The new MacBook Air, powered by Apple’s M5 chip, now starts at $1,099 and includes 512 gigabytes of storage as standard — doubling the base capacity of the previous generation. Under the prior lineup, customers needed to pay $1,199 to get a 512GB model, effectively giving consumers more storage at a lower entry price.
Higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models now feature the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, which Apple says deliver substantial gains in performance and on-device AI capabilities. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip starts at $2,199 and comes with 1 terabyte of standard storage, up from 512GB in earlier base configurations. The company has adopted a similar pricing approach across these models, increasing base storage without significantly changing headline prices.
Since moving away from Intel processors in 2020, Apple’s in-house M-series chips have helped differentiate its laptops from Windows-based PCs by offering improved performance, energy efficiency, and battery life. The latest M5-series iteration builds on these advantages, with Apple highlighting enhanced AI performance for tasks such as machine learning, image processing, and on-device computations.
The PC market has experienced uneven demand in recent years, as consumers and businesses delayed upgrades following the pandemic-driven surge in laptop purchases. Rising prices for memory chips, including DRAM and NAND flash, have also impacted manufacturing costs, as chipmakers focus on producing components for AI applications and higher-performance devices.
Apple’s announcement follows its recent iPhone 17e launch on Monday, a more affordable smartphone starting at $599 with 256GB of base storage, reflecting the company’s broader strategy of providing more value at competitive entry points across its hardware lineup.
Industry analysts note that by offering higher storage at the same or lower starting prices, Apple aims to maintain market share in a challenging PC environment while leveraging the M5 chips to appeal to power users and professionals who rely on performance and on-device AI capabilities.