The MacBook Air is Apple’s most popular laptop – a thin, fanless machine that wields quiet power thanks to the efficiency of Apple silicon. While the M4 model isn’t exactly old, attention is already turning to its successor.
Apple doesn’t telegraph new product launches ahead of time, but we can draw a surprisingly clear picture of what to expect by looking at Apple’s silicon roadmap, release cycles, and past upgrades.
Release Timing and Price
Apple appears to have settled into a spring refresh cycle for the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air. After releasing the M2 model in mid-2022 with an all-new design, Apple skipped 2023 and then delivered back-to-back M3 and M4 MacBook Air updates in March 2024 and March 2025, respectively.
Indeed, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reports that Apple plans to roll out M5 versions of the MacBook Air in the first quarter of this year. This suggests a likely March 2026 window – unless Apple breaks the cycle, of course. As for pricing, we expect it to remain stable, with the base model sticking with the current entry-level $999 price.
Processor Upgrade
The M5 series is expected to feature an enhanced ARM architecture and is reportedly being manufactured using TSMC’s advanced 3-nanometer process technology. Apple’s decision to forgo TSMC’s more advanced 2nm process for the M5 chip is believed to be due to cost considerations.
Recent leaked benchmarks – allegedly from a next-gen iPad Pro running an M5 chip – show single-core scores around 4,133 and multi-core scores around 15,437. That’s roughly a 12-15% jump over the current M4 iPad Pro in both categories. As for graphics performance, the M5 chip appears to have up to a 36% faster GPU compared to the M4 chip.
The benchmark suggests Apple has focused on modest clock speed increases and core-level efficiency improvements for the M5 chip, rather than an architecture overhaul. In other words, the M5 will be similar to the step-wise performance upgrade from M3 to M4. Expect 10-15% faster CPU speeds, a slightly more powerful GPU, and better efficiency, potentially leading to even longer battery life.
As a result, the M5 MacBook Air will likely feel more responsive in daily use, particularly in single-threaded tasks, but it won’t dramatically outpace the M4 for sustained workloads like video rendering.
Display and Other Possible Changes
Apple tends to stick with the same industrial design for multiple chip generations. The current MacBook Air design (introduced with the M2 model) is only three years old and shows no signs of ageing. Expect the same 13- and 15-inch sizes, the same fanless aluminium unibody, and similar display technology – that means no OLED, which Apple appears to be saving for initial adoption in the MacBook Pro line, possibly later this year or in 2027.
If there are any physical changes, they’ll likely be subtle. Think improved webcam quality, or tweaks to accommodate the next generation of wireless connectivity (such as Wi-Fi 7 or Bluetooth LE Audio). You never know – Apple could even offer the machine in a new color, just like it did this earlier year with the M4.
Looking Further Ahead
According to reports out of Korea, Apple plans to release a MacBook Air with an improved LCD display in 2027, featuring Oxide TFT technology instead of the current amorphous silicon (a-Si) panels.
The new display technology is said to be a significant upgrade over current MacBook Air screens. Oxide TFT LCD panels offer better power efficiency and improved performance compared to traditional a-Si displays, resulting in sharper images, smoother scrolling, and enhanced battery life.
The transition to Oxide TFT technology should also mean faster pixel response times and more consistent brightness across the screen. In practical terms, this should translate to reduced motion blur when watching videos or gaming, and more uniform lighting without the “clouding” effect sometimes visible on current LCD displays.
This article, "M5 MacBook Air: Release Date, Features, and Performance Predictions" first appeared on MacRumors.com
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