Apple iBook G4 (12-inch, Mid 2005) vs Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5)

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iBook G4 (12-inch, Mid 2005) compared with MacBook Air 13″ (M5)

	AppleiBook G4 (12-inch, Mid 2005)	AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5)
Overview
Released
Released	July 2005	March 2026
Display
Screen size
Screen size	12.1″	13.6″
Resolution
Resolution	1024 × 768	2560 × 1664 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	60 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	–	500 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Active-matrix TFT XGA display supporting millions of colours. Exact panel technology, brightness and built-in refresh rate are unpublished in the cited maker sheet.	Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	224 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	–	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Display features
Display features	–	True Tone
Performance
Processor
Processor	PowerPC G4 1330 MHz (iBook Mid 2005)	Apple M5
CPU cores
CPU cores	1	10
Graphics
Graphics	ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 (32 MB DDR)	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
Memory
Memory	512 MB or 1.5 GB	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	40 GB	512 GB to 4 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	PowerPC G4 at 1.33 GHz, with Velocity Engine, 512 KB on-chip L2 cache at processor speed and 133 MHz system bus. Exact silicon model and supplier are not published in the cited maker sheets.	10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 with 32 MB dedicated DDR SDRAM and AGP 4× support.	Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode
AI engine
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Memory type	PC2700 333 MHz DDR SDRAM; 512 MB soldered and one empty SO-DIMM slot. Factory totals 768 MB, 1 GB or 1.5 GB; maximum 1.5 GB.	Unified memory
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	153 GB/s
Storage type
Storage type	4200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 hard drive; factory 60 GB, 80 GB and 100 GB options. The 12-inch starts at 40 GB with a DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive; the 14-inch starts at 60 GB with a DVD-writing SuperDrive. The retained maker sheet specifies 8× SuperDrive, while the launch-period Macworld review describes 4×. Sudden Motion Sensor protects the hard drive.	SSD, configurable up to 4 TB
Cooling
Cooling	–	Fanless
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 6 hours	Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	50 Wh	53.8 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	2.2 kg	1.23 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	34.2 mm	11.3 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	285 × 230 mm	304.1 × 215 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Removable 50 Wh lithium-ion battery, with charge-indicator LEDs; maker claim up to six hours. Published 2.2 kg reference weight varies with configuration and manufacturing process.	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery
Charger
Charger	–	Sold separately in the UK (30 W, 35 W dual-port or 70 W Apple USB-C adapters offered); needs at least 30 W over USB PD
Fast charging
Fast charging	–	With a 70 W or higher USB PD power source
Materials
Materials	White polycarbonate enclosure	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 55% recycled content overall
Colours
Colours	White	Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	AirPort Extreme 802.11g	Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.0 + EDR	6
Webcam
Webcam	–	12MP Center Stage
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	Two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 port, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, stereo headphone output and Mini-VGA video output.	2 × Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 (up to 40 Gb/s); MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support
External displays
External displays	VGA mirroring through the included Apple VGA adapter; S-video and composite TV output require the optional Apple Video Adapter. Extended desktop is unsupported.	Up to two at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 144 Hz, or one at up to 8K 60 Hz, 5K 120 Hz or 4K 240 Hz, alongside the built-in display
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size keyboard with 77 US or 78 ISO keys, 12 function keys, four arrow keys and an embedded numeric keypad.	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys
Trackpad
Trackpad	Trackpad with a separate button; tap, double-tap and drag capabilities. Two-finger scrolling.	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers	Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	Built-in microphone	Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes
Biometrics
Biometrics	–	Touch ID
In the box
In the box	iBook, rechargeable battery, power adapter, Apple VGA Video Adapter, software and documentation. Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and iLife ’05 at launch; the retained support sheet later lists iLife ’06.	13-inch MacBook Air, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m); power adapter sold separately