Apple MacBook (13-inch, Early 2008) vs Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M1)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook (13-inch, Early 2008) | AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M1) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | February 2008 | November 2020 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 13.3″ | 13.3″ |
| Resolution | 1280 × 800 | 2560 × 1600 (better) |
| Panel | – | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | – | 60 Hz |
| Brightness | – | 400 nits |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Glossy TFT widescreen display with millions of colours; exact panel technology and refresh rate unpublished by Apple. | Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology |
| Pixel density | – | 227 ppi |
| Colour range | – | Wide colour (P3); millions of colours |
| Screen finish | – | Glossy (Notebookcheck) |
| Display features | – | True Tone; 60 Hz refresh rate (Notebookcheck) |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 or Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 | Apple M1 |
| CPU cores | 2 | 8 |
| Graphics | Intel GMA X3100 (144 MB shared DDR2) | 7-core GPU or 8-core GPU |
| Memory | 1 GB, 2 GB or 4 GB | 8 GB or 16 GB (better) |
| Storage | 120 GB to 250 GB | 128 GB to 2 TB (better) |
| CPU | 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 or 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo T8300, with 3 MB shared L2 cache and 800 MHz front-side bus. Exact chip identities are established by Geekbench’s contemporary tested-machine configurations. | 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores |
| GPU | Intel GMA X3100 (144 MB shared DDR2) | 7-core or 8-core GPU |
| AI engine | – | 16-core Neural Engine |
| Memory type | Two SO-DIMM slots for 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300); 1 GB standard at 2.1 GHz, 2 GB at 2.4 GHz, configurable to 4 GB. | Unified memory, configurable to 16 GB |
| Storage type | White 2.1 GHz starts at 120 GB with a DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive; white 2.4 GHz starts at 160 GB and black 2.4 GHz at 250 GB with an 8x SuperDrive. Build-to-order 160 GB and 250 GB drives run at 5400 rpm. Configurations follow the Early 2008 launch models rather than the different Late 2008 white model on the combined archived sheet. | SSD; consumer models started at 256 GB, configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB. Apple's US education price list also lists an 8 GB / 128 GB model with a 7-core GPU. |
| Cooling | – | Fanless |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | – | Up to 18 hours |
| Battery capacity | 55 Wh (better) | 49.9 Wh |
| Weight | 2.27 kg | 1.29 kg (better) |
| Thickness | 27.5 mm | 16.1 mm (better) |
| Width × depth | 325 × 227 mm | 304.1 × 212.4 mm |
| Battery life detail | Removable 55 Wh lithium-polymer battery. Maker reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. Battery-life hours omitted because the archived maker specification does not publish them. | Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery |
| Charger | 60 W MagSafe Power Adapter | 30 W USB-C Power Adapter |
| Materials | Polycarbonate enclosure | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure |
| Colours | White and black; base storage and optical drive vary by colour as described above. The configurations table combines colour variants with matching processor, memory and storage. | Gold, Silver, Space Grey |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe | 2 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | AirPort Extreme draft 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g | Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | 2.0 + EDR | 5.0 |
| Webcam | iSight camera | 720p FaceTime HD |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | Two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 port, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, Mini-DVI, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and combined optical digital audio output/headphone output. Display adapters sold separately. | Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s, and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; 3.5 mm headphone jack |
| External displays | One external display up to 1920 × 1200 alongside the built-in screen; Mini-DVI adapters support DVI, VGA, S-video and composite video. | One external display at up to 6K 60 Hz alongside the built-in display |
| Keyboard | Full-size keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function/media keys and four arrow keys | Backlit Magic Keyboard; 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys with 12 function keys and inverted-T arrow keys; ambient light sensor |
| Trackpad | Scrolling trackpad with a separate button; supports two-finger scrolling, tap, double-tap and drag. | Force Touch trackpad |
| Speakers | Built-in stereo speakers | Stereo speakers; wide stereo sound; Dolby Atmos playback |
| Microphones | Built-in omnidirectional microphone | Three-mic array with directional beamforming |
| Biometrics | – | Touch ID |
| In the box | MacBook, display cleaning cloth, removable battery, 60 W MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and iLife ’08; Apple Remote sold separately. | MacBook Air, 30 W USB-C Power Adapter, USB-C Charge Cable (2 m) |
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