The short answer cuts through the spec-sheet noise: the M5 MacBook Air does not have ProMotion. Its Liquid Retina display runs at a fixed 60 Hz, exactly as every MacBook Air before it did, and the M5 chip upgrade changes nothing about the panel. ProMotion, Apple's adaptive refresh tech that scales up to 120 Hz, stays locked to the MacBook Pro line.

Quick Answer

No. The M5 MacBook Air uses a 60 Hz Liquid Retina display with no ProMotion and no adaptive refresh. If you specifically want the smoother 120 Hz ProMotion experience in Apple's laptop range, the MacBook Pro is the only model that offers it.

What you actually get on the M5 Air display

The M5 Air keeps the same display architecture the Air has carried for years: a Liquid Retina IPS LCD running at a constant 60 Hz. It is a genuinely good panel, sharp, colour-accurate with P3 wide colour, and bright enough for indoor and most outdoor SA daylight use. What it does not do is vary its refresh rate. Every frame, whether you are scrolling a long page or staring at a still document, refreshes 60 times a second.

ProMotion is a different feature entirely. On the MacBook Pro the panel ramps anywhere from a low idle rate up to 120 Hz depending on what is on screen, which makes scrolling and trackpad movement look noticeably smoother and saves a little power when the screen is static. The M5 chip is fast enough to drive that, but Apple gates ProMotion to the Pro hardware, not the silicon, so the Air misses out by product positioning rather than performance.

Does 60 Hz versus 120 Hz matter for you?

For most Air buyers, honestly, not much. The Air is aimed at writing, browsing, email, study work, light photo editing and everyday multitasking, and 60 Hz handles all of that cleanly. You only really feel the gap if you have used a 120 Hz screen back to back, where the Air's scrolling looks slightly less fluid by comparison.

It matters more if you are a designer, video editor or developer who spends all day scrolling and dragging, or someone moving across from a 120 Hz phone or iPad Pro who will notice the step down. If smoothness is a daily priority, that is the reason to look at the Pro. If it is not, paying the Pro premium purely for the refresh rate is hard to justify, and the Air remains the better value for the typical user. You can line the two ranges up side by side through the MacBook collection on Evetech to see where the price gap sits against the features you actually need.

Where the M5 Air still wins

The Air earns its place on everything other than refresh rate: it is thinner, lighter, fanless and silent, and the M5 chip gives it strong everyday and even light creative performance with excellent battery life. For students carrying it across campus and professionals who want a featherweight machine, those traits outweigh a 60 Hz panel. If you want a quick read on which models are moving, the best-selling laptops at Evetech show how the Air sits against the rest of the field.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does any MacBook Air have ProMotion?

No. As of the current range, no MacBook Air, including the M5 model, has ProMotion. The feature has only ever shipped on the MacBook Pro line.

Will the M5 Air's screen feel slow at 60 Hz?

For everyday use, no. Browsing, writing and video all look fine at 60 Hz. You mainly notice the difference in scrolling smoothness if you regularly switch between it and a 120 Hz display.

What refresh rate does the MacBook Pro reach?

ProMotion on the MacBook Pro scales adaptively up to 120 Hz and can drop to a low idle rate to save power when the screen content is static.

Is the M5 Air display still good quality?

Yes. It is a sharp Liquid Retina panel with P3 wide colour and solid brightness. The only thing it lacks compared with the Pro is the variable high refresh rate.

Deciding between the lightweight M5 Air and a 120 Hz MacBook Pro? Compare the full MacBook range at Evetech and match the display to how you actually work.