Which Windows Laptop Is Equivalent To The MacBook Air M5?

The MacBook Air with the M5 chip, released in March 2026, is one of the overall better deals when it comes to price, performance, and battery life. Finding a direct equivalent to it is also a tough task to wade through, as Apple's hardware and macOS are so optimized for each other, even if there are several laptops with more raw power than the MacBook Air.

However, looking at synthetic benchmarks can give you a good indication as to where everything stands on paper. The baseline here is dependent on the MacBook Air's spec. For the 15-inch, Geekbench reports ~3,585 for single-core and ~17,181 for multi-core. The 13-inch devices both score roughly the same, ~3,573 and ~17,044, but differ in GPU score by around 5,000 points due to the additional two GPU cores in the more powerful model.

Running that against top recommended laptops to seek a Windows equivalent leaves us with a couple of answers. For those not too fussed about Microsoft's push into the ARM architecture, which will require some programs to run through an emulation layer, the Asus Zenbook A14 with a Snapdragon X2 Elite comes in range with ~3,531 and ~19,703. For those wanting full compatibility, x86 is still here, with the best option being Intel's new Series 3 processors. Here, a laptop like Dell's XPS 14 or 16 using the Ultra X9 388H (~3,031 and ~17,283) or X7 358H (~2,938 and ~17,162) is comparable in multi-core, but lags in single-core.

Again, just because the scores are similar, that doesn't mean that the software experience will be one-to-one with an Apple device. After all, people have been editing video with DaVinci Resolve on the iPhone-chip-powered MacBook Neo, so there's something to be said about Apple's optimization. Nonetheless, this current spate of Windows laptops is still quite performant, and if it's familiarity you crave, Windows is likely still the option.

In day-to-day tasks, what the synthetic benchmarks effectively point out is that MacBook Air models with the M5 chip will feel snappier in lower-level tasks, like web browsing. However, Apple is now matched by Intel and Qualcomm when the chip has to actually put in some actual work, which, for content creators or those running more intensive productivity programs, is a massive boon. It's just a shame that the prices are being hosed by ongoing worldwide events and yet another once-in-our-lifetime situation.