New MacBook Air M5 Memorial Day Deals
Apple has discounted the new MacBook Air M5 slightly with its Memorial Day sale - around $200 on the base 13-inch model, slightly less on the 15-inch. Such an early discount is not common on new models with M chips; Those accustomed to Apple's calendar usually wait until Black Friday. There was a little early movement this year.
The difference of M5 is when it gets stuck
Before we talk about the discount, let's briefly look at what the M5 chip means. The Geekbench 6 single-core score is over 50% (about 63%) higher than the M2, with a similar jump in multi-core. However, you will not feel this high percentage in daily use. In scenarios with ten-odd tabs, Chrome, Spotify and some Notion, most last-gen Macs, including the M1, already work fine. The difference is noticeable on heavier tasks. For example, when you send 40 RAW photos to batch processing in Lightroom Classic, the M5 processor almost doubles the performance compared to older generations, reducing the work from 3 minutes to less than 1.5 minutes. There is a similar picture on the battery side: When you start with a full charge with the M1 Air and start 1080p editing in Final Cut, you go down to around 20% at the end of a 5-hour session; M5 finishes the same load in the 43-45% band.
Who Does This Upgrade Make Sense For?
For the right buyer, $200 off this early in the cycle is a real deal - Apple usually waits until November. If you're on an M1 or M2 Air, skip it. The jump isn't large enough to justify trading in your current machine. The real target audience here is anyone still on a 2018-2019 Intel MacBook. By now those laptops are loud, hot, and lose charge faster than they used to; even the base M5 Air feels like a different category. Same goes for Windows users who've been eyeing macOS - this is a soft landing into the ecosystem. The Air sits at the entry tier, but for most workloads you won't run out of headroom.
13 or 15 inch?
The only thing that makes 15 inches attractive is the larger screen. If you want more space, yes, otherwise 13 inches is easier to carry and more affordable. Color options are again four: midnight, starlight, space gray, silver. The keyboard and trackpad remain the same as the last model.
Conclusion
At this price, the M5 Air makes searching for a past-gen Air or used M2 largely pointless. The Memorial Day campaign will likely last several days; If you are going to decide, it may be useful to take a look in a few days.
Check today's price at