However, the more significant update may be storage: Apple is increasing the Air’s base storage from 256GB to 512GB, and Apple says that storage will be twice as fast as the M4 MacBook Air.
But that’s increasing the starting price of the Air from $999 to $1,099 for the 13-inch model and from $1,199 to $1,299 for the 15-inch model. Whether you describe this as a price increase or a price cut depends on your point of view; The 512GB version of the M4 MacBook Air will cost you $1,199. But for those who just want the cheapest Air and don’t particularly care about specifications, the price is now $100 higher than before.
Apple is offering two versions of the M5 in the new Airs: one with 8 GPU cores enabled, and one with all 10 GPU cores enabled. Upgrading to a fully capable chip will cost you an extra $100, and you’ll also need a fully capable chip to move up to a 24GB or 32GB RAM upgrade or a 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB storage upgrade. All versions of the M5 include a total of four high-performance cores – now called “super cores” – and six efficiency cores.
The Apple N1 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip completes the internal upgrade.
Like other products announced by Apple so far this week, the new MacBook Airs will be available for pre-order on March 4, and you’ll be able to get them on March 11.
The new MacBook Air is part of a series of announcements that Apple is making this week ahead of a “special experience” event on Wednesday morning. So far, the company has also announced a new iPhone 17e, an updated iPad Air with the M4 chip and additional RAM, new MacBook Pros, and updated Studio displays.
Raising the starting price of the MacBook Air, incidentally, leaves even more room in Apple’s lineup for the new, cheaper MacBooks the company is said to be planning. If Apple is planning to launch this cheap MacBook this week, the announcement will likely come tomorrow,
<a href