MacBook Air 15-inch (M5)

MacBook Air 15-inch M5 combines a roomy display, fast performance, and long battery life, but its 60Hz panel and higher price limit the upgrade.

Best For

Big-screen everyday Mac users

Value

Fair

Biggest Strength

Large vibrant 15.3-inch display

Biggest Weakness

Higher starting price this year

Community Vote

N/A

would recommend

Key Takeaways

15.3-inch display provides generous workspace while the 1.51 kg fanless body remains portable.

M5 performance is fast for everyday work and creative tasks, with larger GPU gains than CPU gains over M4.

Base storage doubles to 512GB, and more than twice the M4 Air's read and write speeds.

Familiar chassis still has a 60Hz display and only two Thunderbolt 4 ports.

15 hours 37 minutes of battery life on the 15-inch model.

Brand

Apple

Release Date

Mar 11, 2026

Price Range

$2,499 to $3,249 AUD

Large vibrant 15.3-inch display

Fast M5 everyday performance

Much faster doubled base storage

Long all-day battery life

Thin silent fanless design

Excellent speakers and trackpad

Higher starting price this year

Still limited to a 60Hz panel

Only two Thunderbolt ports

Modest upgrade over the M4 Air

Australian buyers moving from an M1 Air expect the 15-inch screen and faster M5 to feel like a worthwhile upgrade

Owners praise the larger 15-inch screen for desk use while keeping a smaller Mac for travel

Community advice says 16GB suits lighter video edits, while 24GB gives more headroom for heavier timelines

Forum users warn sustained rendering can throttle in the fanless Air compared with a cooled MacBook Pro

Sparse listing includes an early screen quality-control complaint within the M5 Air family

Display size	15.3 inch
Resolution	2880 x 1864
Refresh rate	60 Hz
CPU	Apple M5 10-core
GPU	Apple M5 10-core
RAM	16 GB
Storage	512GB to 4TB SSD
Battery capacity	66.5 Wh
Weight	1.51 kg
Wireless	Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 via Apple N1
Ports	MagSafe 3, 2x Thunderbolt 4, 3.5 mm headphone
Camera	12MP Center Stage with Desk View
Speakers	Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers
OS	macOS Tahoe 26
Current AU price	$2,499 to $3,249 AUD