Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M1) vs Apple MacBook Air (Mid 2009)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

MacBook Air 13″ (M1) compared with MacBook Air (Mid 2009)

	AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M1)	AppleMacBook Air (Mid 2009)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2020	June 2009
Display
Screen size
Screen size	13.3″	13.3″
Resolution
Resolution	2560 × 1600 (better)	1280 × 800
Panel
Panel	IPS LCD	–
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	60 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	400 nits	–
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology	Glossy LED-backlit widescreen LCD, millions of colours; panel technology, refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple.
Pixel density
Pixel density	227 ppi	–
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); millions of colours	–
Screen finish
Screen finish	Glossy (Notebookcheck)	–
Display features
Display features	True Tone; 60 Hz refresh rate (Notebookcheck)	–
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M1	Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400 or Intel Core 2 Duo SL9600
CPU cores
CPU cores	8	2
Graphics
Graphics	7-core GPU or 8-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
Memory
Memory	8 GB or 16 GB (better)	2 GB
Storage
Storage	128 GB to 2 TB (better)	120 GB to 128 GB
CPU
CPU	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores	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	7-core or 8-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory, configurable to 16 GB	2 GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 onboard memory, not upgradeable
Storage type
Storage type	SSD; consumer models started at 256 GB, configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB. Apple's US education price list also lists an 8 GB / 128 GB model with a 7-core GPU.	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.
Cooling
Cooling	Fanless	–
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	–
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	49.9 Wh (better)	40 Wh
Weight
Weight	1.29 kg (better)	1.36 kg
Thickness
Thickness	16.1 mm (better)	19.4 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	304.1 × 212.4 mm	325 × 227 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery	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	30 W USB-C Power Adapter	45 W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure	Aluminium enclosure; tapered thickness from 4 to 19.4 mm
Colours
Colours	Gold, Silver, Space Grey	Silver
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack	USB-A, MagSafe, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6	802.11n draft; compatible with 802.11a/b/g
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.0	2.1 + EDR
Webcam
Webcam	720p FaceTime HD	Built-in iSight camera
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s, and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; 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 external display at up to 6K 60 Hz alongside the built-in display	Built-in screen plus one external display up to 2560 × 1600, both with millions of colours; dual display and video mirroring
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard; 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys with 12 function keys and inverted-T arrow keys; ambient light sensor	Full-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	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; wide stereo sound; Dolby Atmos playback	Mono speaker
Microphones
Microphones	Three-mic array with directional beamforming	Omnidirectional microphone
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	–
In the box
In the box	MacBook Air, 30 W USB-C Power Adapter, USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)	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