MacBook Air M5 hits $949, now $400 below ASUS’ cheapest X2 Elite laptop
Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air with M5 is now available for $949 on Amazon, down from the $1,099 U.S. launch price Apple announced on March 3. That is a $150 cut, or 13.6%, which rounds to 14% below MSRP.
This is Apple’s base M5 Air configuration, the model the company launched with 512GB of storage as standard. Apple M5 Air also features Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, a 12MP Center Stage camera, up to 18 hours of battery life, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports among the platform updates.
While Apple’s new Air is already selling below MSRP, the first U.S. ASUS Snapdragon X2 Elite laptops moved the other way. Hardware Canucks said Best Buy and ASUS had issued the wrong launch prices . The X2E prices went up by up to $350 just hours after launch, which is something we never heard of before.
At this point, Apple is just straight up trolling Windows laptops, aren't they?
And right after the X2E pricing SNAFU too… pic.twitter.com/n1Ym47itD4
— Hardware Canucks (@hardwarecanucks) April 8, 2026
So, less than a month after launch, Apple’s M5 MacBook Air is already selling below every first-wave ASUS Snapdragon X2 Elite system currently listed in the U.S.
Source: Amazon
