Apple has just dropped M5 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air — and it’s going all-in on AI

Apple’s back in its “our chip is faster than your chip” era, and this time it’s brought receipts.

In a triple hit of announcements, Apple has unveiled brand-new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models powered by M5 Pro and M5 Max, plus a refreshed MacBook Air running standard M5. The vibe? More power, more AI, more storage, and a not-so-subtle nudge for anyone still clinging to Intel.

The new MacBook Pro models are being pitched as portable AI labs. Apple claims up to 4x faster AI performance compared to the previous generation, and up to 8x faster than M1 machines.

There’s a new GPU architecture with a Neural Accelerator in each core, plus serious memory bandwidth, up to 614GB/s on M5 Max, and support for up to 128GB unified memory.

If you’re training models, smashing through 8K edits or rendering scenes that make your current laptop sound like it’s about to file for bankruptcy, this is your moment.

The new MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max - YouTube

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Storage has finally been dragged into 2026 as well. M5 Pro models now start at 1TB, and M5 Max starts at 2TB. SSD speeds go up to 14.5GB/s, which should make massive creative projects feel less like a personal attack. You’re also getting Thunderbolt 5, HDMI with 8K support, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 via Apple’s new N1 chip, a 12MP Center Stage camera and up to 24 hours of battery life.

Pricing is, predictably, premium. The 14-inch M5 Pro starts at £2,199. The 16-inch begins at £2,699. Step up to M5 Max, and you’re looking at £3,599 and £3,899 respectively. Pre-orders open on the 4th of March, landing 11 March.

MacBook Air stops being the “basic” option

The new MacBook Air with M5 - YouTube

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Now for the one most people will buy.

The MacBook Air with M5 still looks like the impossibly thin, fanless crowd-pleaser, but it’s had a quiet glow-up. It now starts at 512GB (finally), can be configured up to 4TB, and delivers up to 9.5x faster AI performance compared to M1 models.

It packs a 10-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU with that same Neural Accelerator tech baked in. Apple says it’s up to 6.5x faster at 3D rendering than M1 and nearly 7x faster for AI video enhancement. Which basically means this isn’t just a “student laptop” anymore, it’s a lightweight workhorse.

Battery life sits at up to 18 hours. You get Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, MagSafe, and the same sharp Liquid Retina display. Colours? Sky blue, midnight, starlight and silver.

The 13-inch starts at £1,099. The 15-inch begins at £1,299. Again, pre-orders from the 4th of March, in shops on the 11th March.

Both lines run macOS Tahoe with Apple Intelligence fully embedded, Live Translation, smarter Shortcuts, on-device AI tricks, all done locally rather than constantly pinging the cloud.

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