Apple Launches New MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Featuring Advanced M5 Chips

Apple introduced its latest MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models on Tuesday, powered by the new M5 chip series. The MacBook Pro models debut with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, which Apple describes as its most advanced CPU cores to date, designed to enhance performance for demanding AI applications.

According to Apple, the updated M5 chips enable these laptops to perform AI tasks up to four times faster than their M4 predecessors. While these improvements primarily benefit users engaged in intensive AI computations such as training custom models or generating 3D renderings, they also contribute to overall system efficiency.

The new MacBook Air offers up to 18 hours of battery life, a significant increase from previous Intel-based models, alongside a 12MP Center Stage camera, a three-mic array, and a sound system supporting Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. It features two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a MagSafe charging port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Air lineup includes 13-inch and 15-inch models, starting at $1099 and $1299 respectively, with base storage doubled to 512 GB and color options including sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver.

Targeted at professional users, the MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips deliver up to 4x faster LLM prompt processing than the M4 generation and up to 8x faster AI image generation compared to the M1 series. They also offer up to 2x faster read/write speeds and start with 1TB storage for M5 Pro and 2TB for M5 Max models. Battery life can reach up to 24 hours, with fast charging capabilities allowing 50% charge in 30 minutes using a 96W or higher USB-C adapter. The MacBook Pro supports Thunderbolt 5 and includes a six-speaker sound system. Pricing begins at $2,199 for the 14-inch M5 Pro model and $3,599 for the M5 Max variant, available in black or silver.

Preorders for the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models open on March 4, with availability starting March 11.

Read more: techcrunch.com