The MacBook Air M4 just dropped to $949.99 at Amazon—its lowest price ever—and it exposes a pricing problem Apple created by launching the MacBook Air M5 at $1,099. The M5 is faster. It has double the base storage. And yet, for most people, the older M4 remains the smarter buy right now.
Key Takeaways
- MacBook Air M4 (13-inch) now $949.99 at Amazon, down from original $999 base price
- MacBook Air M5 launched at $1,099 with 512GB storage standard vs. M4’s 256GB
- M5 delivers 15% faster multi-core CPU performance but shares identical design and battery life with M4
- M5 CPU includes 10 cores; GPU options range from 8 to 10 cores with faster memory bandwidth
- M4 offers better value-for-money ratio at current discounted pricing
Why the MacBook Air M4 Remains the Value Winner
The MacBook Air M4 has everything the M5 offers in terms of everyday experience: a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, 18-hour battery life, MagSafe 3 charging, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and the same aluminum design in five color options. Apple changed almost nothing about the physical laptop. The M5 upgrade is purely internal—a faster chip that most users will never fully utilize. At $949.99, the M4 costs $150 less than the M5’s base model while delivering the same user experience for email, web browsing, document editing, and video calls.
This is the paradox of Apple’s timing. The M5 arrived in March 2026 with performance gains that matter primarily to video editors, 3D designers, and machine learning engineers. For a student taking notes in class or a freelancer managing spreadsheets and Slack, the M4 is functionally identical—and now significantly cheaper. The storage difference (256GB vs. 512GB) is a legitimate advantage for the M5, but most users pair their MacBook with cloud storage anyway, making that extra space less critical than the price gap suggests.
MacBook Air M4 vs M5: Performance Reality Check
The MacBook Air M5 is objectively faster. Geekbench 6 multi-core benchmarks show the M5 at 17,073 compared to the M4’s average of 14,731—a 15% gain. In Metal GPU tests, the M5 scores around 76,000 versus the M4’s 55,000. For video export in Final Cut Pro, the M5 completes a sample task in under 14 seconds while the M4 takes roughly 18 seconds—a 24% improvement. Apple claims the M5 delivers up to 4x faster performance for AI tasks than the M4, powered by a 16-core Neural Engine present in both chips but optimized differently in the newer model.
But here’s the catch: unless you’re running machine learning models, encoding video daily, or processing massive photo libraries, you won’t notice this gap. The M4 still handles Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, and Photoshop without hesitation. It runs multiple browser tabs, development environments, and design software simultaneously. The performance delta exists on a benchmark chart, not in real-world frustration. You’re paying $150 extra for a speed improvement you may never experience.
Storage and Specs: Where M5 Actually Wins
The MacBook Air M5 doubles the base storage from 256GB to 512GB, a meaningful upgrade for content creators and developers who work with large project files. Both chips feature a 10-core CPU with four performance cores and six efficiency cores, but the M5’s memory bandwidth jumps to 153GB/s compared to the M4’s 120GB/s. GPU options remain identical—8-core or 10-core variants—and both support up to 32GB of unified RAM. External display support maxes out at two 6K displays or one 8K display on either model.
The storage advantage is real, but it’s also fixable. You can configure the M4 with 512GB storage during purchase, though that adds cost and erases the price advantage. Alternatively, an external SSD or cloud service handles overflow files. For someone buying off-the-shelf at the listed price, the M5’s doubled storage is a genuine plus—but not worth $150 to someone who can manage with 256GB plus external drives.
Design, Display, and Battery: Nothing Changed
Apple recycled the entire chassis from the M4 generation. The MacBook Air M5 has the same unibody aluminum construction, the same five color finishes (Midnight, Starlight, Space Gray, Silver, and Space Black), and the same 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with 500 nits of brightness. Battery life remains at 18 hours for both models. Ports are identical: MagSafe 3, two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The trackpad, keyboard, and speaker quality carry over unchanged.
This is why the M5 feels like a half-step upgrade rather than a full generation leap. Apple swapped the chip and doubled the base storage—two internal changes that don’t alter how the laptop looks, feels, or sounds. If you own an M4, there’s no visual way to distinguish it from an M5 across a coffee shop table. The design language is identical, which means buyers paying $150 extra are purely paying for CPU speed and storage capacity, not a new experience.
Who Should Buy Which Model
Buy the MacBook Air M4 at $949.99 if you’re a student, writer, remote worker, or casual creator. You get a premium laptop with excellent battery life, a gorgeous display, and enough performance for everything except professional video work or AI development. The M4 is a no-brainer at this price point—it’s one of the best values in the laptop market right now.
Buy the MacBook Air M5 only if you edit video daily, work with machine learning models, or manage massive photo libraries where the 512GB base storage and extra CPU speed genuinely matter. Even then, consider whether the M4 with a custom storage upgrade makes financial sense for your workflow. The M5 is the better laptop in absolute terms, but it’s not $150 better for most people.
Is the MacBook Air M4 still worth buying in 2026?
Yes. At $949.99, the M4 delivers flagship performance, excellent build quality, and a 18-hour battery in a thin, portable package. It will handle professional work for years. The only reason to regret buying it is if you specifically need the M5’s 15% CPU speed boost or doubled storage—and most buyers don’t.
How much faster is the MacBook Air M5 than the M4?
The M5 is approximately 15% faster in multi-core CPU tasks and up to 24% faster in video export workflows. For everyday tasks like browsing, email, and document editing, the difference is imperceptible. The gap only becomes obvious in professional creative software and AI workloads.
Should I wait for the MacBook Air M5 or buy the M4 now?
If the M4 at $949.99 fits your budget and your work doesn’t require the M5’s extra speed or storage, buy now. Waiting for an M5 price drop means paying $1,099 today when a faster, cheaper alternative exists. The M4 will remain capable for 5+ years. If you need the M5’s specific performance gains, the price difference is worth it—but most people don’t.
Apple’s pricing strategy backfired here. By launching the M5 at $1,099 while the award-winning M4 dropped to $949.99, the company accidentally proved that the older model is the smarter purchase for anyone not doing professional creative work. The M5 is faster, but the M4 is the better value. In a market where every dollar counts, value wins.
Where to Buy
13-inch MacBook Air M4 on sale for $949.99 | Shop Amazon's full Big Spring Sale | on sale for $1,049 | Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4): | Fire Sticks, Echo & tablets from $18
Edited by the All Things Geek team.
Source: TechRadar
