Apple MacBook Air (Original) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)

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MacBook Air (Original) compared with MacBook Air 15″ (M4)

	AppleMacBook Air (Original)	AppleMacBook Air 15″ (M4)
Overview
Released
Released	January 2008	March 2025
Display
Screen size
Screen size	13.3″	15.3″
Resolution
Resolution	1280 × 800	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 TFT LCD, millions of colours. TN panel identified in Notebookcheck’s exact-model review; refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.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
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6 GHz (MacBook Air, Original, 2008) or Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz (MacBook Air, Original, 2008)	Apple M4
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	10
Graphics
Graphics	Intel GMA X3100	10-core GPU
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	–	38 TOPS
Memory
Memory	2 GB	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	64 GB to 80 GB	256 GB to 2 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Custom dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo at 1.6 GHz or optional 1.8 GHz, 4 MB shared L2 cache and 800 MHz frontside bus. Chip records retain the maker’s clock and model description because exact Intel part numbers are not maker-confirmed.	10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	Intel GMA X3100 with 144 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory	10-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode
AI engine
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Memory type	2 GB of 667 MHz DDR2 onboard memory, not upgradeable	Unified memory
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	120 GB/s
Storage type
Storage type	80 GB 4200-rpm Parallel ATA hard drive or optional 64 GB solid-state drive, available with either processor. No built-in optical drive; optional external USB MacBook Air SuperDrive.	SSD, configurable up to 2 TB
Cooling
Cooling	–	Fanless
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	–	Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	37 Wh	66.5 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	1.36 kg (better)	1.51 kg
Thickness
Thickness	19.4 mm	11.5 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	325 × 227 mm	340.4 × 237.6 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Built-in 37 Wh lithium-polymer battery. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process; no runtime figure on the current maker technical sheet.	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 4 to 19.4 mm	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; more than 55% recycled content overall
Colours
Colours	Silver	Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight
Connections
Ports
Ports	USB-A, MagSafe, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11n draft; compatible with 802.11a/b/g	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	5.3
Webcam
Webcam	Built-in iSight camera	12MP Center Stage
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	One USB 2.0 port up to 480 Mb/s, Micro-DVI video output, headphone jack and MagSafe. Micro-DVI to DVI and VGA adapters supplied; Ethernet requires an optional USB adapter.	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
External displays	Built-in screen plus one external display up to 1920 × 1200, both with millions of colours; dual display and video mirroring	Up to two at up to 6K 60 Hz, alongside the built-in display
Keyboard
Keyboard	Full-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys
Trackpad
Trackpad	Multi-Touch trackpad with scroll, pinch, rotate, swipe, tap, double-tap and drag gestures	Force Touch trackpad
Speakers
Speakers	Mono speaker	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, MagSafe power adapter, Micro-DVI to DVI and VGA adapters, cleaning cloth, install/restore DVDs and printed documentation; Mac OS X Leopard and iLife ’08	15-inch MacBook Air, 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)