Apple's New MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Have New Chips, More Storage, and Higher Prices

"The MacBook Air has now been updated to the latest M5 chip. It's a fairly modest upgrade, but it brings it up to speed with Apple's latest processor that debuted in the MacBook Pro last fall. There are no other major hardware changes-it now comes with 512 GB of starting storage with "faster SSD technology"-but you can still get the Air in either a 13- or 15-inch screen size."

"The M5 Pro and M5 Max can be configured with up to 18 CPU cores (12 performance cores and 6 "super" cores), up from 16 on the M4 Max. The M5 Pro can scale up to 20 GPU cores, while the M5 Max extends up to 40 GPU cores. Thanks to higher memory bandwidth, more efficient Neural Engine, and improved GPU architecture, Apple says the M5 Pro and M5 Max have "over 4X the peak CPU compute for AI" compared to the last generation and offer 20 percent better GPU performance."

Apple announced updates to its MacBook lineup, upgrading the MacBook Air to the M5 chip with 512GB starting storage and the latest N1 wireless chip supporting Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The MacBook Air pricing increased by $100, starting at $1,099 for 13-inch and $1,299 for 15-inch models. Additionally, Apple introduced M5 Pro and M5 Max chips for 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. These new chips feature up to 18 CPU cores and up to 40 GPU cores, delivering over 4X peak CPU compute for AI compared to the previous generation and 20 percent better GPU performance. The MacBook Pro hardware remains largely unchanged since 2021, maintaining the same ports, display, speakers, and 24-hour battery life.

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