Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

MacBook Air 13″ (M5) compared with MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5)AppleMacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
Overview
ReleasedMarch 2026June 2017
Display
Screen size13.6″13.3″
Resolution2560 × 1664 (better)2560 × 1600
PanelIPS LCDIPS LCD
Refresh rate60 Hz–
Brightness500 nits500 nits
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technologyRetina display; LED-backlit IPS; millions of colours
Pixel density224 ppi227 ppi
Colour rangeWide colour (P3); 1 billion coloursWide colour (P3)
Display featuresTrue ToneScaled resolutions of 1680 × 1050, 1440 × 900 or 1024 × 640
Performance
ProcessorApple M5Intel Core i5-7267U, Intel Core i5-7287U or Intel Core i7-7567U
CPU cores102
CPU threads–4
Graphics8-core GPU or 10-core GPUIntel Iris Plus Graphics 650
Memory16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)8 GB or 16 GB
Storage512 GB to 4 TB (better)256 GB to 1 TB
CPU10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency coresDual-core Intel Core i5 at 3.1 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.5 GHz, configurable to Core i5 at 3.3 GHz with up to 3.7 GHz or Core i7 at 3.5 GHz with up to 4 GHz; all have 64 MB eDRAM. Exact i5-7267U, i5-7287U and i7-7567U identifiers confirmed by ComputerBase, with the base i5 also confirmed by Notebookcheck.
GPUNeural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decodeIntel Iris Plus Graphics 650 integrated graphics
AI engine16-core Neural Engine–
Memory typeUnified memory8 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory, configurable to 16 GB (Apple specification); Intel's processor sheets list LPDDR3 up to 1866 MHz
Memory bandwidth153 GB/s–
Storage typeSSD, configurable up to 4 TBPCIe-based onboard SSD; 256 GB base configurable to 512 GB or 1 TB, and 512 GB base configurable to 1 TB
CoolingFanlessTwo cooling fans (Notebookcheck)
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)Up to 18 hoursUp to 10 hours
Battery capacity53.8 Wh (better)49.2 Wh
Weight1.23 kg (better)1.37 kg
Thickness11.3 mm (better)14.9 mm
Width × depth304.1 × 215 mm304.1 × 212.4 mm
Battery life detailUp to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer batteryLithium-polymer battery; up to 10 hours wireless web or iTunes movie playback and 30 days standby. Apple's May 2017 test used the 3.1 GHz Core i5, 8 GB memory and 512 GB SSD. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
ChargerSold 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 PD61 W USB-C Power Adapter
Fast chargingWith a 70 W or higher USB PD power source–
Materials100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 55% recycled content overallAluminium enclosure
ColoursSky Blue, Silver, Starlight, MidnightSilver; Space Grey
Connections
Ports2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack4 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack
Wi-FiWi-Fi 7Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth64.2
Webcam12MP Center Stage720p FaceTime HD
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Port detail2 × 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 supportFour 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. Notebookcheck reports reduced bandwidth for the right-hand Thunderbolt ports.
External displaysUp 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 displayBuilt-in screen plus one 5120 × 2880 display at 60 Hz with over a billion colours, two 4096 × 2304 displays at 60 Hz with millions of colours, or two 3840 × 2160 displays at 60 Hz with over a billion colours
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keysFull-size backlit keyboard with 64 US or 65 ISO keys, four arrow keys, Touch Bar and ambient light sensor
TrackpadForce Touch trackpadForce Touch trackpad with pressure sensing, Force clicks and Multi-Touch gestures
SpeakersFour-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby AtmosStereo speakers with high dynamic range
MicrophonesThree-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modesThree microphones
BiometricsTouch IDTouch ID fingerprint sensor integrated into the Touch Bar
In the box13-inch MacBook Air, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m); power adapter sold separately13-inch MacBook Pro; 61 W USB-C Power Adapter; 2 m USB-C Charge Cable

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