Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2014) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M2)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2014) | AppleMacBook Air 15″ (M2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | April 2014 | June 2023 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 11.6″ | 15.3″ |
| Resolution | 1366 × 768 | 2880 × 1864 (better) |
| Panel | TN LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | – | 60 Hz |
| Brightness | – | 500 nits |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Glossy LED-backlit widescreen LCD, millions of colours; TN panel confirmed by Geeknetic's exact-model review. Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple. | Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology |
| Pixel density | – | 224 ppi |
| Colour range | – | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours |
| Display features | – | True Tone; 60 Hz refresh rate (Tom's Guide) |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4260U or Intel Core i7-4650U | Apple M2 |
| CPU cores | 2 | 8 |
| CPU threads | 4 | – |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 5000 | 10-core GPU |
| Memory | 4 GB or 8 GB | 8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB (better) |
| Storage | 128 GB to 512 GB | 256 GB to 2 TB (better) |
| CPU | Dual-core Intel Core i5-4260U at 1.4 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.7 GHz and 3 MB shared L3 cache; configurable to Core i7-4650U at 1.7 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz and 4 MB shared L3 cache. Exact processor identities confirmed by Geeknetic and EveryMac. | 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores |
| GPU | Intel HD Graphics 5000 integrated graphics | 10-core GPU; media engine with hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW, video encode/decode and ProRes encode/decode engines |
| AI engine | – | 16-core Neural Engine |
| Memory type | 4 GB of 1600 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory, configurable to 8 GB | Unified memory; 8 GB, configurable to 16 GB or 24 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | – | 100 GB/s |
| Storage type | 128 GB or 256 GB PCIe-based flash storage; the 256 GB base is configurable to 512 GB. Processor and memory upgrades apply to either base. | SSD, configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB |
| Cooling | – | Fanless |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 9 hours | Up to 18 hours |
| Battery capacity | 38 Wh | 66.5 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.08 kg (better) | 1.51 kg |
| Thickness | 17 mm | 11.5 mm (better) |
| Width × depth | 300 × 192 mm | 340.4 × 237.6 mm |
| Battery life detail | Built-in 38 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 9 hours wireless web, 9 hours iTunes movie playback or 30 days standby under Apple's test conditions. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. | Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery |
| Charger | 45 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management | 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter |
| Fast charging | – | With the 70 W USB-C Power Adapter |
| Materials | Aluminium enclosure; tapered thickness from 3 to 17 mm | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure |
| Colours | Silver | Silver, Starlight, Space Grey, Midnight |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × USB-A, Thunderbolt, MagSafe 2, headphone jack | 2 × Thunderbolt 3, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ac AirPort Extreme (draft specification); compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n | Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 | 5.3 |
| Webcam | 720p FaceTime HD | 1080p FaceTime HD |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | Two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s, Thunderbolt up to 10 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output, MagSafe 2 and headphone jack supporting the Apple iPhone headset remote and microphone; no card reader. DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI and HDMI require separate adapters. | Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports supporting charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s, and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support |
| External displays | Built-in screen plus one external display up to 2560 × 1600, both with millions of colours; dual display and video mirroring, HDMI audio and video through a compatible adapter | One external display up to 6K 60 Hz alongside the built-in display |
| Keyboard | Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, four arrow keys and ambient light sensor | Backlit Magic Keyboard; 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys with 12 full-height function keys; ambient light sensor |
| Trackpad | Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap and drag | Force Touch trackpad |
| Speakers | Stereo speakers | Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos |
| Microphones | Dual microphones | Three-mic array with directional beamforming |
| Biometrics | – | Touch ID |
| In the box | MacBook Air, power adapter, AC wall plug and power cord; OS X Mavericks and iLife; iWork is free for qualifying new Mac purchases | 15-inch MacBook Air, 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m) |
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