M4 MacBook Air with 24GB RAM Clears Out at $1,099, and It's Still the Better Buy Than M5 for Most

What it is

The Apple M4 MacBook Air is the 2024 generation of Apple's flagship ultralight laptop, now entering clearance status as the M5 MacBook Air begins shipping in volume. The 13-inch model with 24GB RAM and 512GB SSD is clearance-priced at $1,099 on Amazon (was $1,399 list), while the 15-inch 24GB/512GB is $1,299 (was $1,599). Core specs: 10-core M4 CPU, 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerator, 24GB LPDDR5X unified memory, 512GB PCIe 4.0 SSD, 13.6-inch (or 15.3-inch) Liquid Retina display at 500 nits, Wi-Fi 6E, Thunderbolt 4, 18-hour rated battery life, fanless chassis.

AppleInsider confirmed the $1,099 clearance price has held consistently at Amazon for the 13-inch 24GB configuration.

What's interesting

The M4 vs M5 performance delta is small. Tom's Hardware and Digital Trends both framed the M4 as indistinguishable from M5 for everyday tasks: browsing, productivity, creative work. M5's 4x AI performance uplift matters for users actively running Core ML workloads and Copilot+ features, but for most buyers those workloads are rare.

24GB RAM at clearance pricing is the value story. Apple charges $200 to upgrade M5 MacBook Air from 16GB base to 24GB; getting the same 24GB on M4 for $100 less than M5 base pricing ($1,099 M4 24GB vs $1,199 M5 base 16GB) is a meaningful value inversion.

The 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display is the same panel shipping on M5 MacBook Air. Resolution, brightness, and color gamut are identical generation-over-generation, Apple has not refreshed the display since 2022.

Fanless design is preserved. For quiet home-office, library, and recording-environment use, the M4 MacBook Air remains the only Apple laptop without a fan.

Battery life on M4 is 18 hours rated, which matches M5's spec. Real-world mixed-use tests from AppleInsider put the M4 Air at 16+ hours in standard workloads.

What's missing or unverified

No Wi-Fi 7. M5 MacBook Air ships with Apple's N1 wireless chip supporting Wi-Fi 7; M4 is limited to Wi-Fi 6E. For Wi-Fi 7 households, this is a real generational feature gap, though current ISP connections rarely saturate Wi-Fi 6E anyway.

No 4x AI performance. M5's per-core Neural Accelerator in each GPU core delivers substantial AI workload speedups; M4's architecture uses the 16-core Neural Engine separately. For users actively running Stable Diffusion, local LLM inference, or Final Cut Pro's AI-based color grading, M5 is faster.

Base storage at 512GB is standard; upgrading to 1TB adds $200 and to 2TB adds $400. Apple's storage tax remains aggressive.

Color options were refreshed with M5 (Sky Blue, Midnight, Starlight, Silver); M4 ships in the older palette (Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and base Space Gray on earlier batches). Aesthetics-focused buyers may prefer the newer M5 palette.

Apple's trade-in and carry-in service is standard across both generations. Three-year AppleCare+ coverage adds $269 either way.

Who it's for

Value-conscious Mac buyers who want 24GB RAM without paying M5 premium. Students and teachers where the $300 savings matters. Budget-minded MacBook Air upgraders replacing Intel MacBooks or older M1/M2 generations. Anyone who does not specifically exercise the M5's AI performance improvements.

Not for: buyers running local LLM inference or heavy Core ML workloads (M5 is the better pick), Wi-Fi 7-committed households, or future-proofing-focused buyers who want the longest supported generation.

Verdict

The M4 MacBook Air at $1,099 for the 24GB configuration is the best-value Mac purchase in 2026. Against the M5 MacBook Air base at $1,199 (16GB), the M4 wins on RAM per dollar; it loses on AI performance and Wi-Fi 7. For 80% of buyers, the M4's performance is indistinguishable from M5 in real-world use, and the $100-$300 savings goes further toward accessories or software. For anyone shopping MacBook Air right now, the M4 clearance is the smart pick until inventory clears.