I upgraded to the MacBook Air M5 at last and, boy, is it fast

Date:
Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Description:
I upgraded to the MacBook Air M5 and its lightning-fast performance puts my Intel-based MacBook Pro to shame.

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 daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. 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 Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter If youve read many of my pieces on TechRadar, youll know Ive been threatening to buy a new MacBook for a long while now . In part, this is because my laptop was a MacBook Pro 13-inch 2017 and its performance was getting decidedly
dicey during demanding tasks. A far bigger motivation was the professional embarrassment of still using an Intel-based machine almost six years after
the brand switched to using its far more powerful Apple silicon chipset .

So when the MacBook Air M5 was announced, I knew I was going to be pulling
the trigger. Not only was every MacBook Air M5 review I read glowing, but I knew it was such a substantial step up from my existing machine that I would be getting enormous value out of every dollar I spent. After much
deliberation by which I mean two weeks solid of full-blown choice gridlock
I finally settled on my chosen spec. Upgrading to 24GB of RAM was a bit of a no-brainer. While the MacBook Air 13-inchs default 16GB is already double
that of my last MacBook Pro, I wanted to make sure I was fully future-proofed for increasing software demands. Article continues below You may like Im upgrading to the MacBook Air M5 heres why its my dream pick 24 hours with
the MacBook Air M5 it's already faster than the M4 MacBook Air The MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) is still the best ultraportable I've ever used

And thanks to the enormous size of some music-making tools and audio sample packs that I use regularly, Ive had issues with SSD space in recent years, requiring regular trawls of my files to find things to delete. In light of this, skipping over the base 512GB drive to the 1TB seemed to make perfect sense

Now thats not the cheapest spec for one of the best laptops by any means. In fact, it set me back a cool $1,499 / 1,499 / AU$2,399, which is a fair step
up from the $1,099 / 1,099 / AU$1,799 charged for the base edition. But coupled with the M5 chip, that gives me a whole lot of power to play with, especially compared to a model so old that it was still running an
Intel-based chipset.

My mind finally made up, I finally ordered my new MacBook Air after more than a year of posturing. And just two days later, my brand-new laptop was tossed over my neighbors hedge on my doorstep. Apple MacBook Air M5 (2026) deals 1,099 992.97 View 1,099 992.97 View 1,099 View Show more We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices powered by Starting up (Image credit: Future) Not gonna lie: unboxing my new MacBook Air genuinely gave me
a bit of a buzz. Partly thats because its a gorgeous piece of kit, with the sky blue colorway I opted for looking subtle and metallic while offering just a hint of hue that makes it stand out. But a far bigger factor is Im in my
40s and this is what passes for excitement at my age. 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.

Getting the MacBook Air set up was as easy as ever with Apple s hardware.
Once Id set basics like region and language, all I had to do was connect both my machines to the Wi-Fi, fire up Migration Assistant and start transferring all my apps and files over. After just 90 agonizing minutes, I was all good
to go on my new machine.

So how does the experience of using the MacBook Air M5 compare to my creaking old Intel -based MacBook Pro? Well, I dont know whether anyones ever hit upon this hot take before but Apple Silicon seems kinda fast. (Image credit: Future) Booting it up takes me just 30 seconds and that includes the 15 or
so seconds it takes me to fumble in my password. Everyday apps like Apple Music or Safari open in under a second, meaning my MacBook has usually loaded them faster than my rusty reaction times have had a chance to grind into
gear. Thats a pretty big step up from my former MacBook, which definitely needed a bit of a runup to even open fairly undemanding apps. What to read next I can't believe I'm saying this, but a more expensive MacBook Air M5 is wonderful news here's why Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5/M5 Pro/M5 Max)
review I put the MacBook Neo through the same tests as I did the MacBook Air M1 I think the results will surprise you

This speedy performance extends to productivity as well. Dont get me wrong:
my old MacBook was no slouch when it came to web browsing and Google Drive work, but Chrome is not the lightest-weight browser ever conceived, so it can occasionally cause serious CPU constipation. But theres no hint of this on my new MacBook Air. Even with many windows, each with a dozen tabs open look, writers arent exactly renowned for our orderly workspaces this kind of everyday usage feels lightning-fast. Performance art (Image credit: Future) But these kinds of trifling tasks are a bit of a waste of the M5 chips
talents where I really noticed a difference was using apps like Photoshop . Not only does Photoshop boot on my MacBook Air M5 within 10 seconds rather than the minute it used to take, I can sketch on a hi-res artwork with more than 20 layers without any appreciable lag. And while I dont use generative
AI tools on principle, a quick test of generating a hi-res image using the built-in Image Playground tool of macOS took less than five seconds. Given Photoshop used to make my MacBook Pro 2017 wheeze like an emphysemic bellows, this is seriously impressive performance.

However, while I dabble in digital art, the main reason I decided to upgrade is for improved performance while making music. Before upgrading, even with a third of my channels mixed down to audio, many of my tracks would regularly see my CPU usage spike to 120% (macOS has a funny way of displaying CPU usage per core, leading to weird results like that), while their RAM usage sat at around double my physical 8GB RAM allocation. You dont need to be great at math to see why this might be a problem.

By contrast, the new MacBook Air M5 peaked around 60% CPU usage and at about 130% of my 24GB physical RAM and thats with all my midi channels and effects running in real time. Thats a significant improvement and means that Im no longer red-lining my CPU just to add a little polish to my beats. (Image credit: Future) Even though Ive barely scratched the surface of what the M5 chip can do, so far its proving significantly speedier than any laptop Ive owned before. But that new chipset isnt the only factor thats making an enormous difference to my productivity the more expansive MacBook SSD is a huge help as well.

While a few people balked at the increased price when the latest MacBook Air was announced, Im firmly of the opinion that the little bump in cost was more than justified thanks to the increased 512GB storage capacity. After many years of micromanaging my storage and deleting or offloading every single
file I could possibly spare, Ive been desperate for more space on my laptop. That new 512GB baseline would have taken the pressure off considerably, while my 1TB SSD should mean I dont have to worry about space again for years to come.

So after less than 24 hours with the MacBook Air M5, Ive been suitably impressed with what it can do. But what Im looking forward to most is putting that power to work and really pumping some fuel into my creative engine. From what Ive seen so far, I have zero regrets about my purchase. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. 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 M5 2. Best budget MacBook: MacBook Neo 3. Best Mac: Mac mini (M4) 4. Best MacBook Pro MacBook Pro 14-inch M5 5. Best Mac for professionals Mac Studio M4 Max



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/macbooks/i-upgraded-to-the-macbook-air-m5- at-last-and-boy-is-it-fast


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