MacBook Air M5 Too Expensive? These Copilot+ Laptops Are Worth the Switch (India, 2026)
Apple raised MacBook Air M5 prices in India by ₹30,000 overnight. These five Copilot+ thin-and-lights now make a stronger case than ever — OLED displays, AI hardware, and all-day battery at significantly lower prices.
Apple raised MacBook Air M5 prices in India in June 2026 — the 13-inch now starts at ₹1,49,900, up from ₹1,19,900. The 15-inch crossed ₹1,79,900. That is a ₹30,000–35,000 jump with no change to the hardware. For a lot of buyers who had the MacBook Air on their shortlist, that hike didn't just make the decision harder — it reopened a question many had already closed: is Windows worth a second look?
The honest answer in 2026 is yes, more than it has been in years. The latest generation of Copilot+ laptops — built on Intel Lunar Lake, AMD Strix Point, and Intel Panther Lake — have closed the gap on the things that mattered most. Battery life on the Lunar Lake models regularly covers a full day. The OLED panels on ASUS and Lenovo ultrabooks are genuinely better than the MacBook Air's Liquid Retina display on contrast and colour saturation, not just comparable. And the NPUs in these chips, rated between 40 and 50 TOPS, run AI features locally — Cocreator in Paint, live captions, real-time translation — without sending data to the cloud, which is the same pitch Apple makes for Apple Intelligence. Even if you've never seriously considered a Windows laptop before, the value equation has shifted enough that these deserve a proper look.
That said, the MacBook Air M5 doesn't become a bad laptop because the price went up. Apple Silicon's unified memory architecture is still more efficient per watt than anything here. The MacBook Air's fanless design is genuinely silent in ways that even the quietest Lunar Lake machine cannot fully match under sustained load. If you're deeply tied to Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, or the iPhone–iPad–Mac ecosystem, a price hike is annoying, not a reason to walk away. But if you primarily live in a browser, productivity apps, and Windows-native software — or if you've been waiting for Windows hardware to catch up on display quality and efficiency — that ₹30,000 price gap is now a meaningful argument.
At a Glance
ASUS Zenbook S14 UX5406SA-PZ658WS
A 14-inch Copilot+ ultrabook built around Intel Lunar Lake — exceptionally thin at under 1.3 cm and light at 1.2 kg — paired with a 3K OLED touch display that sets the visual benchmark for this class. The 16 GB RAM ceiling and absence of an SD card slot are genuine trade-offs, but for travel-first users who want a stunning display and near-silent everyday operation, this is the one to beat.
ASUS Zenbook S16 UM5606KA-RJ108WS
A 16-inch AMD Ryzen AI 7 thin-and-light that sets a higher performance ceiling than any Intel model competing at this thickness — 8 Zen 5 cores, 16 threads, 50 TOPS NPU, and a Radeon 860M iGPU in a 1.5 kg chassis. The 3K OLED touch display, 24 GB onboard RAM, and SD 4.0 card reader make it a natural fit for photographers and content creators who want one screen that handles everything.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Aura Edition 14ILL10 83JX00EXIN
Lenovo's lightest mainstream Copilot+ laptop pairs the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V with the Arc 140V — the strongest integrated graphics on a Lunar Lake thin-and-light — in a 1.19 kg chassis. The 60Hz non-touch OLED and 512 GB base storage are deliberate trade-offs for weight, but for those who carry their laptop all day, nothing in this category disappears in a bag the way this does.
ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405CA-PZ345WS
A 14-inch OLED thin-and-light powered by Intel's Arrow Lake-H platform, offering the 14-core Core Ultra 5 225H's meaningful CPU headroom in a chassis that still weighs under 1.3 kg. It handles heavier workloads than competing Lunar Lake models at the same screen size but trades some thermal headroom and NPU performance to do it. The right pick when you need more CPU muscle without stepping up to a 16-inch form factor.
Samsung Galaxy Book6 NP760VJG
A 16-inch thin-and-light built on Intel's latest Panther Lake Series 3 platform, offering 49 TOPS NPU performance, a full port complement including built-in ethernet, and native Galaxy AI integration. The IPS display and 1.74 kg weight are honest trade-offs against thinner OLED alternatives, but for users whose workday depends on connectivity rather than display quality, the Galaxy Book6's port lineup is the most complete in this category.
We looked at five Windows Copilot+ thin-and-lights across four chip families. All of them are priced meaningfully below the MacBook Air M5's new starting price, and all of them qualify as serious daily machines. Here is an honest ranking.
The MacBook Air M5 13-inch starts at ₹1,49,900 in India as of June 2026. Every laptop in this roundup is priced below that — in several cases, significantly below. The trade-off in each case is different; the following reviews spell out exactly what you are and aren't giving up.
#1. ASUS Zenbook S14 UX5406SA-PZ658WS
The Zenbook S14 is the Windows laptop that a MacBook Air M5 buyer should look at first. It weighs 1.20 kg — lighter than the 13-inch MacBook Air — and Intel's Lunar Lake chip runs quiet and cool enough that the fans rarely spin up during everyday work. The everyday experience of silence, a premium-feeling chassis, and long battery life is genuinely close to what the MacBook Air offers, at a price well below ₹1,49,900.
Where the Zenbook S14 beats the MacBook Air outright is the display. The 14-inch 3K OLED panel runs at 120Hz with touch support and covers 100% DCI-P3 — the contrast and colour depth of an OLED panel against the MacBook Air's IPS-based Liquid Retina is not subtle. If you spend a lot of time looking at your screen, this difference is real and immediate. The 40 TOPS NPU meets Microsoft's Copilot+ threshold, and the Arc 130V integrated graphics handle light creative work without issue.
The main trade-off compared to the MacBook Air M5 is storage: 512 GB feels tight in 2026, and the RAM ceiling of 16 GB means this isn't the machine for heavy parallel workloads. But for the user who was looking at a MacBook Air M5 13-inch for daily work, travel, and media, the Zenbook S14 covers those use cases with a better display at a lower price.
The closest Windows equivalent to the MacBook Air M5 experience — lightweight, silent, all-day battery, and a 3K OLED touch display that outperforms the Air's Liquid Retina on contrast and colour. The first laptop to check if the M5 price hike pushed you back to considering Windows.
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 5 Processor 226V |
| GPU | Intel Arc 130V Graphics (integrated) |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB |
| Display | 14" |
| Battery | 72 Wh |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) Triple band 2×2 |
| Additional Features | Backlit Chiclet Keyboard, 1.1mm key-travel |
- ✓Incredibly light — you forget it's in your bag
- ✓Stunning OLED display that makes everything look better
- ✓Runs completely silent during everyday tasks
- ✓Comfortably lasts a full workday on one charge
- ✕Can't be upgraded — 16 GB RAM is your ceiling
- ✕No SD card slot — photographers need a dongle
- ✕Not built for heavy creative or GPU-intensive work
If you want one laptop that handles daily work, travel, and media without needing to think about it, this is the one. Upgrade the storage if your budget allows — the hardware deserves it.
#2. ASUS Zenbook S16 UM5606KA-RJ108WS
The Zenbook S16 is the performance pick of this group, and the machine to consider if you were looking at the MacBook Air M5 15-inch. AMD's Ryzen AI 7 350 (Strix Point) brings 8 Zen 5 cores with a 50 TOPS NPU and the Radeon 860M integrated graphics — the strongest CPU and iGPU combination in this entire roundup. For photographers, video editors, and developers who regularly push their machine, this chip provides headroom that the Intel Lunar Lake models and the MacBook Air M5 (in multi-threaded benchmarks) both trail on sustained workloads.
The 24 GB of onboard RAM, 1 TB SSD, and SD 4.0 card reader are all advantages over the base MacBook Air M5 configuration — which ships with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage at its starting price. The 3K OLED 120Hz touch display on a 16-inch canvas gives you significantly more working space without needing an external monitor. The SD card slot is absent on competing Windows ultrabooks and on the MacBook Air, making the Zenbook S16 a natural match for photographers coming from dedicated cameras. The step up to 1.50 kg is real, but for a 16-inch machine it's class-competitive.
The strongest spec sheet in this roundup — AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, 24 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD, SD card reader, and 3K OLED touch on a 16-inch canvas. A compelling alternative to the MacBook Air M5 15-inch, with more RAM and a better display at a lower price.
| Processor | AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 |
| GPU | AMD Radeon 860M Graphics (integrated) |
| RAM | 24 GB |
| Storage | 1 TB |
| Display | 16" |
| Battery | 78 Wh |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) Tri-band 2×2 |
| Additional Features | Backlit Chiclet Keyboard, 1.1mm key-travel |
- ✓Noticeably faster than competing thin-and-lights on heavy tasks
- ✓Handles light gaming and creative work better than most ultrabooks
- ✓Large screen and generous RAM — a proper workstation in ultrabook clothing
- ✓Built-in SD card reader is a genuine convenience for photographers
- ✕Heavier than 14-inch alternatives — you feel it over a long commute
- ✕Hard to find in stock on Amazon India
- ✕Still no match for a laptop with a dedicated GPU
The Zenbook S16 is currently unavailable on Amazon India. Check the product page for restocking — availability has been intermittent. If you need something immediately, the Zenbook S14 covers most use cases at a lighter weight.
The strongest spec sheet here, by a comfortable margin. If it is in stock and the 16-inch size suits your workflow, this is the one to buy over everything else on this list.
#3. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Aura Edition 83JX00EXIN
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Aura makes one argument above everything else: at 1.19 kg, it is lighter than the MacBook Air M5 13-inch, and the efficiency of the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V (Lunar Lake) means the battery life to match. If you have been drawn to the MacBook Air specifically because it disappears in a bag and lasts all day, the Yoga Slim 7 competes directly on both counts — at a meaningfully lower price.
The Intel Arc 140V is the strongest integrated GPU on any Lunar Lake thin-and-light, and the 47 TOPS NPU is among the highest in its chip class. The 5 MP IR webcam is a genuine standout for anyone who spends the day on video calls — image quality is noticeably sharper than the cameras on most Windows competitors, and puts it closer to the MacBook Air's Center Stage FaceTime camera than any other laptop in this roundup. For someone who values portability, battery endurance, and video call quality, this covers all three without the MacBook Air's price tag.
The honest trade-off against the MacBook Air M5 is display quality. The 14-inch 1920×1200 OLED at 60Hz with no touchscreen looks softer than both the MacBook Air's Liquid Retina and the 3K 120Hz panels on the ASUS Zenbooks. If screen quality is your highest priority, the Zenbook S14 is the better call. If weight and battery life lead, nothing in this group beats the Yoga Slim 7.
Lighter than the MacBook Air M5 13-inch and competitive on battery life — the pick for users who want the portability and endurance argument without the Apple price premium. The webcam is the best in this Windows roundup.
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 256V |
| GPU | Intel Arc 140V Graphics (integrated) |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB |
| Display | 14" |
| Battery | 70 Wh |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) 2×2 |
| Additional Features | Backlit keyboard |
- ✓Lightest in its class — you genuinely forget it's in your bag
- ✓Best integrated graphics among Lunar Lake ultrabooks
- ✓Outlasts almost everything else in this class on battery
- ✓Best webcam in this roundup — video calls look noticeably sharper
- ✕60Hz non-touch display feels behind at this price
- ✕Storage fills up fast — 512 GB is tight for creative work
- ✕Screen looks softer than competing ASUS models at similar prices
The right pick if you board planes often, commute on foot, or spend long days away from a desk. If display quality matters as much as portability, the Zenbook S14 is the better call.
#4. ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405CA-PZ345WS
The Zenbook 14 is for users who need more raw CPU throughput than the MacBook Air M5 can offer in sustained tasks. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225H (Arrow Lake-H) brings 14 cores and multi-core performance that pulls ahead of the M5 on sustained compilation jobs, parallel processing workflows, and heavy export tasks. If your work involves large codebases, development environments with many concurrent processes, or video export under time pressure, this chip has a headroom advantage that matters.
The 3K OLED 120Hz touch display and 1 TB SSD are both competitive at this price point, and the total package comes in well below what you'd pay for a comparably configured MacBook Air. The trade-offs compared to the M5 are real: the fans become audible under sustained load (the Arrow Lake-H platform is not fanless or near-silent), the NPU at 13 TOPS is the weakest in this roundup, and the absence of an SD card slot means a hub if you shoot on camera. But for productivity and development workflows that push CPU hard, this is where Windows pulls ahead.
The best sustained CPU performance in a 14-inch chassis on this list — Arrow Lake-H's 14 cores outpace the MacBook Air M5 on multi-threaded workloads. The trade-off is fan noise under load and the weakest NPU in this group.
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 5 Processor 225H |
| GPU | Intel Arc 130T Graphics (integrated) |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage | 1 TB¹ |
| Display | 14" |
| Battery | 75 Wh |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) Tri-band 2×2 |
| Additional Features | Backlit Chiclet Keyboard |
- ✓Faster than Lunar Lake alternatives when workloads get demanding
- ✓One of the best 14-inch displays you can get right now
- ✓Reliable all-day battery even under heavier use
- ✓More power than most ultrabooks without stepping up to 16 inches
- ✕Fans get loud under sustained load
- ✕Weaker AI performance than other Copilot+ laptops in this price range
- ✕Limited ports — you'll want a hub for most desk setups
Buy it if your workflows regularly push CPU limits and you want to stay in a 14-inch machine. If your daily tasks are lighter and battery silence matters more, one of the Lunar Lake options will serve you better.
#5. Samsung Galaxy Book6 NP760VJG
The Galaxy Book6 is the entry point into this category for users who want capable AI hardware without the premium that OLED display models carry. The Intel Core Ultra 7 355 (Panther Lake) is a genuinely new chip — built on Intel's 18A process node — and its 49 TOPS NPU is among the highest on this list. Galaxy AI features including live translate, real-time interpretation, and generative image editing are among the most polished native AI experiences currently available on Windows, integrating more naturally than the Copilot features on competing machines.
The port lineup is the most complete of any laptop here — built-in ethernet, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, HDMI, and a MicroSD slot covers a full working day in virtually any environment without a hub. That alone makes it worth considering for anyone who travels between varied workplaces. The anti-glare IPS panel is a practical choice in brightly lit offices where glossy OLED displays create reflections.
Where the Galaxy Book6 honestly falls short is display quality and weight. The 1920×1200 IPS panel at 350 nits is a visible step behind the OLEDs on the rest of this list and behind the MacBook Air's Liquid Retina. At 1.74 kg it is also the heaviest laptop here — commute weight matters over a full day of carry. But if your priority is AI features and connectivity at a price significantly below the MacBook Air M5, the Galaxy Book6 makes that case more directly than any other laptop in this roundup.
The most accessible entry into Copilot+ AI hardware — strong NPU, the best native AI platform in this group, and a port set that covers any working environment without accessories. The right pick if AI features and connectivity matter more than display quality.
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 355 |
| GPU | Intel Graphics (integrated)¹ |
| RAM | 16 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB |
| Display | 16" |
| Battery | 61.2 Wh |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Additional Features | Backlit keyboard |
- ✓Comprehensive port selection — built-in ethernet, MicroSD, two USB-A, and HDMI — covers a full working day without a hub
- ✓Galaxy AI features integrate natively rather than feeling bolted on, particularly for translate, search, and image cutout tasks
- ✓Consistent all-day battery endurance with fast charging support for a 16-inch form factor
- ✓The anti-glare IPS panel holds up comfortably in bright office environments where glossy OLED screens can become distracting
- ✕At 1.74 kg it sits at the heavier end of the thin-and-light category — a meaningful difference over a long commute
- ✕IPS display misses the contrast and colour depth of the OLED panels on competing models at this price point
- ✕Wi-Fi 6E rather than Wi-Fi 7 limits future-proofing compared to competitors already shipping with the newer standard
A practical laptop for connectivity-first users. The port selection solves a real problem that the rest of this list ignores — but the IPS display and extra weight mean it is a deliberate trade, not a hidden gem.
Conclusion
Apple's ₹30,000 price increase on the MacBook Air M5 didn't change the laptop — but it did change the conversation around it. At ₹1,19,900, the MacBook Air M5 13-inch was easy to recommend because the alternatives at that price couldn't genuinely match it on the things that matter for daily use: efficiency, chassis quality, and display. At ₹1,49,900, the gap to several Windows Copilot+ laptops has narrowed enough that the honest answer is: it depends on what you actually do.
If you were going to use the MacBook Air for daily productivity, a good display, and easy travel, the ASUS Zenbook S14 covers all of that with a better panel and a lighter chassis at a lower price — and you stay on Windows if that's where your software lives. If performance on creative workloads was the reason for looking at the M5 15-inch, the ASUS Zenbook S16 outpaces it on multi-core tasks with more RAM and an SD card reader. If carry weight and battery life were the draw, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Aura is lighter than the MacBook Air and competitive on endurance. And if your budget keeps you well below the MacBook Air's current price but you still want capable on-device AI, the Samsung Galaxy Book6 gives you a 49 TOPS NPU and the most polished Windows AI experience at a price that makes the comparison almost unfair.
The MacBook Air M5 remains a genuinely excellent laptop. But at its new price in India, it has stopped being the obvious answer for buyers who aren't already inside Apple's ecosystem.
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Vishal Pratap
A technical writer by profession, a video creator by hobby, and a photography enthusiast.
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