Apple MacBook (13-inch, Late 2008) vs Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5)

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MacBook (13-inch, Late 2008) compared with MacBook Air 13″ (M5)

	AppleMacBook (13-inch, Late 2008)	AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5)
Overview
Released
Released	October 2008	March 2026
Display
Screen size
Screen size	13.3″	13.6″
Resolution
Resolution	1280 × 800	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type	Glossy TFT widescreen display with millions of colours; exact panel technology, brightness and refresh rate unpublished by Apple.	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	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1 GHz (MacBook Late 2008)	Apple M5
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	10
Graphics
Graphics	Intel GMA X3100 (144 MB shared DDR2)	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
Memory
Memory	1 GB, 2 GB or 4 GB	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	120 GB to 250 GB	512 GB to 4 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	2.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo with 3 MB shared L2 cache and 800 MHz frontside bus. The chip record retains the maker’s clock and model without selecting an unverified Intel SKU.	10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	Intel GMA X3100 with 144 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory	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	667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots; 1 GB standard, configurable to 2 GB or 4 GB.	Unified memory
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	153 GB/s
Storage type
Storage type	120 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive, configurable to 160 GB or 250 GB. The Late 2008 launch notice confirms an 8× SuperDrive rather than the Early 2008 base model’s Combo drive on the combined archived sheet.	SSD, configurable up to 4 TB
Cooling
Cooling	–	Fanless
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	–	Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	55 Wh (better)	53.8 Wh
Weight
Weight	2.27 kg	1.23 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	27.5 mm	11.3 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	325 × 227 mm	304.1 × 215 mm
Battery life detail
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 sheet does not publish them.	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery
Charger
Charger	60 W MagSafe Power Adapter	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	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, MagSafe	2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	AirPort Extreme draft 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g	Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.0 + EDR	6
Webcam
Webcam	Built-in iSight camera	12MP Center Stage
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	Two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400, 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.	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	One external display up to 1920 × 1200 alongside the built-in screen; Mini-DVI adapters support DVI, VGA, composite video and S-video.	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 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function/media keys and four arrow keys	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys
Trackpad
Trackpad	Scrolling trackpad with separate button; two-finger scrolling, tap, double-tap and drag	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers	Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	Built-in omnidirectional microphone	Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes
Biometrics
Biometrics	–	Touch ID
In the box
In the box	MacBook, 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.	13-inch MacBook Air, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m); power adapter sold separately