MacBook Air M5 lands in UK stores this week — here’s what’s actually changed

Apple’s M5 MacBook Air is now on sale in the UK, and the update is more straightforward than our original story suggested.

The 13-inch model starts at £1,099, not £999, while the 15-inch starts at £1,299. Education prices start at £999 and £1,199 respectively. Both sizes are available in sky blue, midnight, starlight and silver.

M5 is the headline upgrade, but Apple has also increased the starting storage to 512GB and added faster SSD performance. The camera remains a 12MP Center Stage camera, while Apple rates battery life at up to 18 hours.

We have removed the earlier claims about launch-day stock at individual UK retailers and mobile-network bundles because those details were not supported by Apple’s launch information. The same applies to the old £999 consumer starting price.

If you are moving from an Intel MacBook or a much older Apple-silicon model, the M5 Air is an easy machine to recommend. Owners of an M3 or M4 Air have a much weaker reason to upgrade unless the extra storage or performance solves a specific problem.

Discuss it: are you buying an M5 MacBook Air, or keeping your current Mac? Join the UKMac community.