Well.... I have to say that the M5 vs my M4 MBP and the MBA M2

[RoadCyclistID]

The last time I had an Air was the M2 and I have been with the MBP ever since. After getting the M5 with 24GB and the 1 TB drive, I have to say that it is good to be back. What an upgrade overall and it's nice to be able to be back. It's going to blend well with my retirement and will be fantastic to travel with. Of course there are a few downsides with the speakers and the screen but so far not a deal breaker for me. Glad that I took a chance on the silver as well and it may be a while before I find some if any downsides.

 

[GregoriousMan]

I previously had an MBP as well. After using the MBA for a year, I don’t even notice the screen differences any longer. Or the speaker differences for that matter.

Great device.

 

[1BadManVan]

Congrats, exact config i just ordered as well. 13" M5 in silver 24gb/1tb

Says it will be here next week, replacing my M2 air that i just sold this morning for $900 CDN

 

[GimmeSlack12]

I got a 15" Air M5 in Silver too! I debated getting Starlight but I figured I'd have this machine for a number of years and just go with what I know.

That being said I'm coming from a 2019 MBP and the upgrade is staggering. I'm thrilled.

 

[filmak]

I got a 15" Air M5 in Silver too! I debated getting Starlight but I figured I'd have this machine for a number of years and just go with what I know.

That being said I'm coming from a 2019 MBP and the upgrade is staggering. I'm thrilled.

I'm thinking to replace a MBP 16" 2019 with an M5 Air (15") too.
Could you please inform me what do you think of the Air's display?
Is there an improvement in quality? Or is it about the same?

 

[familychoice]

I'm thinking to replace a MBP 16" 2019 with an M5 Air (15") too.
Could you please inform me what do you think of the Air's display?
Is there an improvement in quality? Or is it about the same?

I've done exactly that, experiences after a week's use below:

The screen size is about an inch narrower, and half inch shorter than my MBP 16", big enough for my needs (I found the 16" too cumbersone).

Sound quality not as good as my M4 Pro MBP 14", or the old 16" MBP, but still good enough for general use.

General build quality on a par with both MBP's.

Keyboard and trackpad I find better than both of my MBP's. The keyboard has a great feel, and the trackpad is a joy to use, smooth and responsive.

I miss the extra ports on the right-hand side, but considering the Air was nearly half the price of my 14" MBP (and less than half the price of my £2.5k 16"), the compromise is ok. However transfer speeds are lightning fast.

Screen quality - not as sharp as my MBP 14", and no pro-motion, but I can't see any difference between this and my 16" MBP.

The big difference is in speed. Everything is fast and responsive, and going back to the 16" MBP is an eye-opener.

So a very positive purchase for me. There are compromises vs a new MBP, but the differences are not worth the extra costs for my uses. I'm keeping the MBP 16" for watching vids and as a music player, but the new Air is now my go-to work machine.

 

[chrono1081]

I'm thinking to replace a MBP 16" 2019 with an M5 Air (15") too.
Could you please inform me what do you think of the Air's display?
Is there an improvement in quality? Or is it about the same?

I did this with an M2 MacBook Air. I had a top of the line MBP 16 inch i9, 64 gigs ram, and my MBA M2 absolutely obliterated it in every single metric (including 3D rendering oddly).

I can't imagine what the difference would be between that and the M5.

Screen wise I noticed no difference in the display. The air's display is nice and crisp.

 

[1BadManVan]

I'm thinking to replace a MBP 16" 2019 with an M5 Air (15") too.
Could you please inform me what do you think of the Air's display?
Is there an improvement in quality? Or is it about the same?

on paper their display quality should be very similar, but the air display would be a bit of an improvement so it definitely won't feel like a compromise vs your 2019 pro, and the performance will be miles better than your old pro.

 

[Teletypewriter]

Specs:
M5 Air 15.3in = 2880x1864@224ppi, 500 nits, 5.4M pixels
2019 15.4” Pro = 2880x1800@220ppi, 500 nits, 5.2M pixels

The new silicon MacBook Air computers use the same display panel technology as the old Intel MacBook Pro Retina used.

 

[1BadManVan]

Specs:
M5 Air 15.3in = 2880x1864@224ppi, 500 nits, 5.4M pixels
2019 15.4” Pro = 2880x1800@220ppi, 500 nits, 5.2M pixels

The new silicon MacBook Air computers use the same display panel technology as the old Intel MacBook Pro Retina used.

hes coming from the 16" version which is a slightly higher 226ppi but color reproduction on the air is better at a billion vs "millions" on the old pro. So overall i think the air will still edge it out

 

[filmak]

I've done exactly that, experiences after a week's use below:

The screen size is about an inch narrower, and half inch shorter than my MBP 16", big enough for my needs (I found the 16" too cumbersone).

Sound quality not as good as my M4 Pro MBP 14", or the old 16" MBP, but still good enough for general use.

General build quality on a par with both MBP's.

Keyboard and trackpad I find better than both of my MBP's. The keyboard has a great feel, and the trackpad is a joy to use, smooth and responsive.

I miss the extra ports on the right-hand side, but considering the Air was nearly half the price of my 14" MBP (and less than half the price of my £2.5k 16"), the compromise is ok. However transfer speeds are lightning fast.

Screen quality - not as sharp as my MBP 14", and no pro-motion, but I can't see any difference between this and my 16" MBP.

The big difference is in speed. Everything is fast and responsive, and going back to the 16" MBP is an eye-opener.

So a very positive purchase for me. There are compromises vs a new MBP, but the differences are not worth the extra costs for my uses. I'm keeping the MBP 16" for watching vids and as a music player, but the new Air is now my go-to work machine.

did this with an M2 MacBook Air. I had a top of the line MBP 16 inch i9, 64 gigs ram, and my MBA M2 absolutely obliterated it in every single metric (including 3D rendering oddly).

I can't imagine what the difference would be between that and the M5.

Screen wise I noticed no difference in the display. The air's display is nice and crisp.

on paper their display quality should be very similar, but the air display would be a bit of an improvement so it definitely won't feel like a compromise vs your 2019 pro, and the performance will be miles better than your old pro.

Specs:
M5 Air 15.3in = 2880x1864@224ppi, 500 nits, 5.4M pixels
2019 15.4” Pro = 2880x1800@220ppi, 500 nits, 5.2M pixels

The new silicon MacBook Air computers use the same display panel technology as the old Intel MacBook Pro Retina used.

hes coming from the 16" version which is a slightly higher 226ppi but color reproduction on the air is better at a billion vs "millions" on the old pro. So overall i think the air will still edge it out

I am so grateful to all of you for your valuable advices and for your kind help.
Thank you for taking the time, you have helped me a lot.

 

[Mainsail]

A good laptop is a delight. Many working folks spend hours each day on their laptops. On MR Fourm, way too much emphasis is placed on tech specs under the hood. Often what makes the biggest difference are the usability features; trackpad, keyboard, ports, screen quality, camera for calls, and battery life. Most business professionals and everyday users don't press the memory or processing power, but they sure notice other features.

I am a long time MBA consumer, and for me, it hits the sweet spot. I currently have a base M2 MBA, and it does everything I need. Not knocking the Neo, but I would miss certain features...like backlit keyboard. There is going to be a large market for the Neo, but the MBA is in a safe spot in the Apple line-up because many working folks just don't want to give up the things that make it such a delight to use. The Ops post reinforces this point. The MBA sits perfectly between the Neo and the MBP.

 

[thadoggfather]

A good laptop is a delight. Many working folks spend hours each day on their laptops. On MR Fourm, way too much emphasis is placed on tech specs under the hood. Often what makes the biggest difference are the usability features; trackpad, keyboard, ports, screen quality, camera for calls, and battery life. Most business professionals and everyday users don't press the memory or processing power, but they sure notice other features.

I am a long time MBA consumer, and for me, it hits the sweet spot. I currently have a base M2 MBA, and it does everything I need. Not knocking the Neo, but I would miss certain features...like backlit keyboard. There is going to be a large market for the Neo, but the MBA is in a safe spot in the Apple line-up because many working folks just don't want to give up the things that make it such a delight to use. The Ops post reinforces this point. The MBA sits perfectly between the Neo and the MBP.

underrated opinion. this is why I like to get first gens of the modern era even though they can be beta products and a roll of the dice. seems they've stabilized more though in recent years than in prior.

a new re-design is the biggest feature upgrade in my opinion or can be.

I long for 16gb+ and 512gb+ but 8/256 15 inch m2 Air has been quite good to me for coming up on 3 years. And when I go to the store, the current offerings largely 'feel' the same despite having way more advanced tech in them. M2 is really like an M1.5 too since it's rather incremental but being on Apple Silicon alone is a huge leap from x86.

Increasingly swayed and tempted by recent $150 off sales compounded with open box on the 13 inch, but I dunno. Part of me wants to hold on longer since this machine is still fine, even on Tahoe, and to clench my pocketbook... and I am still waffling what size I would even get if I were to upgrade. 13 inch most appealing bc of the price but I have really enjoyed using my 15 inch as a quasi table-bound desktop 80% of the time and it's fine enough on the couch and stuff. And my eyes appreciate the gains.

--

I rode the storm with first gen 2015 12" MacBook retina as well and loved its portability but the Core M was too slow for me even for casual stuff.

Upgraded to 2016 first gen no Touch Bar 13 inch MacBook Pro which, while had its butterfly keyboard saga like the 12" MacBook, was more of the same for many years even with iterative upgrades until the eventual re-design that did not have butterfly keyboard (the last 2020 i5 x86 before M1 13" Air later that year that I kept until this 15" M2).

What a disastrous saga in hindsight that was, butterfly keyboards on all their portable Macs, but at the same time I still use my 2016 as my Win10 dual boot machine and think of it very little less than the models that were same design until 2020 (and just updated w better keyboard but same overall design language/form. By then I was ready to leap to the Air).

 

[Mike330R]

I've been considering going from a 16" MBP M1 to a 15" M5 Air.
I don't 'need' it and not sure the screen on the Air would be as nice.
I don't do much more than surf the net and a few YT video's.
With Apples trade-in I could get a 1TB 15" M5 Air for under a grand.

Having a hard time justifying it when this M1 works fine.

 

[snipr125]

I've been considering going from a 16" MBP M1 to a 15" M5 Air.
I don't 'need' it and not sure the screen on the Air would be as nice.
I don't do much more than surf the net and a few YT video's.
With Apples trade-in I could get a 1TB 15" M5 Air for under a grand.

Having a hard time justifying it when this M1 works

I would just keep your MBP M1 imo, the screen and speakers are much better, and it’s still plenty powerful with more ports etc. Probably not worth trading this in plus £1000 for a new MBA M5, unless you really want the lightweight form factor and newer m chip which is fair, plus there is always FOMO.

 

[familychoice]

A good laptop is a delight. Many working folks spend hours each day on their laptops. On MR Fourm, way too much emphasis is placed on tech specs under the hood. Often what makes the biggest difference are the usability features; trackpad, keyboard, ports, screen quality, camera for calls, and battery life.

Performance is important for me for longeivity - I have a cupboard full of laptops and other devices that can no longer cope with the latest OS bloat, but totally agree - the physical aspects of the device are just as important.

My new Air 15" M5 (base model) is an absolute sweet spot for me. Though the screen's not as sharp as my M4 Pro MBP, it's still perfectly acceptable for daily work use, and the keyboard and trackpad are the best I've ever used. The 15" size too is perfect - my M4 Pro MBP 14" is a bit too small for some tasks, and my old Intel 16" MBP too cumbersome.

Really hapy with the M5 Air - they've got a winner with this one.