(Credit: Apple)
Apple is refreshing the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines with the latest M5 chips, including more powerful M5 Pro and M5 Max silicon. But it's also quietly increased their starting prices.
The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs start at $1,099 and $1,299, respectively, an increase from $999 and $1,999 from last year’s models.
However, Apple points out that the laptops now come with “double the starting storage at 512GB with faster SSD technology,” which promises to double read and write speeds. That’s actually a better deal since upgrading from 256GB to 512GB in last year’s model cost an extra $200.
The other perk is the M5 chip, which Apple first introduced in October. Buyers are getting a 10-core CPU processor that can be configured with up to a 10-core GPU. “MacBook Air with M5 delivers up to 4x faster performance for AI tasks than MacBook Air with M4, and up to 9.5x faster than MacBook Air with M1,” the company says.
Another notable enhancement is Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support through a new N1 wireless chip. The refreshed MacBook Airs also retain their iconic thin profiles and aluminum casings. For the first time, customers can also configure the laptops with up to 4TB in storage. Expect up to 18 hours of battery life, which seems unchanged from last year’s models.
M5 Pro and M5 Max for the MacBook Pro
For users looking for more processing power, the company announced the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, which are arriving for the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros. (In October, Apple released the 14-inch MacBook Pro, but only with the regular M5 processor.)
(Credit: Apple)Apple is touting the M5 Pro and Max's 18-core CPU architecture, with six "super cores" along with "12 all-new performance cores, optimized for power-efficient, multithreaded workloads."
"Collectively, the CPU significantly boosts performance by up to 30% for pro workloads," compared with the M4 Pro and Max chips, Apple says.
The M5 Pro and M5 Max chips were also “engineered from the ground up for AI,” Apple says. Along with the CPUs, the chips feature both an upgraded "16-core Neural Engine" and an up to 40-core GPU, letting them power large language models locally on a MacBook Pro up to four times faster than the previous-generation M4 Pro and M4 Max. In addition, the on-device AI image generation should be nearly four times faster.
“Both chips also bring up to a 50% increase in graphics performance compared to M4 Pro and M4 Max, enabling motion designers to work with complex 3D scenes in real time and VFX artists to preview effects instantly,” Apple adds.
However, the products are more expensive. The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with the M5 Pro start at $2,199 and $2,699. That’s an increase from $1,999 and $2,499, respectively, on the last-generation models.
Meanwhile, the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with the M5 Max start at $3,599 and $3,899, an increase from $3,199 and $3,499, respectively. But again, Apple says both models now start with more storage—1TB for MacBook Pros with the M5 Pro and 2TB for M5 Max.
The company is marketing the new silicon to computer programmers and app developers, photographers who need to process massive image libraries, and engineers who work with 3D simulations. Buyers can expect up to 24 hours of battery life.
The new MacBook Pros also feature Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support through the N1 wireless chip. There’s no rumored touch-screen technology in these laptops, though Apple might be preparing it for later this year.
Preorders for the new Macs start on March 4; they launch on March 11. Stay tuned for our reviews.