Apple said the M5 MacBook Air’s SSD would be 2x faster than the M4. Benchmarks suggest they undersold it. Early real-world testing shows the new Air delivering up to a 229.96% performance jump over the previous generation — and it fixes the single most criticised flaw of recent MacBook Air models in the process.
Table of Contents
M5 vs M4 MacBook Air: SSD Speed Comparison
| Test | M4 MacBook Air | M5 MacBook Air | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSD Read Speed | ~3,500 MB/s | ~7,000 MB/s | ~2x+ |
| SSD Write Speed | Similar gen-on-gen | ~2x faster | Up to 2x |
| Storage Protocol | PCIe Gen 3 | PCIe Gen 4 | Full generational jump |
| Base Storage | 256GB | 512GB | Doubled (no extra cost) |
| Max Storage | 2TB | 4TB | First time for Air |
Why This Is More Than Just a Spec Bump
Apple finally killed the 256GB base tier — every M5 MacBook Air ships with 512GB, and the new SSD delivers 2x faster read/write performance versus the M4 generation. That second part matters enormously, because the slow SSD in base MacBook Air models has been a recurring complaint since the M2 generation when Apple used a single NAND chip to cut costs — causing measurably sluggish disk performance on the cheapest configurations.
The base model now gets 512GB SSD storage by default, and the speed was improved to PCIe 4.0, so the transfer rates are on par with MacBook Pro models at around 7GB/s. That’s a remarkable equaliser — the Air’s storage now matches the Pro tier, something that has never been true before.
Beyond storage, GPU performance is up to 50% faster for gaming and graphics tasks, and memory bandwidth sees a 28% improvement over M4 — making the whole system feel noticeably more fluid. Apple’s entry-level M5 in the MacBook Air only consumes 7–8 watts while gaming, with no throttling even during extended sessions — remarkable efficiency for a completely fanless design.
Starting at $1,099 for the 13-inch and $1,299 for the 15-inch, the M5 MacBook Air is the easiest laptop recommendation Apple has made in years. For anyone on an M1 or M2 Air, this is a straightforward upgrade — and for Windows ultrabook shoppers, it raises the bar considerably.
FAQs
Is the M5 MacBook Air SSD faster than M4 MacBook Pro models?
Yes — early benchmarks show the M5 Air’s SSD matching or exceeding some M4 Pro configurations thanks to the PCIe Gen 4 upgrade.
Does the base M5 MacBook Air still suffer from slow SSD speeds?
No — the shift to 512GB base storage with dual NAND chips and PCIe Gen 4 resolves the slow SSD issue that plagued M2 and M3 base models.
