If Apple executes its usual playbook, the MacBook Air M5 arriving in early 2026 will almost certainly sell extremely well—but that success will have less to do with bold innovation and more to do with Apple’s ability to coast on momentum. Once again, Apple is not trying to rethink what the MacBook Air should be. There is no meaningful shift in design philosophy, no serious attempt to modernize the experience, and no urgency to fix long-standing limitations.
Instead, Apple is relying almost entirely on the M5 chip to carry the product forward. Yes, the MacBook Air M5 is powerful. Yes, performance numbers look strong on paper. But when performance is the only story, it becomes hard to ignore how stagnant everything else feels. This information is also featured on 9to9trends’ YouTube channel, so be sure to check it out.
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The M5 Chip Carries the Entire Upgrade Cycle
The M5 is clearly positioned as the headline feature, and Apple is counting on it to do most of the heavy lifting. Based on what we’ve already seen from the MacBook Air M5 and the M5-powered iPad Pro, the chip brings a noticeable jump, especially on the GPU side. Reports suggesting up to a 45% increase in graphics performance on the full M5 configuration sound impressive, particularly for a fanless, ultra-thin machine like the MacBook Air M5.
But this also exposes the core issue: Apple keeps upgrading the silicon while leaving the rest of the laptop largely untouched. Performance gains are welcome, but they can’t forever compensate for dated display technology, conservative storage decisions, and a design that hasn’t meaningfully evolved.
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Artificial Segmentation Still Defines the Experience
Apple is expected to continue its familiar and increasingly frustrating tiered strategy. The base MacBook Air M5 will likely ship with a standard M5 featuring a 10-core CPU split between six efficiency cores and four performance cores, paired with an 8-core GPU. On paper, that sounds solid, but the real performance potential is once again locked behind paid upgrades. Want the full 10-core GPU? You’ll need to spend more by upgrading storage or RAM.
This deliberate segmentation doesn’t exist because Apple can’t deliver better performance at the base level; it exists because it’s profitable. Even though the base model will outperform last year’s Air, Apple is still holding back capability simply to push customers into higher-priced configurations.
The M4 MacBook Air has already exposed this strategy
This exact playbook was already used with the M4 MacBook Air, and it’s hard not to see the M5 as a repeat performance. With M4, Apple offered a binned version featuring a 10-core CPU and an 8-core GPU, while the full M4—with a 10-core GPU—was only available if you paid roughly $100 more or upgraded storage from 256GB to 512GB. The 15-inch MacBook Air quietly proved this limitation was artificial by shipping with the full M4 by default.
Over time, the market corrected Apple’s pricing. Retailers like Amazon and Best Buy aggressively discounted the M4 Air, with Black Friday deals dropping it as low as $749. Ironically, it wasn’t Apple’s launch pricing that made the MacBook Air a runaway success—it was post-launch discounts that finally made the value undeniable.
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Memory and Storage: Playing It Too Safe Again
For the MacBook Air M5 generation, Apple appears just as cautious, if not more so. Memory options are expected to remain unchanged at 16GB, 24GB, and 32GB. While those figures are respectable, the storage situation is far harder to defend. The base MacBook Air is almost certainly sticking with 256GB of storage, a decision that feels increasingly disconnected from reality in 2026.
This is especially frustrating when the MacBook Air M5 already starts at 512GB. Apple clearly doesn’t want the Air encroaching on Pro territory, but using outdated base storage as a differentiation tactic feels lazy. There is some hope that faster PCIe 4 storage could make its way to the Air, matching the improved read and write speeds seen on the M5 MacBook Pro. But even that would be Apple finally catching up, not pushing forward.
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Display Technology Remains Stuck in the Past
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the MacBook Air M5 is what it won’t include. OLED and ProMotion are once again off the table. Leaks suggest OLED will debut on the MacBook Pro in 2026 or early 2027, with the MacBook Air trailing years behind, likely not seeing OLED until 2028 or even 2029. This mirrors Apple’s long-standing pattern of trickling down display upgrades at a glacial pace. There has been talk of a brighter, improved IPS panel for the Air, but even if that happens, it would merely refresh technology that has remained largely unchanged since the Retina era over a decade ago. At this point, incremental display tweaks feel overdue rather than exciting.
A Predictable Launch and Unchanged Pricing
According to leaks, the MacBook Air M5 is targeting an early 2026 release, likely in late January or February, following the same update window Apple used in 2025. Pricing is expected to remain unchanged, with the 13-inch model starting at $999 and the 15-inch at around $1,199. On paper, that sounds reasonable, but history suggests the real value won’t appear until months later when retailers start cutting prices. Apple will once again launch at full price, let demand settle, and allow discounts to do the real work of driving sales.
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The Bigger Problem: Apple Is Too Comfortable
The MacBook Air M5 will almost certainly be fast, efficient, and popular. But it will also be another reminder that Apple is increasingly comfortable doing the minimum required. Strong silicon upgrades mask conservative decisions everywhere else. Artificial chip binning pushes upsells. Base storage remains outdated. Display technology lags far behind what competitors already offer. Apple knows the MacBook Air will sell anyway, and the M5 proves the company is still leading in chip design—but leadership in one area doesn’t excuse stagnation everywhere else. The MacBook Air M5 isn’t a bad product. It’s just a safe one, and that’s the real criticism.
Last update on 2025-12-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
