- M5 MacBook Air has faster storage, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6, but costs $100 more.
- M5 MacBook Pro models offer more powerful CPUs and GPUs, but start at $1,699 and $2,199.
- Rumors of cheaper MacBook models in new colors did not materialize in these announcements.
Apple introduced two new MacBook models with more powerful chips under the hood. Yes, you will have to pay more if you want one.
Tuesday, the company Steve Jobs built announced a new MacBook Air model featuring the company’s M5 chip, along with new MacBook Pro models featuring the M5 Pro and M5 Max.
The M5 MacBook Air
Kicking things off with the MacBook Air, which will also have a new M5 chip, it will also have 512GB of base storage, doubling what the MacBook Air with the M4 chip used to offer. It also has double the max storage, offering users 4TB, up from 2TB.
According to the tech giant, the M5 MacBook Air’s SSD provides “2x faster read/write performance compared to the previous generation.” The new MacBook Air also has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. That’s all good, but unfortunately, this new model is $100 more than the base MacBook Air M4 model, costing $1,099 for the 13-inch model or $1,299 for the 15-inch.
The MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro also boasts two new chip options under the hood, the M5 Pro and M5 Max. Both models feature an 18-core CPU. The M5 Pro has a 20-core GPU, while the M5 Max has up to a 40-core GPU.
Both MacBook Pro models also get a storage boost, starting at 1TB of storage, rather than 512GB.
Sadly, both MacBook Pro models get a price increase: the base 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro now starts at $1,699, up from $1,599.
The M5 Pro MacBook Pro starts at $2,199, up $200 from the M4 Pro. The M5 Max MacBook Pro starts at $3,599, up $400 from the M4 Max.
So much for that rumor of Apple announcing cheaper MacBook models in new colors; it can still happen, but it doesn’t look like it will during these announcements.
Anyway, the new MacBooks are available for pre-order on March 4, and arrive in stores on March 11.
You can see more photos below.
