Apple unveils new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro

Apple has announced updates to its MacBook lineup, introducing new versions of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro powered by the latest generation of its in-house silicon chips. The new laptops bring faster performance, improved AI capabilities, and storage upgrades across both models.

The MacBook Air with M5 targets everyday users with double the starting storage and improved wireless connectivity, while the MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max is aimed at professionals handling intensive workflows like AI model training and 3D rendering. Both lines are available for pre-order starting March 4, with general availability from March 11.

MacBook Air with M5

The new MacBook Air comes in 13-inch and 15-inch models, featuring a 10-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU with a Neural Accelerator in each core. Apple claims the M5 chip delivers up to four times faster performance for AI tasks compared to the previous M4 generation, and up to 9.5 times faster than the M1 version.

The laptop now starts with 512GB of storage, double the previous baseline, and can be configured up to 4TB. The SSD offers twice the read and write speeds of the prior generation. Apple's new N1 wireless chip enables Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support.

Other features include a Liquid Retina display, a 12-megapixel Centre Stage camera, up to 18 hours of battery life, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports supporting up to two external displays. The chassis remains fanless and is available in four colours: sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver. Pricing starts at $1,099 for the 13-inch model and $1,299 for the 15-inch version.

MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max

The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are now powered by the new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, built using Apple's Fusion Architecture that combines two dies into a single system. The CPUs feature up to 18 cores with six high-performance cores, while the GPUs include Neural Accelerators in each core.

According to Apple, M5 Pro is designed for users running complex workflows such as coders optimising algorithms and photographers processing massive image libraries, while M5 Max targets those pushing the absolute limits, including engineers running rigorous simulations.

Apple states the new chips deliver up to four times faster AI performance than the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and up to eight times faster than M1 Pro and M1 Max models. Memory bandwidth reaches up to 307GB per second on M5 Pro and 614GB per second on M5 Max, with support for up to 128GB of unified memory.

Storage starts at 1TB for M5 Pro models and 2TB for M5 Max models, with SSD read and write speeds up to 14.5GB per second, twice as fast as the previous generation. The laptops include three Thunderbolt 5 ports, support for up to four external displays on M5 Max, and the N1 chip enabling Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.

Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours. The 12-megapixel Centre Stage camera, studio-quality microphones, and six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio carry over from previous models. The laptops are available in space black and silver. 

Pricing starts at $2,199 for the 14-inch M5 Pro model and $2,699 for the 16-inch version, with M5 Max configurations starting at $3,599 and $3,899, respectively. Additionally, the older 14-inch MacBook Pro with the standard M5 chip now comes with 1TB of storage as standard, starting at $1,699.