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Model: Apple - MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop - Apple M4 chip Built for Apple Intelligence - 32GB Memory - 1TB SSD - Sky Blue
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For $50 more you can get the M5 24 GB version, probably worth it at this price point.
I'm not so sure. Everyone can benefit from more RAM. the OS will use as much as you through at it, and it makes everything snappier. The extra speed boost from the M5 (this isn't even the pro) would seem to benefit people far less outside of specific workflows.
I'm not so sure. Everyone can benefit from more RAM. the OS will use as much as you through at it, and it makes everything snappier. The extra speed boost from the M5 (this isn't even the pro) would seem to benefit people far less outside of specific workflows.
M5s ram operates at 28% more the speed supposedly which should make M5 24 vs M4 32 pretty similar
M5s ram operates at 28% more the speed supposedly which should make M5 24 vs M4 32 pretty similar
The M5 Air's memory bandwidth is higher than the M4's, but "M5 24GB ≈ M4 32GB" doesn't follow from that. If you need 28–32GB of actual memory space, the M5's faster bandwidth on 24GB won't save you from memory pressure and swapping. The two specs solve different bottlenecks.
If you're doing llm work more ram is more important than more cpu.
While that's true, I would think percentage of Macbook Air-buying population that runs LLM locally would be very low. If they are running llm locally, they mostly have a Pro (with a Pro or Max CPU) or a Wintel with nvidia GPU.
Now having said that M5 has made some significant improvements in LLM inference. Between faster memory, neural accelerator and faster SSD, you will see significant improvement - assuming your model can fit into 24GB RAM. If it cant, well, those performance improvements wont matter a whole lot.
Last edited by thomman April 29, 2026 at 04:35 PM.
While that's true, I would think percentage of Macbook Air-buying population that runs LLM locally would be very low. If they are running llm locally, they mostly have a Pro (with a Pro or Max CPU) or a Wintel with nvidia GPU.
32gb unified for $1500 is nominally $800 cheaper than the only 32gb GPUs alone from Nvidia these days, so intel is prices way higher for strictly LLM work
The mac mini with 32gb of ram is $100 more than this, so it's probably worth the $100 savings to get a keyboard, screen, and battery.
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32gb unified for $1500 is nominally $800 cheaper than the only 32gb GPUs alone from Nvidia these days, so intel is prices way higher for strictly LLM work
The mac mini with 32gb of ram is $100 more than this, so it's probably worth the $100 savings to get a keyboard, screen, and battery.
It really depends on what LLMs you are working with and for what purpose. If you are talking about an LLM which requires 32GB, I don't know you will see usable performance even with M5. You can run them, yes - but if you want it to be usable, you want the computing power that comes with a GPU like nvidia's or even AMD's.
Anyway, my point was, most people aren't buying Macbook Air for local LLM performance.
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Now having said that M5 has made some significant improvements in LLM inference. Between faster memory, neural accelerator and faster SSD, you will see significant improvement - assuming your model can fit into 24GB RAM. If it cant, well, those performance improvements wont matter a whole lot.
The mac mini with 32gb of ram is $100 more than this, so it's probably worth the $100 savings to get a keyboard, screen, and battery.
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The mac mini with 32gb of ram is $100 more than this, so it's probably worth the $100 savings to get a keyboard, screen, and battery.
Anyway, my point was, most people aren't buying Macbook Air for local LLM performance.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank slimdunkin117
This is a better deal if you can grab it
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