Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M5)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010) | AppleMacBook Air 15″ (M5) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | October 2010 | March 2026 |
| 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 Notebookcheck'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 Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.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 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 or Intel Core 2 Duo SU9600 | Apple M5 |
| CPU cores | 2 | 10 |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce 320M | 10-core GPU |
| Memory | 2 GB or 4 GB | 16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better) |
| Storage | 64 GB to 128 GB | 512 GB to 4 TB (better) |
| CPU | Dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 at 1.4 GHz or optional SU9600 at 1.6 GHz, with 3 MB shared L2 cache and 800 MHz frontside bus. Exact identities confirmed by Notebookcheck and EveryMac; the faster processor is offered only on the higher storage base, as documented by Macworld. | 10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce 320M with 256 MB of DDR3 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 | – | 16-core Neural Engine |
| Memory type | 2 GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 onboard memory, configurable to 4 GB | Unified memory |
| Memory bandwidth | – | 153 GB/s |
| Storage type | 64 GB flash storage with SU9400; 128 GB base supports SU9400 or SU9600. Configurations preserve the base-specific upgrade restrictions; memory cannot be upgraded after purchase. | SSD, configurable up to 4 TB |
| Cooling | – | Fanless |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 5 hours | Up to 18 hours |
| Battery capacity | 35 Wh | 66.5 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.06 kg (better) | 1.51 kg |
| Thickness | 17 mm | 11.5 mm (better) |
| Width × depth | 299.5 × 192 mm | 340.4 × 237.6 mm |
| Battery life detail | Built-in 35 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 5 hours wireless productivity 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 Power Adapter with cable management | Sold separately in the UK (35 W dual-port or 70 W Apple USB-C adapters offered); needs at least 35 W over USB PD |
| Fast charging | – | With a 70 W or higher USB PD power source |
| Materials | Aluminium enclosure; tapered thickness from 3 to 17 mm | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 55% recycled content overall |
| Colours | Silver | Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × USB-A, MagSafe, headphone jack | 2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g | Wi-Fi 7 |
| Bluetooth | 2.1 + EDR | 6 |
| Webcam | FaceTime camera | 12MP Center Stage |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | Two USB 2.0 ports up to 480 Mb/s, Mini DisplayPort output, MagSafe and headphone jack supporting the Apple iPhone headset remote and microphone; no card reader. DVI, VGA and dual-link DVI require separate adapters. | 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 | Built-in screen plus one external display up to 2560 × 1600, both with millions of colours; dual display and video mirroring | 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 | Full-size keyboard without backlighting | Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys |
| Trackpad | Multi-Touch trackpad | Force Touch trackpad |
| Speakers | Stereo speakers | Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos |
| Microphones | Omnidirectional microphone | Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes |
| Biometrics | – | Touch ID |
| In the box | MacBook Air, power adapter, AC wall plug and power cord; Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife ’11, Software Reinstall Drive and documentation | 15-inch MacBook Air, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m); power adapter sold separately |
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