Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) vs Apple MacBook Air (Mid 2009)

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MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) compared with MacBook Air (Mid 2009)

	AppleMacBook Air (13-inch, 2017)	AppleMacBook Air (Mid 2009)
Overview
Released
Released	June 2017	June 2009
Display
Screen size
Screen size	13.3″	13.3″
Resolution
Resolution	1440 × 900 (better)	1280 × 800
Panel
Panel	TN LCD	–
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	LED-backlit glossy widescreen display; TN panel confirmed by Notebookcheck; 16:10 aspect ratio	Glossy LED-backlit widescreen LCD, millions of colours; panel technology, refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.
Colour range
Colour range	Millions of colours	–
Display features
Display features	Scaled 16:10 resolutions of 1280 × 800, 1152 × 720 and 1024 × 640; 4:3 resolutions of 1024 × 768 and 800 × 600	–
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i5-5350U or Intel Core i7-5650U	Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400 or Intel Core 2 Duo SL9600
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	2
CPU threads
CPU threads	4	–
Graphics
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 6000	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Memory
Memory	8 GB (better)	2 GB
Storage
Storage	128 GB to 512 GB (better)	120 GB to 128 GB
CPU
CPU	Dual-core Intel Core i5 at 1.8 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz and 3 MB shared L3 cache, or Core i7 at 2.2 GHz with up to 3.2 GHz and 4 MB shared L3 cache. Exact i5-5350U and i7-5650U identifiers confirmed by Notebookcheck. Intel's current i7 specification table says 3.1 GHz, while its heading and Apple's sheet say 3.2 GHz; the chip record omits the conflicting maximum.	Dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400 at 1.86 GHz or SL9600 at 2.13 GHz, 6 MB shared L2 cache and 1066 MHz frontside bus. Exact identities confirmed by EveryMac and Notebookcheck.
GPU
GPU	Intel HD Graphics 6000	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
Memory type
Memory type	8 GB of 1600 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory	2 GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 onboard memory, not upgradeable
Storage type
Storage type	PCIe-based SSD; 128 GB or 256 GB standard, configurable to 256 GB or 512 GB as appropriate	The 1.86 GHz base has a 120 GB 4200-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; the 2.13 GHz base has a 128 GB solid-state drive. Configurations preserve these published combinations. Optional external USB MacBook Air SuperDrive; no built-in optical drive.
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 12 hours	–
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	54 Wh (better)	40 Wh
Weight
Weight	1.35 kg (better)	1.36 kg
Thickness
Thickness	17 mm (better)	19.4 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	325 × 227 mm	325 × 227 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 12 hours wireless web or iTunes movie playback and up to 30 days standby; lithium-polymer. Apple's May 2017 test used 1.8 GHz Core i5, 8 GB memory and 256 GB storage. Chassis tapers from 3 to 17 mm; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.	Built-in 40 Wh lithium-polymer battery. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process; no runtime figure on the current maker technical sheet.
Charger
Charger	45 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management	45 W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management
Materials
Materials	Aluminium enclosure	Aluminium enclosure; tapered thickness from 4 to 19.4 mm
Colours
Colours	Silver	Silver
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Thunderbolt 2, MagSafe 2, SD card slot, headphone jack	USB-A, MagSafe, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5	802.11n draft; compatible with 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	4.0	2.1 + EDR
Webcam
Webcam	720p FaceTime HD	Built-in iSight camera
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	Two USB 3 USB-A ports up to 5 Gb/s; one Thunderbolt 2 port up to 20 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort; MagSafe 2; SDXC card slot; 3.5 mm headphone jack	One USB 2.0 port up to 480 Mb/s, Mini DisplayPort video output, headphone jack and MagSafe. USB Ethernet Adapter supplied; DVI, VGA and dual-link DVI video adapters sold separately.
External displays
External displays	One display up to 3840 × 2160 at 60 Hz alongside the built-in display, at millions of colours; VGA, HDMI, DVI and dual-link DVI through separate adaptors	Built-in screen plus one external display up to 2560 × 1600, both with millions of colours; dual display and video mirroring
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, inverted-T arrow keys and an ambient light sensor	Full-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Multi-Touch trackpad with scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, tap and drag gestures; no Force Touch (Notebookcheck)	Multi-Touch trackpad with two-finger scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger and four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap and drag gestures
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers	Mono speaker
Microphones
Microphones	Dual microphones	Omnidirectional microphone
In the box
In the box	MacBook Air; power adapter; AC wall plug; power cord	MacBook Air, 45 W MagSafe power adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, USB Ethernet Adapter, install/restore DVDs, display cleaning cloth and documentation; Mac OS X Leopard and iLife ’09