Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

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MacBook Air 13″ (M5) compared with MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

	AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5)	AppleMacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2026	October 2016
Display
Screen size
Screen size	13.6″	13.3″
Resolution
Resolution	2560 × 1664 (better)	2560 × 1600
Panel
Panel	IPS LCD	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	60 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	500 nits	500 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology	Retina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours
Pixel density
Pixel density	224 ppi	227 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours	Wide colour (P3)
Display features
Display features	True Tone	Scaled resolutions of 1680 × 1050, 1440 × 900 or 1024 × 640
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M5	Intel Core i5-6360U or Intel Core i7-6660U
CPU cores
CPU cores	10	2
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	4
Graphics
Graphics	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU	Intel Iris Graphics 540
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)	8 GB or 16 GB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 4 TB (better)	256 GB to 1 TB
CPU
CPU	10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores	Dual-core Intel Core i5 at 2.0 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz, configurable to dual-core Core i7 at 2.4 GHz with up to 3.4 GHz; both have 4 MB shared L3 cache. AppleInsider confirms the i5-6360U; ComputerBase's configuration table confirms the i7-6660U.
GPU
GPU	Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode	Intel Iris Graphics 540 integrated graphics
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory	8 GB of 1866 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory, configurable to 16 GB
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	153 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD, configurable up to 4 TB	256 GB PCIe-based SSD, configurable to 512 GB or 1 TB
Cooling
Cooling	Fanless	–
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	Up to 10 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	53.8 Wh	54.5 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	1.23 kg (better)	1.37 kg
Thickness
Thickness	11.3 mm (better)	14.9 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	304.1 × 215 mm	304.1 × 212.4 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery	Lithium-polymer battery; up to 10 hours wireless web or iTunes movie playback and 30 days standby. Apple's October 2016 tests used the 2.0 GHz Core i5, 8 GB memory and 256 GB SSD. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger
Charger	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	61 W USB-C Power Adapter
Fast charging
Fast charging	With a 70 W or higher USB PD power source	–
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 55% recycled content overall	Aluminium enclosure
Colours
Colours	Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight	Silver; Space Grey
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 7	Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	6	4.2
Webcam
Webcam	12MP Center Stage	720p FaceTime HD
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Port detail
Port detail	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	Two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports support charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt up to 40 Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; 3.5 mm headphone jack. VGA, HDMI and Thunderbolt 2 require separate adaptors.
External displays
External displays	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	Built-in screen plus one 5120 × 2880 display at 60 Hz with over a billion colours, or two 4096 × 2304 displays at 60 Hz with over a billion colours
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys	Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, including 12 function keys and four arrow keys; ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures
Speakers
Speakers	Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos	Stereo speakers with high dynamic range
Microphones
Microphones	Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes	Two microphones
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	–
In the box
In the box	13-inch MacBook Air, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m); power adapter sold separately	13-inch MacBook Pro; 61 W USB-C Power Adapter; 2 m USB-C Charge Cable