Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M3)

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MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015) compared with MacBook Air 15″ (M3)

	AppleMacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015)	AppleMacBook Air 15″ (M3)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2015	March 2024
Display
Screen size
Screen size	11.6″	15.3″
Resolution
Resolution	1366 × 768	2880 × 1864 (better)
Panel
Panel	TN LCD	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	60 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	–	500 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	LED-backlit widescreen LCD; TN panel confirmed by Macworld; millions of colours	Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	224 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	–	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Screen finish
Screen finish	Glossy	–
Display features
Display features	Native 1366 × 768; other supported modes include 1344 × 756 and 1280 × 720 at 16:9, 1152 × 720 and 1024 × 640 at 16:10, and 1024 × 768 or 800 × 600 at 4:3	True Tone; 60 Hz refresh rate (Notebookcheck)
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i5-5250U or Intel Core i7-5650U	Apple M3
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	8
CPU threads
CPU threads	4	–
Graphics
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 6000	10-core GPU
Memory
Memory	4 GB or 8 GB	8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	128 GB to 512 GB	256 GB to 2 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Dual-core Intel Core i5 at 1.6 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.7 GHz and 3 MB shared L3 cache, configurable to Core i7 at 2.2 GHz with 4 MB cache. Apple UK specifies up to 3.2 GHz for the i7; Intel's current ARK title also says 3.2 GHz but its turbo table says 3.1 GHz. Notebookcheck identifies i5-5250U and i7-5650U; Laptop Mag confirms the base i5.	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	Intel HD Graphics 6000 integrated graphics	10-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing; media engine supports H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW, video and ProRes encode/decode, and AV1 decode
AI engine
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Memory type	4 GB of 1600 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory, configurable to 8 GB	Unified memory; 8 GB at launch, configurable to 16 GB or 24 GB; standard memory increased to 16 GB on 30 October 2024
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	100 GB/s
Storage type
Storage type	128 GB or 256 GB PCIe-based flash storage; configurable to 512 GB	SSD, configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB
Cooling
Cooling	–	Fanless
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 9 hours	Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	38 Wh	66.5 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	1.08 kg (better)	1.51 kg
Thickness
Thickness	17 mm	11.5 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	300 × 192 mm	340.4 × 237.6 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Lithium-polymer battery; up to 9 hours wireless web, 10 hours iTunes movie playback or 30 days standby. Apple's February 2015 tests used preproduction 1.6 GHz Core i5 systems. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery
Charger
Charger	45 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management	35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter
Fast charging
Fast charging	–	With the 70 W USB-C Power Adapter
Materials
Materials	Aluminium enclosure; tapered thickness from 3 to 17 mm	100% recycled aluminium enclosure
Colours
Colours	Silver	Silver, Starlight, Space Grey, Midnight
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Thunderbolt 2, MagSafe 2, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 3, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	4.0	5.3
Webcam
Webcam	720p FaceTime HD	1080p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	Two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s; Thunderbolt 2 up to 20 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output; MagSafe 2 power port; 3.5 mm headphone jack supporting Apple iPhone headset remote and microphone. DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI and HDMI need separate adaptors.	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports supporting charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s; MagSafe 3; 3.5 mm headphone jack with high-impedance headphone support
External displays
External displays	Built-in screen plus one external display up to 3840 × 2160, both with millions of colours; dual display and video mirroring	One external display up to 6K 60 Hz alongside the built-in display; close the lid to use a second external display up to 5K 60 Hz
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys in an inverted T layout; ambient light sensor	Backlit Magic Keyboard; 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys with 12 full-height function keys; ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, tap, double-tap and drag; no Force Touch	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers	Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	Dual microphones	Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes
Biometrics
Biometrics	–	Touch ID
In the box
In the box	MacBook Air; power adaptor; AC wall plug; power cord	15-inch MacBook Air, 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)