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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsShort answer: the M5 MacBook Air is about 15% faster than the M4 for multicore CPU work and roughly 30% faster in conventional graphics tests. Supported ray-tracing, 3D, AI and storage-heavy tasks can improve by much more, while browsing, office work and streaming usually feel only modestly faster. Apple announced the M5 Air on March 3, 2026, and availability began March 11, 2026.
The M5 is a meaningful upgrade from an M1, but usually not a compelling replacement for a working M4. Its larger practical advantages are the new GPU and AI accelerators, 512GB base storage, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6—not a universal doubling of speed.
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How much faster is the M5 than the M4?
| Workload | Realistic M5 advantage | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| CPU-heavy work | About 10–20%; Geekbench 6 multicore was about 15.9% higher | Shorter exports, compiles and batch jobs when software scales well |
| Conventional GPU work | Approximately 25–35% in early comparisons | Faster effects, graphics and supported games |
| Ray tracing and selected 3D tests | About 50% or more in some applications | Large gains only when the software uses the new hardware |
| Supported AI tests | Apple claims up to 4× M4 performance | A narrow, application-specific maximum—not a general speed rating |
| SSD read/write | Apple claims up to 2× | Most useful for large transfers, media imports and scratch workloads |
Apple’s results are workload-specific and often use an M4 Air configured with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 32GB of memory and a 2TB SSD. Treat those figures as maximum tested gains, not as a promise for every configuration. Apple’s announcement provides the test qualifications.
CPU performance: about 15% more multicore speed
An early Geekbench 6 result for the M5 Air was 17,073 in multicore, compared with an M4 Air average of 14,731. That is approximately 15.9% higher; MacRumors describes it as up to 15% faster. The MacRumors report identifies the comparison.
#1 Best Overall
- BUILT FOR COLLEGE. AND BEYOND — MacBook Air with the M5 chip packs blazing speed and powerful AI capabilities into an incredibly portable design. And with up to 18 hours of battery life,* this thin and light powerhouse is ready to take on almost any major, just about anywhere.
- TEAR THROUGH TOUGH ASSIGNMENTS — With its faster CPU and unified memory, the M5 chip delivers even more performance and fluidity across apps, making multitasking and creative workflows smooth and responsive. A powerful Neural Engine and next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerators give you a powerful platform for AI.
- MAKE QUICK WORK OF YOUR TO-DO LIST — Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly — whether it’s for school or everyday life. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- UP TO 18 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Air delivers incredible battery life with amazing performance, so you can power through a full day of classes without worrying about plugging in.
- A BRILLIANT 13.6-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Air supports 1 billion colors, making photos and videos pop with rich contrast and sharp detail, and text appears supercrisp. So everything — from class presentations to movies to games — looks truly stunning.
TechRadar recorded 4,190 single-core and 17,073 multicore in Geekbench 6, plus 729 single-core and 2,921 multicore in Cinebench 2026 for a 13-inch M5 Air. Those review results are useful reference points, but synthetic scores cannot predict every application.
- Single-core gains affect interface response, app launches, browsing and lightly threaded tools.
- Multicore gains matter more for video exports, compiling, compression, rendering and batch photo processing.
- A 15% higher score does not guarantee a 15% shorter job. A 10-minute task might finish in roughly 8.5–9 minutes if it scales perfectly; software overhead, storage, memory and heat often reduce the saving.
GPU performance: the biggest normal speed increase
The M5 adds enhanced shader cores, hardware ray tracing and a neural accelerator in each GPU core. The 13-inch model is available with an 8-core or 10-core GPU; the 15-inch model has a 10-core GPU. Apple lists the configurations in its 13-inch specifications and 15-inch specifications.
Early reviews put conventional graphics gains around 30% versus comparable M4 systems. In selected Blender workloads that use ray tracing and neural acceleration, reported gains were about 55–58%; Apple claims up to 1.5× faster Blender ray-tracing performance under its specified test. Ars Technica’s review discusses independent graphics results.
Compare like with like: an 8-core M5 GPU is not an apples-to-apples match for a 10-core M4 GPU. Game performance also depends on the engine, graphics API, resolution, ray-tracing support and thermal behavior. Because the Air is fanless, long gaming sessions or renders can run below short-benchmark peak performance.
Rank #2
- BUILT FOR COLLEGE. AND BEYOND — MacBook Air with the M5 chip packs blazing speed and powerful AI capabilities into an incredibly portable design. And with up to 18 hours of battery life,* this thin and light powerhouse is ready to take on almost any major, just about anywhere.
- TEAR THROUGH TOUGH ASSIGNMENTS — With its faster CPU and unified memory, the M5 chip delivers even more performance and fluidity across apps, making multitasking and creative workflows smooth and responsive. A powerful Neural Engine and next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerators give you a powerful platform for AI.
- MAKE QUICK WORK OF YOUR TO-DO LIST — Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly — whether it’s for school or everyday life. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- UP TO 18 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Air delivers incredible battery life with amazing performance, so you can power through a full day of classes without worrying about plugging in.
- A BRILLIANT 13.6-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Air supports 1 billion colors, making photos and videos pop with rich contrast and sharp detail, and text appears supercrisp. So everything — from class presentations to movies to games — looks truly stunning.
AI: potentially dramatic, but narrowly applicable
Apple claims up to 4× the M4’s AI performance, 9.5× the M1’s, and 1.9× faster Topaz Video AI enhancement than M4. These are Apple-selected applications and tests, not a universal result. Apple’s test notes provide the attribution.
The reason is architectural: neural accelerators are integrated into every M5 GPU core, alongside the 16-core Neural Engine. Gains appear only when an application uses the relevant Metal, Core ML or vendor acceleration path. Apple Intelligence responses may not feel four times faster because many operations are brief, cloud-assisted or limited by network latency.
SSD performance and the new base configuration
Apple says the M5 Air delivers up to twice the previous generation’s SSD read/write performance. Base storage rises from 256GB to 512GB, with options up to 4TB. Large photo and video imports, project-file transfers, swapping under memory pressure and local-model loading benefit most; opening ordinary documents changes little.
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Do not treat every SSD comparison as a clean chip test. TechRadar compared a 1TB M5 with a 256GB M4, and SSD speed can vary by capacity. Its review makes that limitation clear.
Rank #3
- BUILT FOR COLLEGE. AND BEYOND — MacBook Air with the M5 chip packs blazing speed and powerful AI capabilities into an incredibly portable design. And with up to 18 hours of battery life,* this thin and light powerhouse is ready to take on almost any major, just about anywhere.
- TEAR THROUGH TOUGH ASSIGNMENTS — With its faster CPU and unified memory, the M5 chip delivers even more performance and fluidity across apps, making multitasking and creative workflows smooth and responsive. A powerful Neural Engine and next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerators give you a powerful platform for AI.
- MAKE QUICK WORK OF YOUR TO-DO LIST — Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly — whether it’s for school or everyday life. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- UP TO 18 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Air delivers incredible battery life with amazing performance, so you can power through a full day of classes without worrying about plugging in.
- A BRILLIANT 13.6-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Air supports 1 billion colors, making photos and videos pop with rich contrast and sharp detail, and text appears supercrisp. So everything — from class presentations to movies to games — looks truly stunning.
Battery life is not meaningfully higher
Apple rates both M5 Air sizes for up to 18 hours, the same headline rating as M4. TechRadar measured 15.5 hours of web surfing on a 13-inch M5, but browser mix, brightness, video calls, external displays and background tasks make review results methodology-dependent. A newer chip can be more efficient in a given task, yet heavier workloads can consume that advantage.
What the speed feels like by workload
Web, office and school work
Safari tabs, email, documents and video streaming generally feel similar on M4 and M5. App launches may be slightly quicker, but this is not a transformational upgrade.
Coding and virtual machines
Compiles and containers that use many cores can finish roughly 10–20% sooner. Memory capacity may matter more: a 32GB M4 can beat a 16GB M5 when virtual machines, containers or large projects force the M5 to swap.
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Photo and video
Batch processing, effects and exports benefit from the CPU and GPU uplift. Topaz Video AI and other applications with M5 acceleration can show much larger gains, while unsupported software sees a more ordinary improvement.
Rank #4
- BUILT FOR COLLEGE. AND BEYOND — MacBook Air with the M5 chip packs blazing speed and powerful AI capabilities into an incredibly portable design. And with up to 18 hours of battery life,* this thin and light powerhouse is ready to take on almost any major, just about anywhere.
- TEAR THROUGH TOUGH ASSIGNMENTS — With its faster CPU and unified memory, the M5 chip delivers even more performance and fluidity across apps, making multitasking and creative workflows smooth and responsive. A powerful Neural Engine and next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerators give you a powerful platform for AI.
- MAKE QUICK WORK OF YOUR TO-DO LIST — Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly — whether it’s for school or everyday life. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- UP TO 18 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Air delivers incredible battery life with amazing performance, so you can power through a full day of classes without worrying about plugging in.
- A BRILLIANT 13.6-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Air supports 1 billion colors, making photos and videos pop with rich contrast and sharp detail, and text appears supercrisp. So everything — from class presentations to movies to games — looks truly stunning.
3D and gaming
Ray-traced Blender scenes and supported games have the clearest upside. Conventional games may gain closer to the normal 25–35% GPU range, and sustained sessions can be limited by the Air’s fanless cooling.
Local AI
Supported models and enhancement tools can be substantially faster, but model size, unified-memory capacity and software support are decisive. A 16GB M5 is not automatically preferable to a 24GB or 32GB M4 for a model that exceeds available memory.
M5 Air versus M4 Air: what else changes?
- 512GB base storage instead of 256GB.
- 153GB/s memory bandwidth, about 28% above M4’s approximately 120GB/s.
- Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
- Support for up to two external displays.
- 13.6-inch and 15.3-inch sizes, with 16GB standard memory and 24GB or 32GB options.
The U.S. price signal reported in March 2026 was $1,099 for the 13-inch M5 versus $999 for the 13-inch M4. The M5 costs $100 more but includes twice the base storage; check live prices before buying. Tom’s Guide reported those figures.
Should you upgrade from your current MacBook?
From M1
Yes, for most owners who want a substantial overall upgrade. CPU, graphics, connectivity, storage and supported AI are all materially better. The M1-to-M5 jump is much larger than the 15% M4-to-M5 step.
Best Value
- BUILT FOR COLLEGE. AND BEYOND — MacBook Air with the M5 chip packs blazing speed and powerful AI capabilities into an incredibly portable design. And with up to 18 hours of battery life,* this thin and light powerhouse is ready to take on almost any major, just about anywhere.
- TEAR THROUGH TOUGH ASSIGNMENTS — With its faster CPU and unified memory, the M5 chip delivers even more performance and fluidity across apps, making multitasking and creative workflows smooth and responsive. A powerful Neural Engine and next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerators give you a powerful platform for AI.
- MAKE QUICK WORK OF YOUR TO-DO LIST — Apple Intelligence helps you write, express yourself, and get things done effortlessly — whether it’s for school or everyday life. With groundbreaking privacy protections, it gives you peace of mind that no one else can access your data — not even Apple.*
- UP TO 18 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Air delivers incredible battery life with amazing performance, so you can power through a full day of classes without worrying about plugging in.
- A BRILLIANT 15.3-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Air supports 1 billion colors, making photos and videos pop with rich contrast and sharp detail, and text appears supercrisp. So everything — from class presentations to movies to games — looks truly stunning.
From M2 or M3
Upgrade when you regularly edit media, compile large projects, use 3D or local AI, or need newer connectivity and storage. For browsing and office work, keep the existing Air unless its memory or storage is limiting you.
From M4
Usually stay put. Consider M5 only for supported AI, ray tracing, a larger base SSD, Wi-Fi 7, a favorable resale or return opportunity, or a workload where the measured gain saves meaningful time. A discounted M4 with 24GB or 32GB can be the better value.
Buying new
The M5 is the stronger long-term default when the price difference is acceptable, especially because 512GB is standard. Compare the complete memory, storage and GPU configuration rather than the chip name alone.
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When a MacBook Pro is the better tool
Choose a fan-cooled MacBook Pro for repeated long renders, professional video exports, heavy 3D, large local AI models or any workflow where sustained performance matters. The Air is quieter, lighter and usually cheaper, but its peak benchmark does not make it equivalent to a continuously cooled Pro system.
Bottom line
The M5 MacBook Air delivers about 15% more CPU speed and around 30% more conventional graphics performance than M4. Supported AI, ray tracing and storage-heavy workflows can be far faster, while everyday tasks and rated battery life change little. Upgrade from M1 for a major step forward; keep an M4 unless you have a specific accelerated workload or an unusually favorable trade-in. For a new buyer, the M5’s 512GB base storage and newer acceleration make it the safer long-term choice.
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