Best M5 MacBook Air deal: First deal at Amazon

SAVE $49: Since March 12, the all-new Apple MacBook Air (M5, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD) has been on sale for the first time in the 13-inch and 15-inch models. Get the 13-inch for $1,049.99 (reg. $1,099) and the 15-inch for $1,249.99 (reg. $1,299).

The all-new Apple M5 MacBook Air officially gets its first discount. It made its official debut yesterday, March 11, and is already on sale in both 13-inch and 15-inch varieties.

The starting price of the MacBook Air M5 is $1,099 for the 13-inch model and $1,299 for the 15-inch model. The two base models have 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. As of March 12, you can get $49.01 off every laptop, bringing the starting price down to just $1,049.99 or $1,249.99. Of course, that’s not a huge reduction. But since the basic models are already technically $100 cheaper than their predecessors, it’s very good value for money.

So, what’s new with these laptops? Honestly, not much. Clearly, the M5 chip is a step up from the previous generation M4 chip. They now have the same blazingly fast processor as last fall’s 14-inch MacBook Pro. They also start with more base storage, are configurable up to 4TB (up from 2TB) for the first time, and have added Apple’s N1 wireless chip to support WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6.

Otherwise, the new MacBook Air M5 is largely identical to the MacBook Air M4: same 60 Hz Liquid Retina display, 12 MP Center Stage webcam, two Thunderbolt 4 ports and 18 hours of battery life. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing (we loved the M4 Air), it certainly makes it a non-essential upgrade unless you’re using a MacBook that’s a few generations old. Still, there’s no denying the laptop’s excellent value for money, especially now that it’s $49 cheaper in both sizes.