Apple
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5)
S
Ranked #1 in Laptops
Backed by 5 cited sources
Covered by 5 outlets
The consensus best laptop for most people in 2026: Tom's Guide, TechRadar, and CNN Underscored all place it at the top for its blend of M5 performance, 18-hour battery life, and fanless aluminum build, even after the price rose to $1,099.
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Key features
- ✓ Apple M5 chip (about 11% faster than M4)
- ✓ Up to 18 hours battery life
- ✓ Fanless, silent aluminum design
- ✓ 512GB base SSD, roughly 2x faster storage
- ✓ 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display
The sources behind this ranking
5 cited sources cover Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5). Here's the stance each one takes.
S 3 A 2
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Tom's Guide The MacBook Air M5 is Tom's Guide's best laptop for most people and its top 13-inch pick, citing excellent performance and long battery life despite Apple's price rises. S Read → T 
TechRadar TechRadar's number one pick for 2026: the MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) replaced the M4 model at the top of its best laptops list. S Read → C 
CNN Underscored Pretty much the perfect laptop for most people; best combination of performance, battery life, build quality, and value on the market. S Read → T 
Tom's Hardware Calls it the sum of years of refinements with premium design, strong performance, and solid battery life; easily recommends it to most people despite the $1,099 price bump. A Read → S 
Six Colors Positive review framing the M5 Air as 'the same, but more': a faster, longer-lasting refinement of an already winning formula. A Read →