apple Sales after many internal queries told me the MacBook Air M4 refurbished would come with Tahoe based on their their thought that "comes with latest updates" meant exactly that, versus lastest update for OS that came installed to the refurb center. Exactly opposite from what I read online. But heck, returnable, so I rolled the dice and got Sequoia and so am keeping it.
Tahoe is not alone in having simple UI issues. The first thing I did after checking for the actual MacOS version was checking the update settings. Would you believe there is no setting for manual updates only? Only update tonight or update now appears as options initially. It took two calls to Apple to confirm that it wouldn't update automatically (as long as a hidden checkbox was deselected for Tahoe update).
Wow! Kind of glad I skipped everything since High Sierra until now.
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I bought one just for magsafe, the power port on laptops seems to be the most common point of failure in my experience.
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I was holding out on "upgrading" to Tahoe due to all the complaints about Liquid Glass. But I was forced to upgrade my work MacBook Pro to Tahoe last week and nothing particularly bothered me other than the changed Preview icon. That is probably because I turn on "Increase contrast" and "Reduce transparency" under Accessibilty Display settings.
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I actually just had to order a new USB-C cable last week because my M1 MBA slipped off my couch while charging and the cable snapped at the connection point to the port.
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Producktion notes:
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Enough already with the hating on the notch, the actual effect of which is to afford extra screen space.
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I've experienced another bug in Reminders that throws me off every time. I'm in the US, so my date settings are Month/Day/Year. When I dictate to set a Reminder, the pop-up gives an overview as "Day/Month/year", which initially confuses me or worse, sets me off into a panic as I worry that I dictated incorrectly. I have this problem with iOS 26 and macOS 26. I don't recall this ever being an issue in the past.
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fellow human
Ars Praefectus
I guess it was viewed as elitist but yeah, MBPs cost way more so it wasn't a knock on the Air, I just meant that things like screen and sound set MBPs apart and for me being used to them I'd have a hard time giving them up. It was a compliment that the Air is still compelling in a number of ways despite that.
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I think this is actually a plus in disguise.
Anyone who wants 512GB gets that for $1099 instead of the $1199 that the same spec cost with the M4 Air. Anyone who wants 1TB now gets that cheaper since it’s one $200 “upgrade notch” away from the base 512GB, instead of two.
The only people kind of taking a hit on this spec/price bump are people who can actually get by with 256GB of storage and are paying an extra $100 for something they don’t want. But I’d argue 256 is barely enough for a lot of users -- tends to get eaten up fast once you deduct the system and caches that accumulate.
Also, since the base model is essentially getting an upgrade, that means as the months go by we get to see those big discounts at Amazon, Best Buy, etc, that BTO models don’t get as frequently.
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RickRoyLeonPrisZhoraRacha
Ars Scholae Palatinae
I was deciding on a portable as I will be leaving IT work for good. Since I have a decent PC and Mac Studio, I need something to take on the road (literally) that is decent for email, web, office apps and some graphic work like cleaning up photos. I was thinking the Neo would be nice but the 8GB and lack of LibreOffice compatibility was a no go. So then at US$400 more, I get a M5 Air, with magsafe (I'm clumsy), 16GB unified ram (its enough as I have more on my workstations for that work) and 512GB of storage.
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Yeah the 8GB vs 16GB RAM seems to have more usable impact than M1 to M5 for most people who aren't using CPU intensive apps. 8GB seems to be OK if you use Safari and Apple's built in apps but when using a 3rd party browser 8GB simply not enough. I suspect some Neo users are going to get a shock if they try to use a 3rd party browser. I had an 8GB M1 Air and had major issues with 3rd party browsers (which I prefer over Safari) along with spreadsheets. Would get a lot of temp freezing. I returned it for a 16GB version and all was fine.
I'm now on M3 Air 16GB and not really much notable difference since I don't use CPU intensive apps - mainly spreadsheets and browser always open. No reason to upgrade unless doing a lot of video editing or other CPU intensive tasks.
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The Neo is the perfect girlfriend/student/boomer laptop, much as the mid2000s plastic MacBooks were. I completely agree with you.
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I suppose I should sell my M1 MacBook Pro and my M2 iPad Pro and get a MacBook Pro. Consolidation into one device makes sense for me, and I'm still too deeply into automation to go iPad-only even if I wanted to. But I think I can wait for next year. Another big tax credit is coming next year will get me an even better upgrade than this year.
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I agree with you. The entry level is essentially cheaper for most people.
I always believed the 256Gb SSD option was for cost sensitive customers who could get by with shared storage, such as schools. Not sure if growth on OS/Apps made that size unsustainable or just low demand killed it.
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I just checked the price to upgrade to 32GB in the US.
To upgrade the RAM above 16GB, you must first upgrade from the 8 core GPU to the 10 core GPU option, which is $100. Then the upgrade to 32GB is an additional $300. But the weird thing is, the buy page on the Apple website incorrectly shows that the 32GM RAM upgrade is $400 beyond the GPU upgrade. It's $1099 for the base model, $1199 for the 16GB option with the 10 core GPU, and $1499 for the 32GB + 10-core GPU.
In Germany it's 500 euros to upgrade to the 32GB + 10-core GPU option. But it lists the GPU upgrade at 125€ and the RAM upgrade at €500
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What I find interesting is I can buy an Air cheaper than an equivalent iPad (13"Pro, 1TB ;magic keyboard)
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What alternative that has all that and is fanless with good battery life and gpu in the 13 inch air form factor can you find?
I’d love to know.
Also how much does it matter unless you use your laptop screen like a desktop monitor? A 13 inch one for the matter.
I personally don't use a laptop like a desktop monitor or have much use cases for a large laptop screen out in the field. Thats why I prefer 13 inch air.
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You are correct. Ars’ writers are blind to the needs and priorities of normal people. Almost no-one’s buying the Neo because they read a review on a nerd site like this, with benchmarks and whatnot.
They’re buying one because they have an iPhone, and an Apple Watch, and some AirPods, and they like them and how well they work together. They couldn’t or wouldn't shell out for a Mac before, because they're so expensive. But now it’s the same price as the PC laptop they were going to buy, and in nice colours, too. It’s also not complicated to buy - pick a colour, do you want TouchID or not?
Oh, you’re going to be right as fuck.
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Attention refresh rate dorks: far fewer people than you think even notice the difference beyond sixty hertz, and of those who do, fewer still give a shit.
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The bar lines in the chart for the Cinebench 2026 GPU test do not match the result values.
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Maybe they didn’t like you misrepresenting the memory upgrade as merely a memory upgrade when it includes a GPU upgrade as well.
In the US it’s $400 additionally where the GPU upgrade is $100 of that, so the memory alone is $300 (still not cheap, but a lot less than you represented). But in Germany you have to add VAT, so there you are.
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How does it lack libre office compatibility? Wouldn’t that work just as well on a Neo as any other Mac?
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macosandlinux
Ars Praefectus
Is this another typo?
Should it not say M5, as that is the standard MacBook Pro ($1699) we are comparing it to - not the M5 Pro or M5 Max SoCs?
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macosandlinux
Ars Praefectus
I just can't get my head around that "runs at 4W". It's bonkers, compared to the x86 PC laptops in that price class.
I'd love to see a Neo with a smaller 11-inch screen, the perfect laptop to through in a bag. It would also help with battery life. But I get that's a niche of a niche market.
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Ah, makes sense, thanks. Pity they require an update to GPU for more RAM. For my purposes it really is just 500 Euros for 16GB more RAM.
I don't doubt the value down the line holds up ok also, but it still doesn't change the fact that the price is pretty cheeky.
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You make a fair point and I'm fairly certain when I first tried to spec it in on the PC, not on phone, it didn't even NOTIFY about the GPU upgrade, it just stated 500 Euro for the increase to 32GB. Could be wrong, but...
I don't see it so much as a misrepresentation though - the reality is I don't need the GPU upgrade, and forcing it on a customer just to be able to get the extra RAM is a bit cynical don't you think? I'm sure none here believe really that it's a technical necessity to upgrade to get the extra capacity.
I'll repeat as well for all those getting the opinion I'm anti-Apple - I have 7 Apple devices. I worked for them for years in Ireland. I think their base price products are actually great value when factoring in residuals especially, and simply feel that their upgrade prices are ridiculous.
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As I type and read this on my M4 15”Air, I’m listening to music on my music server which is my MBP from 2013 that the Air replaced. You get what you pay for; the PC’s I’ve had lasted 2 or 3 years. While I’d love to get an M5, according to the story I’m just fine with the M4. So I’ll happily pay the “Apple Tax”——-over the years, my “Apple Tax Refund” has more than justified it!
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I upgraded to an M4 Air 5 months ago but kept my 16gb M1 Air as a beater for trips.
For my use case - mail, web, and moderate excel - I don’t notice any difference.
The M1 was a big step up from my prior intel Air.
Apple Silicon really was a game changer.
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