M5 Air gaming

[Non-Euclidean]

Does anyone have a M5 Air 10/10/16 and tried gaming yet?

I am looking at getting a MBA 15 10/10/16 32G/1TB or a MBP 14 15/16/16 24G/1TB

The MBP, seriously future proofs me with power.
Annoyed I can't get the MBP to 32G and really don't see the need for 48G (at +360), not going Max for 36G (+1100).
Also TB5, WiFi 7 and faster SSD speeds.
16" screen for a secondary machine seems too bulky.

What are the screen differences between the MBA and MBP, non texture aside?

Primarily this will be a secondary machine, sofa use and travel.
So the MBA is lighter, quieter and won't get as hot.

I also obviously leaning towards increasing RAM/storage for future proofing.

I also will go to an Apple store do some comparing.

I have the M4 Max as a desktop which can handle heavier lifting.

Has anyone got Crossover going on an M5 Air and how is it working?

__________

Edit: Doing some research in the MBP forum. Duh.

I think I am convincing myself to get the MBP, in 15/16/16 for a few hundred more than the MBA.
I am also seeing it at Microcenter for 1799, without the nano-texture, for a steal, compared to Apple educational price

https://www.microcenter.com/product/708474/apple-macbook-pro-14-mgdn4ll-a-(early-2026)-142-laptop-computer-silver

 

[dmr727]

I have an M4 Air that I use for gaming under Crossover, but I don't play the latest stuff with it. I've done playthroughs of Witcher 3, Skyrim, and Bioshock Infinite and it's been great, but those aren't exactly the latest titles either! I've been meaning to try RDR2 and see how it does.

I'd think you'd want something actively cooled like a MBP if you're really planning to push it.

 

[dmr727]

Just saw your edit with the link to the MBP. Unless you *really* want the lighter weight of the Air, I think that's a great way to go.

I travel all the time and convinced myself to get an Air, but if I had to go back and do it again I'd be doing what you're doing instead.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

Yeah, I was reading in another thread which had an awesome feature comparison:

Macbook pro: M5 Pro 24 GB vs M5 32GB Ram?

Hi all, I am hesitating between the Macbook Pro 14 inch M5 Pro 24 GB and the M5 32 GB Ram both with 1 TB. They are both the same price. I know I don’t need the extra CPU that the M5 pro chip offers but am wondering if it is worth it for future proofing or generally better even with less ram...

forums.macrumors.com

At that price everything moves towards the MBP, with its feature set.

Just glad I woke up and started looking at places other than the Apple Educational store.

 

[1BadManVan]

$1799 for the new m5 pro is hard to ignore. It won't be as comfy for couch usage as an air obviously but will definitely be a more capable machine. I love my air since my main use place for it is on my couch so air for me was the easy choice and no regrets there. I have a full windows desktop machine for my gaming needs

 

[Non-Euclidean]

$1799 for the new m5 pro is hard to ignore. It won't be as comfy for couch usage as an air obviously but will definitely be a more capable machine. I love my air since my main use place for it is on my couch so air for me was the easy choice and no regrets there. I have a full windows desktop machine for my gaming needs

Yeah, I haven't started up my i7-5820K windows box since October when I migrated to an M4 Max Studio for my workstation needs. I was never running the latest and greatest, unless it was Fallout4, BG3 or The Outer Worlds. I'll start getting used to Crossover. So this is for light gaming.

 

[1BadManVan]

Yeah, I haven't started up my i7-5820K windows box since October when I migrated to an M4 Max Studio for my workstation needs. I was never running the latest and greatest, unless it was Fallout4, BG3 or The Outer Worlds. I'll start getting used to Crossover. So this is for light gaming.

yea I would just look up the games you're interested in and see who's run them on the Macs, the m5 gpu definitely got a nice little upgrade this year. My main gaming is a 13700k/rtx 4080 though so no Mac is touching it for gaming performance lol. The fact my fanless m5 air has way faster single core and very close in multicore to my overclocked 13700k chip is insane though lol