MacBook Air M5 15-inch Review: The Big Screen Tax Is Only $200

Two extra inches for $200. That’s the pitch.

The MacBook Air M5 15-inch is functionally identical to the 13-inch model — same M5 chip, same 16GB RAM, same 512GB storage, same 18-hour battery claim, same Wi-Fi 7. The differences: a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display instead of 13.6, a 10-core GPU instead of 8-core, a six-speaker sound system instead of four, and 1.51kg instead of 1.23kg. That’s it. And that’s enough to make this the better buy for a surprising number of people.

The Display: It’s Just Better to Work On

We’re not going to pretend this is complicated. 15.3 inches of screen gives you more room to work. Two documents side by side without squinting. A full-size spreadsheet without horizontal scrolling. Lightroom with enough space for both the photo and the editing panel. If you’ve ever felt cramped on a 13-inch display, the 15-inch solves it instantly.

The panel specs are identical — same Liquid Retina, same 2880×1864 resolution (scaled proportionally), same 500 nits, same P3 wide color. No ProMotion, just like the 13-inch. But the extra real estate makes daily productivity noticeably more comfortable.

10-Core GPU: A Small but Real Advantage

The 15-inch gets 2 extra GPU cores (10 vs 8). For casual users, this is invisible. For anyone doing photo editing, light video work, or gaming, the ~20% GPU boost is welcome. A 4K export in iMovie finishes slightly faster. Minecraft runs at slightly higher frame rates. It’s not the reason to buy the 15-inch, but it’s a nice bonus.

Sound: Genuinely Impressive

The six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers is a significant upgrade over the 13-inch’s four speakers. Bass is deeper, spatial audio is more convincing, and movie watching without headphones is actually enjoyable. We watched an entire season of a show on the 15-inch Air without once reaching for AirPods. That’s a first for a laptop.

The Weight Trade-Off

1.51kg vs 1.23kg. That’s 280 grams — about the weight of an iPhone. In a backpack, you won’t notice. In one hand while walking between meetings, you might. The 15-inch is still remarkably light for its size — lighter than most 14-inch Windows laptops — but the 13-inch remains the grab-and-go champion.

Who Picks 13 vs 15

Get the 13-inch if: You prioritize portability above all else, you travel frequently with your laptop, or you primarily work at a desk with an external monitor.

Get the 15-inch if: This is your only screen (no external monitor), you do a lot of document/spreadsheet work, you consume media on your laptop, or you want better speakers. Our 13 vs 15 MacBook Air M4 comparison applies equally here — the logic hasn’t changed.

The Verdict

$200 for two more inches of screen, two more GPU cores, and a dramatically better speaker system is one of the easiest upsells in Apple’s lineup. If you’re already spending $1,099 on the 13-inch, the 15-inch at $1,299 is almost always worth it unless portability is your single highest priority.

OnVerdict Score: 9.3/10 — The same excellent laptop, but more of it.

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