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If you bought one of Apple’s M5 MacBook Airs at launch, it would have cost you $1,099 for the base model. Then, the memory crisis took its toll, and all of a sudden, that same machine shot up in price by $200 without any new features or changes. The MacBook Air, which for years has started at $999 and jumped to $1,099 with the M5 (while also giving you more storage, at least), now starts at $1,299. If you want more storage, or to upgrade to the 15-inch model, it’ll only cost you more.
These prices only push customers towards Apple’s less expensive MacBook Neo. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: the Neo comes with most of the features that people are looking for in an Apple laptop, at about half the cost of the MacBook Air. But these are not identical machines. Users choosing the Neo over the Air lose out on a bigger, higher-quality display; a processor made for macOS; a backlit keyboard; and MagSafe charging, just to name a few perks. These are all excellent features, but it’s tough to justify the additional $600. But what if you could save $200? That makes those perks a bit more worth the upgrade.
For October Prime Day, Amazon has an excellent deal on the 13-inch M5 MacBook Air, taking $200 off Apple’s new and beefier MSRP, bringing the cost down to…well, the M5’s launch price. If you’ve been kicking yourself for not buying one of these machines between March and June, now’s your chance to turn back the clock.
This MacBook Air comes with a 13.6-inch display (Apple calls it the “13-inch” for marketing purposes), with a resolution of 2560 by 1664 and a maximum brightness of 500 nits. You get the M5 chip, which, according to Geekbench, outperforms the MacBook Neo’s A18 Pro by nearly 22% in single-core tasks and 134% in multi-core tasks. That extra $400 isn’t just going towards an “Apple tax,” as you’ll notice real-world performance increases for your money. You’ll also get a 12MP Center Stage camera for video conferencing and FaceTime calls, Touch ID built into the keyboard, and support for MagSafe charging—though you can also charge using either of the two USB 4 ports.
Importantly, this model comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. That should be plenty for most users, but Amazon is also hosting discounts on both the 1TB model ($1,399 instead of $1,599), as well as the 1TB model with 24GB of RAM ($1,599 instead of $1,799). But again, most people will make do just fine with the base configuration. And for $1,099, it’s a fantastic deal.