{"id":807846,"date":"2026-08-09T11:18:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T11:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/807846\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T11:18:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T11:18:18","slug":"i-upgraded-from-the-m1-macbook-air-to-the-m5-and-heres-what-changed-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/807846\/","title":{"rendered":"I upgraded from the M1 MacBook Air to the M5, and here\u2019s what changed for me"},"content":{"rendered":"

After about four years with the M1 MacBook Air<\/a>, I finally pulled the trigger on the M5, and I got there just in time to dodge Apple\u2019s recent price hike by eleven days<\/a>, a story I already told elsewhere, and one that still makes me feel unreasonably smug. Upgrading from the M1 was a multi-generational leap for me, not in the ways mentioned on the spec sheet, but in ways that actually changed how I work every day.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why that matters in 2026, when the memory crisis has hit the consumer electronics market so badly that even giants like Apple had to cave. MacBook Air M5 launched at $1,099<\/a>, then climbed to $1,299<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Computer,<\/p>\n

\t\tShikhar Mehrotra \/ Digital Trends<\/p>\n

The screen isn\u2019t a major upgrade, and the speakers are a downgrade instead<\/p>\n

However, after using the device for about two months now, I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that it\u2019s still one of the most competitive laptops<\/a> available in the segment, especially for someone who doesn\u2019t need a discrete GPU and the bulk that comes along with it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit the 13.6-inch display on the M5 doesn\u2019t feel dramatically different<\/a> from the 13.3-inch panel on the M1. I also have some opinions about the notch, none of them flattering. Phones abandoned the notch years ago, so it\u2019s a little ironic that Apple\u2019s<\/a> most popular laptop is still rocking one in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Computer,<\/p>\n

\t\tShikhar Mehrotra \/ Digital Trends<\/p>\n

The 100-nit difference in peak brightness doesn\u2019t make a meaningful impact either. And here\u2019s an unexpected twist: the speakers on my six-year-old M1 MacBook actually sounded fuller and louder. That one stung a little.<\/p>\n

The design changes that made a bigger difference than expected<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s where the list of disappointments wraps up pretty quickly. The most immediate change for me was the Midnight colorway<\/a>, specifically the way its matte finish shifts between charcoal and a near-silver depending on how the light hits it. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of those finishes that photographs terribly and looks fantastic in person, which, in my opinion, is the right order.<\/p>\n

\"Computer,<\/p>\n

\t\tShikhar Mehrotra \/ Digital Trends<\/p>\n

Next, MagSafe<\/a>. I did not realize how much I was quietly annoyed by fumbling for a USB-C port in the dark until I stopped having to do it. MagSafe snaps into place through feel alone, which is genuinely useful at a standing desk or when you\u2019re reaching around cables in a dim room. <\/p>\n

It also frees up both USB-C ports for actual work<\/a>, whether that\u2019s connecting an external drive or running a monitor without occupying your primary data connections.<\/p>\n

The M5 finally makes multi-monitor setups more practical<\/p>\n

On that note: the M5 MacBook Air supports two external monitors<\/a> simultaneously, which the M1 could not do. I personally don\u2019t use external displays, so I didn\u2019t get hands-on time with that feature, but for designers and video editors running a multi-monitor setup<\/a>, this is a legitimately significant change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Computer,<\/p>\n

\t\tShikhar Mehrotra \/ Digital Trends<\/p>\n

Thunderbolt 4<\/a> on the M5 also doubles minimum PCIe bandwidth to 32 Gb\/s, up from 16 Gb\/s on my M1, which means multi-gigabyte project transfers that used to be a coffee-break situation now take a fraction of the time.<\/p>\n

The performance jump is impossible to miss<\/p>\n

My daily workload involves keeping a significant number of Chrome<\/a> tabs alive at once: news feeds, articles, AI tools, YouTube<\/a>, streaming platforms, Google Docs<\/a>, and a couple of web dashboards. On the M1 with 8GB of RAM, that ceiling was around 15 to 20 tabs before things started getting slow and the machine started voting against me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Computer,<\/p>\n

\t\tShikhar Mehrotra \/ Digital Trends<\/p>\n

The M5, with a CPU that\u2019s roughly twice as fast and 16GB of unified memory, handles 50 to 60 tabs without breaking a sweat. In other words, I can comfortably run four times the Chrome Tabs.<\/p>\n

During the recent Amazon Prime Day<\/a> sale, I had 78 tabs open simultaneously while hunting down deals across multiple retailer pages. No lag, no stuttering, just the mild warmth of a machine that was actually working for once instead of complaining about it. My old MacBook Air<\/a> would have tapped out around tab 30 and made me feel bad about it.<\/p>\n

\"Computer,<\/p>\n

\t\tShikhar Mehrotra \/ Digital Trends<\/p>\n

It does rely on memory swapping, a macOS<\/a> technique where a slice of the SSD acts as overflow RAM, but even with that in play, the experience feels genuinely fast rather than merely functional.<\/p>\n

The battery life changed how I use my MacBook<\/p>\n

With all the Chrome Tabs<\/a> and a couple of Apple apps in the background (Music<\/a>, Calendar, Notes, and Pages), the M5 Air is still delivering around 13 to 14 hours of screen-on time on a single charge<\/a> with average usage (around 20 tabs and four to six apps in the background). My M1 gave me nine or 10 hours, which was quite good if you ask me, but the additional four hours have rewired my habits.<\/p>\n

\"Computer,<\/p>\n

\t\tShikhar Mehrotra \/ Digital Trends<\/p>\n

I now charge my MacBook<\/a> every alternate day. When I walk out for the day, I confidently leave the charger at home and don\u2019t think about it. That might sound trivial, but if you\u2019ve ever killed a presentation or started the morning on time because you forgot to plug in the night before, you understand exactly how much that matters.<\/p>\n

I dodged the Macflation crisis by a few days<\/p>\n

What surprises me even today is how I paid roughly $1,000 for this machine<\/a> before the price hike, and I haven\u2019t second-guessed the decision once. Yes, I\u2019m not anywhere near the ceiling of what the M5 chip can do. But that\u2019s actually the point.<\/p>\n

\"Computer,<\/p>\n

\t\tShikhar Mehrotra \/ Digital Trends<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not pretending to be a top-tier device with exceptional CPU or GPU performance. Apple already has the MacBook Pro<\/a> for that. The Air is for people who need a fast, light, and reliable machine for everyday tasks without waiting or rationing their workflow. It\u2019s going to stay competitive for four or five years without trying very hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The MacBook Air doesn\u2019t need to be a MacBook Pro<\/p>\n

The M5 MacBook Air<\/a> was a gem at $1,099, and while Apple makes it slightly tougher to recommend at $1,299, it is still arguably one of the best portable, productivity-based laptops you can possibly get on the market. All the Continuity features make it an even better buy for Apple users<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Computer,<\/p>\n

\t\tShikhar Mehrotra \/ Digital Trends<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re on an M1 or an M2, the jump is real, and it\u2019s worth making. However, if you\u2019re on an M4 or an M3, the math probably doesn\u2019t work in your favor just yet. If you\u2019re on an Intel-based MacBook, I\u2019m not sure what you\u2019re waiting for, especially since macOS 27<\/a> ends support for all the Intel-based Apple machines, but I genuinely hope this helped.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After about four years with the M1 MacBook Air, I finally pulled the trigger on the M5, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[342898,191,342899,229615,10433,342900,342901,42321,342902,10434,74],"class_list":["post-807846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-apple-macbook-air","tag-computing","tag-m1-macbook-air","tag-m5-macbook-air","tag-macbook-air","tag-macbook-air-m2","tag-macbook-air-m3","tag-macbook-air-m4","tag-macbook-air-m5-deals","tag-macbook-pro","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}