Apple bumped the price of the MacBook Air by $100 when it launched the M5 version, and a lot of people (rightfully) groaned. But that price hike just became irrelevant. The 13-inch M5 MacBook Air is already on sale for $949.99, a full $150 off its list price.
That's not just a good deal on the new model. It actually makes the M5 Air cheaper than the M4 version was at its original retail price. So if you skipped the last generation waiting for a price drop, you can now leapfrog it entirely and grab the newer chip for less.
For the specs, you're getting the M5 chip, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. That's a solid configuration for most people, whether you're running local AI tools, juggling browser tabs, or doing light creative work. Apple's base RAM bump to 16GB across the lineup last year was a big deal, and it carries forward here.
The M5 chip brings incremental but real improvements in performance and efficiency. For anyone using AI features built into macOS or running models locally through tools like Ollama or LM Studio, the extra headroom matters. It's not a revolutionary jump from the M4, but it's a meaningful one.
This kind of discount this early in a product cycle is unusual for Apple hardware. Typically you wait months before seeing meaningful price cuts on new Macs. If the pattern holds, we could see even deeper discounts later in the year, but $949.99 is already below what most people expected to pay.
If you've been holding out for a lightweight machine that can handle AI workloads without breaking the bank, this is one of the better entry points we've seen. The MacBook Air remains the default recommendation for most people, and at this price, it's an easy call.
