MBA M2 to M5 any benefits

[Zapdoc]

Have MBA M2 16Gb and 2Tb but considering MBA M5 with 24 Gb and 1 ir 2 Tb - usage mainly usual stuff web/e mail/Office - doing Medicolegal reports large docs with lots of references etc some photography in Photos form my iPhone 17 Pro

Please advise would I see much difference - felt like new MBA and considering it

Please advise

 

[Boppi]

"You're not going to see a big upgrade by going to the M5 from the M2 for example"

That's just one mans opinion, but he does have all 5 in front of him to compare.

Sure there are big leaps in processor power and memory bandwidth and SSD speeds between the two but if you're never really pushing the machine, you may not notice a huge difference in day-to-day use.

 

[JPack]

For office work? Nah. That stuff just doesn't push the cores hard enough.

Unless you're sitting and waiting on a progress bar, you're unlikely to appreciate the difference.

 

[dbdynsty25]

Save your money. You're fine with the M2 for the foreseeable future given your use case.

 

[Chevyguy2021]

Save your money. The new Apple price hikes makes keeping the m2 and even smarter decision

 

[CalMin]

If you're not running benchmarks and making YouTube videos about them, then most people won't notice a difference in daily use. At least not until MacOS Golden Gate ships, at which point M3 and higher will get the 'enhanced Siri experience' (whatever that even means...) but the M2 and lower will not.

I'm still rocking a 2021 M1Pro 16GB/1TB as my work machine and an M4 32GB/2TB as my personal device. The M1 Pro turns 5-years old in October and it still cuts through daily tasks like butter. M4 seems to do the one-bounce app a bit more often than the M1Pro but really it feels mostly the same.

 

[Deanster]

Between myself, my wife and my kids we have M2/3/4/5 in the house. Overall, very little difference. If you're doing lots of work on big files or batch processing images, or rendering 4K video, you will notice significant improvements with the M5, but realistically those are tasks better approached with a MacBook Pro and an M3/4/5 Pro or Max processor, not an M5 base.

I was surprised when I looked at the base M5 how close it's getting to the M3 Max MBP I use at my desk, they have improved the horsepower more than I'd realized in day-to-day work. But overall an M2 MBA is fast enough at office tasks that you're getting very little additional bank for your buck, and most of that is going to be the extra RAM.

I'd wait a year or two for the gap to grow, and maybe make the jump with M6 or M7?

 

[kevcube]

now you can do two external monitors. but I use my personal m2 air for development work and I *sometimes but rarely* wait for the CPU as my bottleneck.

 

[Zapdoc]

now you can do two external monitors. but I use my personal m2 air for development work and I *sometimes but rarely* wait for the CPU as my bottleneck.

Thanks everyone - going to take advice and keep my current MBA meanwhile - hard to resist wanting the new stuff ! But reality dawns

 

[kevcube]

Thanks everyone - going to take advice and keep my current MBA meanwhile - hard to resist wanting the new stuff ! But reality dawns

there's always M6 😉

 

[danpass]

My MBA13 M3 24/1tb was fine. I did a trade in for an MBP14 primarily for the screen quality but I did go for 48/2tb and Pro chip.

But I did this exchange a week before the price hikes so I'm inclined to agree with the 'keep the MBA' idea.

 

[Torty]

advanced dictation.

 

[1BadManVan]

If its doing everything you want it to currently, then I wouldn't say there is a big reason unless you can get the m5 at the old pricing somewhere still, then I say maybe take a harder look at it as these inflated prices might be here for awhile still. The main obvious benefit to the M5 is going to be software support in the future. I went from an M2 16/1tb to the M5 24/1tb, mainly because I knew the prices were going to go up sooner than later and I want to keep this machine as long as I can. Day to day usage, there isn't a big difference for light work, it's definitely snappier feeling, better wifi. Pushing it a bit more doing editing work, it definitely becomes more obvious, especially for me having that extra ram on board.

 

[Steelhead1957]

FOMO is real. I have a MacBook Air M2, 16GB Ram, 1 TB and it does everything I need.... wasn't I "future proofing" with this configuration? Isn't this the "future" I was waiting for? I fear Apple support leaving my M2 behind (why? I make a couple videos a week, work like a dog daily driving it for work, etc. and it is fine, for now.) Then I find myself thinking, MacBook Pro 14" M5 (for the screen alone), get an Air M5? First world sickness...

 

[Mainsail]

I just swapped my base M2 MBA (8/256) for a base M5 (16/512). The M2 was working just fine for me; Apple built-in apps + Productive Apps (iWork/MS Office). So, why did I buy the M5? Because it was on sale for $949 on Amazon, and Apple just increased the base price to $1299. I decided to pull the trigger now rather than wait for another year or two.

Anyway, the M5 is great. I am a big fan of the MBA, and it does not disappoint.

 

[MacBH928]

Have MBA M2 16Gb and 2Tb but considering MBA M5 with 24 Gb and 1 ir 2 Tb - usage mainly usual stuff web/e mail/Office - doing Medicolegal reports large docs with lots of references etc some photography in Photos form my iPhone 17 Pro

Please advise would I see much difference - felt like new MBA and considering it

Please advise

i am cruising on a macbook pro 2015 . no complaints.

 

[underthere]

i am cruising on a macbook pro 2015 . no complaints.

My favorite macbook pro!

 

[StoneJack]

I had M1, M2, Macbook Pro M3 and Air M4 with various RAM sizes (8 and 16). In office work, there is no difference at all. The main difference is in exporting video speed, which may or may not concern you.

 

[BillyBurke]

I just swapped my base M2 MBA (8/256) for a base M5 (16/512). The M2 was working just fine for me; Apple built-in apps + Productive Apps (iWork/MS Office). So, why did I buy the M5? Because it was on sale for $949 on Amazon, and Apple just increased the base price to $1299. I decided to pull the trigger now rather than wait for another year or two.

Anyway, the M5 is great. I am a big fan of the MBA, and it does not disappoint.

Exact same situation. I replaced a perfectly good M1 Pro because of getting the M5 (Amazon) at pre bump price. Cannot tell the difference in my usage....internet, email, and just messing around.

 

[1BadManVan]

Exact same situation. I replaced a perfectly good M1 Pro because of getting the M5 (Amazon) at pre bump price. Cannot tell the difference in my usage....internet, email, and just messing around.

Yup, same boat, my m2 worked perfectly fine. I do notice my m5 is a bit snappier for basic stuff and I definitely notice it when doing a bit of editing. My main reason for getting it was not having to deal with the sticker shock on a couple years down the road if my m2 was starting to bog down from recent updates or increased work flow

 

[Lyrrad]

Similarly, I upgraded from an 13" M2 24GB to a 15" M5 24GB MBA because I could get it at the old price, and I was eyeing a larger screen.

I don't notice any performance improvements for office-type work on device.

I get much higher maximum WiFi speeds since it supports WiFi 7 instead of WiFi 6. I only notice this when transferring large files.

I don't think I use these features, but only the M3 or later MacBooks support "Apple’s most powerful on-device model and the features it enables, like expressive voices and more advanced dictation" that's coming in MacOS 27.

There's also newer Bluetooth and a slightly better webcam.

 

[thadoggfather]

Do you guys buy AC for your MacBook Air? I have like 2 weeks left to decide. Last handful of machines I have gone without, my 2016 NTB MacBook Pro I got it.

Can you even get 3 years anymore or just the $85/yr annual until you cancel? Guess that allows for more flexibility.

 

[AeroSatan]

Do you guys buy AC for your MacBook Air? I have like 2 weeks left to decide. Last handful of machines I have gone without, my 2016 NTB MacBook Pro I got it.

Can you even get 3 years anymore or just the $85/yr annual until you cancel? Guess that allows for more flexibility.

My MacBook Pro M4Pro just had its screen flicker and fail without any damage whatsoever and just outside their one year limited warranty. AC+ saved me $1,200

 

[edubfromktown]

My MacBook Pro M4Pro just had its screen flicker and fail without any damage whatsoever and just outside their one year limited warranty. AC+ saved me $1,200

That's sort of scary.

I haven't purchased AC for any of their systems so far in more than 20 years. A few used ones that I purchased had 3 year AC and it came in handy.

In years past, Apple generally covered failures that were just outside of the 1-year limited warranty. Not sure if that is the case anymore and would not want to "gamble" the cost of a major repair on finding out.

 

[Lyrrad]

Do you guys buy AC for your MacBook Air? I have like 2 weeks left to decide. Last handful of machines I have gone without, my 2016 NTB MacBook Pro I got it.

Can you even get 3 years anymore or just the $85/yr annual until you cancel? Guess that allows for more flexibility.

I previously only got it when I got significant upgrades from non-base models, since it was the same price. Higher end models sometimes have more expensive repairs if the logic board needs to be replaced.

I maxed out the M2 13" Air, and had some expensive repairs covered due to kernel panics that I believe was due to a bad display flex cable. While the logic board wasn't the issue, I think they insisted on trying to replace that first. I think this would have cost me at least $600 if I didn't have AppleCare.

Other than that, I've found MacBooks to be more reliable for me over the years.

I have the AppleCare One subscription, which I apply to my most valuable iPhone and iPad, and then add on my newest MacBook for the third item.