The bleeding edge of computing power for everyday creatives this is why Im upgrading to the MacBook Air M5 after years of making do with my elderly Pro

Date:
Fri, 20 Mar 2026 15:27:14 +0000

Description:
For my new MacBook, I'm not going Neo or Pro here's why the Air M5 is the
next laptop Im going to buy.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get the TechRadar Newsletter Sign up for
breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are
now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Another Apple launch event has come and dropped a heap of exciting new
gadgets into our laps. But while a lot of people have been discussing the surprise announcement of the more affordable MacBook Neo and the powerful new MacBook Pro , Ive only got eyes for the new MacBook Air M5 . In fact, Im so enamored, Ive decided its finally time to ditch my trusty but dusty MacBook Pro 2017 and belatedly join the 2020s.

For a laptop thats an absurd nine years old, my MacBook Pro has been aging pretty gracefully that is until the last few months, when its fraying LCD display flex cable has finally begun to give up the ghost. The colors are so broken that my Retina display looks more like the psychedelic horror show
that was mid-1980s EGA computer graphics. Worse, the screen is criss-crossed with lines that makes most apps and images look like theyre upholstered in tweed. This is a pretty shameful look for a tech journalist its certainly no longer a candidate for best laptop . But I could cope with the
expressionistic graphics for a little longer if it wasnt for the groaning machinery under the hood. Article continues below You may like The MacBook
Air 13-inch (M5) is still the best ultraportable I've ever used I can't believe I'm saying this, but a more expensive MacBook Air M5 is wonderful
news here's why 24 hours with the MacBook Air M5 it's already faster than the M4 MacBook Air

My MacBook Pros wheezing Intel architecture is increasingly showing its age.
I predominantly use my laptop for music-making and digital artwork and many
of my workflows have started to push my CPU usage to 140% the kind of math that would cause my high-school teacher to silently weep about my exam prospects. Frankly, a pre-Apple-Silicon chipset can no longer keep up with creative workflows and redlining my laptop is only further shortening the mayfly-esque lifespan it has left. So upgrading has become an inevitability
at this point. But why has the MacBook Air M5 tempted me so much more than
its predecessors? Why Im buying the MacBook Air M5 (Image credit: Future) OK, it should be abundantly clear already: the MacBook Air M5 is a major step up from what Im using right now. As Ive already touched on, its Apple Silicon is far more suited to demanding workflows than the Intel chipset MacBooks used
to rely on.

Yes, the M5 chip is only a modest advance compared to the previous
generation. But it is important to consider how far weve come. The original
M1 was a quantum leap compared to the CPUs it was competing with and each iteration since has advanced on that lead. While it cant match the power of the M3 Ultra or the kind of creative powerhouse employed by 3D animators, the M5 chip is at the bleeding edge of computing power for everyday creatives and I cant wait to see how much smoother that makes my creative process. Get
daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Theres another thing attracting me to the latest MacBook Air though. For any of you that rolled your eyes at the announced $100 / 100 / AU$100 price rise during last weeks launch, Ill admit my pupils were freewheeling too. But, for me, the increased price is actually a bit of a bargain, given it also gives you access to a more expansive 512GB SSD as standard.

Frankly, after years of struggling to stretch a 256GB SSD to its absolute limits, its absolutely time this decrepit spec was put out to pasture. Even offloading all of my older productions to the cloud, creating enough space
for sample libraries and software is becoming nigh-on impossible with drives this size, so I had always budgeted for a larger SSD in my next purchase. Given speccing up the MacBook Air M4 to a 512GB drive would have cost $1,199
/ 1,199, getting the exact same amount of storage for just $1,099 / 1,099 / AU$1,799 is a bit of a steal in my book. (Image credit: Future) But why content myself with the MacBook Air? If I want professional results, wouldnt the MacBook Pro be a better shout? What to read next The MacBook Air M5 has landed here's what's new on our favorite laptop These are 5 reasons why I'm opting for Apple's affordable MacBook instead of an iPad MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air M5 which should you buy?

Honestly, no. As a result of the exponential growth in power of Apple
Silicon, the MacBook lines have experienced serious power creep. While the
Pro range was the only option for creatives a decade ago, the level of performance its designed for is above and beyond what most digital artists or bedroom producers need unless youre rendering 3D artwork or compiling enormous code databases, its likely going to be overkill.

And in line with this, the price of each range has increased, with the
MacBook Pro ballooning from the relatively modest $1,299 / 1,249 / AU$1,899 I spent last time to a whopping $1,699 / 1,699 / AU$2,699 for the M5 meaning the increased list price for the new MacBook Air is now far more in line with my budget than the exceedingly spendy Pro.

Ultimately, when youve got a laptop as elderly as mine, pretty much any alternative is going to be an upgrade. But given the professional power, storage and portability I need, the MacBook Air M5 sits right at the center
of my dream laptop Venn diagram. Our initial benchmarking shows it's
seriously fast , its impressively capacious and, most importantly, can
display more than 16 colors so I honestly cannot wait to get my hands on mine. Today's best Apple MacBook Air M5 (2026) and Apple MacBook Pro M5 (2026) deals Apple MacBook Air M5 (2026) 1,099 View Deal See all prices Apple MacBook Pro M5 (2026) 2,099 View Deal See all prices We check over 250
million products every day for the best prices The best MacBooks and Macs for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best MacBooks and Macs 1. Best MacBook overall: MacBook Air 13-inch M4 2. Best budget MacBook: MacBook Air 13-inch M3 3. Best Mac: Mac mini (M4) 4. Best MacBook Pro MacBook Pro 14-inch M4 5. Best Mac for professionals Mac Studio M4 Max Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your
feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/macbooks/the-bleeding-edge-of-computing-po wer-for-everyday-creatives-this-is-why-im-upgrading-to-the-macbook-air-m5-afte r-years-of-making-do-with-my-elderly-pro


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)