MacBook Air (13-inch, M5)

Quick look

Price: £1,299²Apple UK store
Chip: M5chip
CPU: 10-coreCPU
GPU: 8-coreGPU
Memory: 16GBunified memory, base
Storage: 512GBstorage, base
Display: 13.6-inchdisplay
Battery life: Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed
Released: 11 March 2026³ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 4 March 2026.
Security updates: Not available⁴Security updates

Each figure is from the source marked¹ unless it carries its own number.

Latest: MacBook Air M5: store price against March price, Seen on Apple UK store 2 Oct

Drawn to scale from the published dimensions below: the footprint from above with the closed height beneath it. Outline only — the corner radius is our drawing convention, not a measurement.

Specifications

Body

Dimensions: 11.3 x 304.1 x 215 mm
Weight: 1.23 kg
Colours: Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight
Ports: Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack
Thunderbolt ports: 2
Thunderbolt version: Thunderbolt 4
USB-A ports: No USB-A ports.⁵
HDMI: No HDMI port.⁶
SD card slot: No SD card slot.⁶
Headphone jack: Yes
MagSafe: Yes
Keyboard: Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Touch ID: Yes

Display

Display size: 13.6 in
Resolution: 2560 x 1664
Pixel density: 224 ppi
Display type: Liquid Retina display
Brightness: 500 nits
Wide colour (P3): Yes
Nano-texture option: No nano-texture display option.⁶

Chip and memory

Chip: Apple M5 chip
Apple silicon: Yes
CPU cores: 10
Super cores: 4⁷
Efficiency cores: 6⁷
GPU cores: 8
Neural Engine cores: 16
Chip options: M5 with 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
Memory (base): 16GB
Memory (maximum): 32GB
Memory options: 16GB, 24GB or 32GB
Memory upgradeable by user: No, as Apple documents⁸
Memory bandwidth: 153 GB/s
Storage (base): 512GB
Storage (maximum): 4TB
Storage options: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB or 4TB
Media engine: Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode

Battery and power

Battery capacity: 53.8 Wh
Rated charge cycles: 1,000 cycles⁹
Video playback (claimed): 18 h
Wireless web (claimed): 15 h
Included power adapter: No power adapter in the box.⁶
Fast charging: Yes

Connectivity

Wi-Fi: Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be)
Bluetooth: 6
Ethernet: No Ethernet port.⁶
External displays (base): 2

Camera and audio

Camera: 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View
Camera resolution: 12 MP
Speakers: Four-speaker sound system
Microphones: Three-mic array with directional beamforming

Platform

Newest macOS: macOS 27 Golden Gate¹⁰
Model identifier: Mac17,3¹¹
Part numbers: MDH74xx/A, MDH84xx/A, MDHA4xx/A, MDHC4xx/A, MDHD4xx/A, MDHE4xx/A, MDHF4xx/A, MDHG4xx/A, MDHH4xx/A, MDHJ4xx/A, MDHK4xx/A¹²
Model year: 2026

Benchmarks

Geekbench 7 (CPU, single-core): 3,576¹³
Geekbench 7 (CPU, multi-core): 17,062¹³
Geekbench 7 (Metal): 65,807¹³

What it actually costs

New: £1,299²recommended retail
Used, Grade A: £1,075–£1,205¹⁴cheapest of 4 CeX listings · out of stock online and in store when read · repriced 7 October 2026 · since 15 Oct 2026 · earlier: £1,025–£1,135 from 28 Sep 2026
Used, Grade B: £1,035–£1,065¹⁵cheapest of 4 CeX listings · repriced 7 October 2026 · since 15 Oct 2026 · earlier: £985–£1,015 from 28 Sep 2026
Used, Grade C: £965–£1,025¹⁶cheapest of 4 CeX listings · out of stock online and in store when read · repriced 7 October 2026 · since 15 Oct 2026 · earlier: £920–£985 from 28 Sep 2026
Trade in yours, Grade A: £666 cash / £774 voucher¹⁴16% more as store credit

Read 3 November 2026. CeX is one UK retailer; its used and trade-in figures are shown at its condition grades for the base configuration: M5 with 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU, 16GB memory, 512GB storage. “Since” is the first day MacIQ read that figure; “earlier” figures were each read from the date shown. We hold no stock and take no commission.

Apple UK price, as listed

3 March 2026 to 17 June 2026: £1,099¹⁷¹⁸
25 June 2026 to 1 October 2026: £1,299¹⁹²⁰

Apple’s UK store page for the base configuration (Apple M5 chip, 10-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16GB memory, 512GB storage), as the Internet Archive saved it. Each row runs from the first to the last Internet Archive capture MacIQ read at that price; the price may have held before and after. A price changed some time between the last capture read at one price and the first read at the next, so no day is given. A “From” price is the store’s starting price for the chip option; the base configuration is the lowest one listed under it. Read 18 October 2026.

Software support

Feature updates until: Not available²¹
Security updates until: Not available²¹
Basis: our inference from history²²

Previous and next model

Previous model

MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025), March 2025

What changed

Weight: 1.24 kg MacBook Air M41.23 kg MacBook Air M5
Chip: Apple M4 chip MacBook Air M4Apple M5 chip MacBook Air M5
Memory bandwidth: 120 GB/s MacBook Air M4153 GB/s MacBook Air M5
Storage (base): 256GB MacBook Air M4512GB MacBook Air M5
Wi-Fi: Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) MacBook Air M4Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) MacBook Air M5

Full comparison

Comparisons

Against its own line

Against the rest of the range

Compare it with any other Mac

Sources

Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) - Tech Specs · Default for MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) · Apple’s figure · read 14 Sep 2026
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Apple UK store — 13-inch MacBook Air M5, 10-core CPU, 8-core GPU — From £1,299 · Apple’s figure · read 22 Sep 2026
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Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5 · Apple’s figure · read 14 Sep 2026
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Security updates: no end date published. Checked: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026
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No USB-A ports. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) - Tech Specs. Read 14 Sep 2026
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No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. No power adapter in the box. No Ethernet port. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) - Tech Specs. Read 9 Oct 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops · Apple’s figure · read 15 Oct 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers · Apple’s figure · read 22 Sep 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model · Apple’s figure · read 14 Sep 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026
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Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) · third-party figure · read 11 Oct 2026
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CeX — Used, Grade A · third-party figure · read 3 Nov 2026
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CeX — Used, Grade B · third-party figure · read 3 Nov 2026
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CeX — Used, Grade C · third-party figure · read 3 Nov 2026
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Apple Store (UK), as saved by the Internet Archive — Buy MacBook Air - Apple (UK), captured 3 Mar 2026 · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026
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Apple Store (UK), as saved by the Internet Archive — Buy MacBook Air - Apple (UK), captured 17 Jun 2026 · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026
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Apple Store (UK), as saved by the Internet Archive — Buy MacBook Air - Apple (UK), captured 25 Jun 2026 · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026
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Apple Store (UK), as saved by the Internet Archive — Buy MacBook Air - Apple (UK), captured 1 Oct 2026 · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026
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Feature and security updates: end dates not published by Apple. Checked: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026
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Apple’s macOS 27 Golden Gate compatibility list names this Mac. endoflife.date says Apple usually provides security updates for the latest three macOS releases, but that this isn’t consistently applied; Apple publishes no end date. Source: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026
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Not published by Apple

MacBook Air (13-inch, M5). Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers, read 9 Oct 2026.