Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011) vs Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M2)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011) | AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | July 2011 | July 2022 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 11.6″ | 13.6″ |
| Resolution | 1366 × 768 | 2560 × 1664 (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 ComputerBase'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 Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.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 |
| Screen finish | – | Glossy (Notebookcheck) |
| Display features | – | True Tone; 60 Hz refresh rate (Notebookcheck) |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2467M or Intel Core i7-2677M | Apple M2 |
| CPU cores | 2 | 8 |
| CPU threads | 4 | – |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 3000 | 8-core GPU or 10-core GPU |
| Memory | 2 GB or 4 GB | 8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB (better) |
| Storage | 64 GB to 256 GB | 256 GB to 2 TB (better) |
| CPU | Dual-core Intel Core i5-2467M at 1.6 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 2.3 GHz with 3 MB shared L3 cache; the higher storage base is configurable to Core i7-2677M at 1.8 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz and 4 MB cache. Exact identities confirmed by Notebookcheck; Macworld documents the base-specific upgrades. | 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores |
| GPU | Intel HD Graphics 3000; 256 MB shared with 2 GB memory or 384 MB with 4 GB | 8-core or 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 | 2 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 onboard memory on the 64 GB base, configurable to 4 GB; 128 GB base has 4 GB | Unified memory, configurable to 24 GB; launched with 8 GB, later offered with 16 GB as standard |
| Memory bandwidth | – | 100 GB/s |
| Storage type | 64 GB flash storage with Core i5; 128 GB base supports Core i5 or Core i7 and is configurable to 256 GB. Configurations preserve the base-specific upgrade restrictions; memory cannot be upgraded after purchase. | SSD, configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB |
| Cooling | – | Fanless |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 5 hours | Up to 18 hours |
| Battery capacity | 35 Wh | 52.6 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.08 kg (better) | 1.24 kg |
| Thickness | 17 mm | 11.3 mm (better) |
| Width × depth | 300 × 192 mm | 304.1 × 215 mm |
| Battery life detail | Built-in 35 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 5 hours wireless web 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 | 30 W USB-C Power Adapter with the 8-core GPU; 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter with the 10-core GPU and 512 GB storage |
| Fast charging | – | Current technical specifications list the 70 W USB-C Power Adapter; Apple's launch page tested fast charging with the 67 W 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, headphone jack | 2 × Thunderbolt 3, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g | Wi-Fi 6 |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 | 5.3 |
| Webcam | FaceTime camera | 1080p FaceTime HD |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | Two USB 2.0 ports up to 480 Mb/s, Thunderbolt up to 10 Gb/s with native 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. | 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 | One external display up to 6K 60 Hz alongside the built-in display |
| Keyboard | Full-size backlit keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard; 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys with 12 full-height function keys; ambient light sensor |
| Trackpad | Multi-Touch trackpad | Force Touch trackpad |
| Speakers | Stereo speakers | Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos |
| Microphones | Omnidirectional microphone | Three-mic array with directional beamforming |
| Biometrics | – | Touch ID |
| In the box | MacBook Air, power adapter, AC wall plug and power cord; OS X Lion, iLife and documentation; Lion Recovery | 13-inch MacBook Air, 30 W or 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m) |
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