Apple announced its latest MacBook Air M5 overnight, doubling the slim laptop’s base storage capacity, along with a slight price increase.
Equipped with Apple’s M5 system-on-a-chip, the new MacBook Air now starts with 512GB as the default internal storage configuration. Low starting storage has long been a point of contention, with some seeing it as a strategy to encourage buyers to spend more for more capacity. At the end of 2024, Apple increased the starting memory allocation from 8GB to 16GB, which remains in place for this release.
Unlike the recently announced iPhone 17e, which received a storage upgrade with no change to its $999 pricing, the MacBook Air’s storage increase comes with a higher base price. In Australia, the 13-inch Air now starts at $1,799, up from the $1,699 price tag of last year’s model.
That price increase could also stem from global memory supply issues, which are driving up the cost of technology more broadly. It could also be part of Apple’s strategy to differentiate the MacBook Air from the yet-unannounced low-cost MacBook variant.
Inside the M5 MacBook Air is a 10-core CPU, up to 10 GPU cores, and a 16-core Neural Engine. According to Apple, the new laptop is capable of up to four times faster AI performance than last year’s Air. Reading the fine print, that claim is based on how efficiently the laptop works through local AI prompts in LM Studio.
Joining the MacBook Air’s improved internals is Apple’s N1 networking chip. This means the laptop now supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity for faster wireless speeds and better reliability.
Aside from the $1,799 starting price for the 13-inch M5 MacBook Air, the 15-inch model starts at $2,199 in Australia for the 512GB model. Pre-orders begin on 5 March, ready for an 11 March launch.
The post MacBook Air M5 starts at $100 more in Australia with more storage appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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