Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014) vs Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M3)

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MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014) compared with MacBook Air 13″ (M3)

	AppleMacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014)	AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M3)
Overview
Released
Released	April 2014	March 2024
Display
Screen size
Screen size	13.3″	13.6″
Resolution
Resolution	1440 × 900	2560 × 1664 (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 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 Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.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 i5-4260U or Intel Core i7-4650U	Apple M3
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	8
CPU threads
CPU threads	4	–
Graphics
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 5000	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
Memory
Memory	4 GB or 8 GB	8 GB, 16 GB or 24 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	128 GB to 512 GB	256 GB to 2 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Dual-core Intel Core i5-4260U at 1.4 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.7 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 processor identities confirmed by Notebookcheck and Mobilenet.	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	Intel HD Graphics 5000 integrated graphics	8-core or 10-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode engine
AI engine
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory type
Memory type	4 GB of 1600 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory, configurable to 8 GB	Unified memory
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	100 GB/s
Storage type
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 2 TB
Cooling
Cooling	–	Fanless
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 12 hours	Up to 18 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	54 Wh (better)	52.6 Wh
Weight
Weight	1.35 kg	1.24 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	17 mm	11.3 mm (better)
Width × depth
Width × depth	325 × 227 mm	304.1 × 215 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Built-in 54 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 12 hours wireless web, 12 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
Charger	45 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management	30 W USB-C adapter with the 8-core GPU model; 35 W Dual USB-C Port Compact adapter with the 10-core GPU, 512GB model
Fast charging
Fast charging	–	With the 70 W USB-C Power Adapter
Materials
Materials	Aluminium enclosure; tapered thickness from 3 to 17 mm	–
Colours
Colours	Silver	Silver, Starlight, Space Grey, Midnight
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Thunderbolt, MagSafe 2, headphone jack, SD card slot	2 × Thunderbolt 3, MagSafe 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11ac AirPort Extreme (draft specification); compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	4.0	5.3
Webcam
Webcam	720p FaceTime HD	1080p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	Two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s, Thunderbolt up to 10 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output, MagSafe 2, SDXC card slot and headphone jack supporting the Apple iPhone headset remote and microphone. DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI and HDMI require separate adapters.	2 × Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40 Gb/s) 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, HDMI audio and video through a compatible adapter	One at up to 6K 60 Hz alongside the built-in display; with the lid closed, a second at up to 5K 60 Hz
Keyboard
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 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys
Trackpad
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
Speakers	Stereo speakers	Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	Dual microphones	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 Mavericks and iLife; iWork is free for qualifying new Mac purchases	13-inch MacBook Air, 30 W or 35 W Dual USB-C Port power adapter (by model), USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)