Apple MacBook Air

Most Mac laptop shoppers end up on MacBook Air, and the choice inside it is size. The 13-inch is the one to carry every day, light enough for lectures with up to 18 hours of battery. Go 15-inch for a bigger Liquid Retina canvas for spreadsheets, photo work and side-by-side windows at a small cost in weight. Both run the M5 chip with no fan, so they stay silent under load, and both start at 512GB with 16GB of memory. Step up to 24GB if you keep heavy apps open together. If your work is video editing or 3D, look at MacBook Pro. Filter by size and colour below.

13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Air

The two MacBook Air sizes share the M5 chip, the fanless design and up to 18 hours of battery, so the decision is about where the laptop spends its day. The 13-inch is the one to carry. It is the lighter of the two, it fits a small bag and an airline tray, and for lectures, cafés and commuting it is the MacBook Air most people mean. The 15-inch is the one to open on a desk. The larger Liquid Retina display gives spreadsheets, photo libraries and side-by-side windows room to breathe, at a small cost in weight. If you already use an external monitor at home, the 13-inch plus that monitor is often the better pairing than the 15-inch alone.

How much memory and storage

Every MacBook Air here starts at 512GB of storage and 16GB of unified memory, which covers study, office work, photo editing and everyday multitasking. Step up to 24GB if you run creative apps alongside a browser full of tabs, or if you want the laptop to stay comfortable for several years of macOS updates. Choose 1TB of storage if you keep video projects or a large photo library on the machine rather than in iCloud.

When to look at MacBook Pro or MacBook Neo instead

MacBook Air handles short bursts of heavy work well, because the M5 chip is fast, but it has no fan, so an hour-long video export or a long software build will slow it to keep cool. If that is your daily work, MacBook Pro with active cooling and the M5 Pro or M5 Max chip is the right tool. At the other end, if your laptop is for writing, browsing and streaming, MacBook Neo gives you macOS and Apple Intelligence on the A18 Pro chip for less, with 8GB of memory that suits lighter apps.

Finishing the setup

MacBook Air with M5 drives up to two external displays, so a Studio Display or any monitor turns it into a desk Mac. A Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad for that setup is on the Apple accessories page, and MacBook Air models with a Red Hot Deal are listed on the Apple MacBook deals page. The full range of Mac laptops is on the Apple MacBook page. Every model is available online and in store at JB Hi-Fi.

^Discounts apply to previous ticketed / advertised price prior to the discount offer. As we negotiate, products will likely have been sold below ticketed / advertised price prior to the discount offer. Prices may differ at airport stores.