Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013) vs Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013) | AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | June 2013 | March 2026 |
| 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 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 Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.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 i5-4250U or Intel Core i7-4650U | Apple M5 |
| CPU cores | 2 | 10 |
| CPU threads | 4 | – |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 5000 | 8-core GPU or 10-core GPU |
| Memory | 4 GB or 8 GB | 16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better) |
| Storage | 128 GB to 512 GB | 512 GB to 4 TB (better) |
| CPU | Dual-core Intel Core i5-4250U at 1.3 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.6 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 identities confirmed by Notebookcheck. | 10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores |
| GPU | Intel HD Graphics 5000 integrated graphics | 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 | 4 GB of 1600 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory, configurable to 8 GB | Unified memory |
| Memory bandwidth | – | 153 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 up to 4 TB |
| Cooling | – | Fanless |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 9 hours | Up to 18 hours |
| Battery capacity | 38 Wh | 53.8 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.08 kg (better) | 1.23 kg |
| Thickness | 17 mm | 11.3 mm (better) |
| Width × depth | 300 × 192 mm | 304.1 × 215 mm |
| Battery life detail | Built-in 38 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 9 hours wireless web, 8 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 | Sold separately in the UK (30 W, 35 W dual-port or 70 W Apple USB-C adapters offered); needs at least 30 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, Thunderbolt, MagSafe 2, headphone jack | 2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ac AirPort Extreme (draft specification); compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n | Wi-Fi 7 |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 | 6 |
| Webcam | 720p FaceTime HD | 12MP Center Stage |
| 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. | 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, HDMI audio and video through a compatible adapter | 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 backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, four arrow keys and ambient light sensor | Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys |
| 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 | Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos |
| Microphones | Dual microphones | 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; OS X Mountain Lion and iLife | 13-inch MacBook Air, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m); power adapter sold separately |
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