Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M3)

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MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011) compared with MacBook Air 15″ (M3)

	AppleMacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2011)	AppleMacBook Air 15″ (M3)
Overview
Released
Released	July 2011	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	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 Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.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
Pixel density	–	224 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	–	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours
Display features
Display features	–	True Tone; 60 Hz refresh rate (Notebookcheck)
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i5-2467M or Intel Core i7-2677M	Apple M3
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	8
CPU threads
CPU threads	4	–
Graphics
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 3000	10-core GPU
Memory
Memory	2 GB or 4 GB	8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	64 GB to 256 GB	256 GB to 2 TB (better)
CPU
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
GPU	Intel HD Graphics 3000; 256 MB shared with 2 GB memory or 384 MB with 4 GB	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	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; 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	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
Cooling	–	Fanless
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 5 hours	Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	35 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	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
Charger	45 W MagSafe 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, MagSafe, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 3, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11n; compatible with 802.11a/b/g	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	4.0	5.3
Webcam
Webcam	FaceTime camera	1080p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
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; 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 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; close the lid to use a second external display up to 5K 60 Hz
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard; 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys with 12 full-height function keys; ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Multi-Touch trackpad	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers	Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	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 Air, power adapter, AC wall plug and power cord; OS X Lion, iLife and documentation; Lion Recovery	15-inch MacBook Air, 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)