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Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple Macintosh PowerBook 5300/100

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5)AppleMacintosh PowerBook 5300/100
Overview
ReleasedMarch 2026August 1995
Display
Screen size13.6″9.5″
Resolution2560 × 1664640 × 480
PanelIPS LCD–
Refresh rate60 Hz–
Brightness500 nits–
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology9.5-inch backlit FSTN passive-matrix LCD with 16 grey levels
Pixel density224 ppi–
Colour rangeWide colour (P3); 1 billion colours–
Display featuresTrue Tone–
Performance
ProcessorApple M5PowerPC 603e 100 MHz (PowerBook 5300c)
CPU cores101
Graphics8-core GPU or 10-core GPU–
Memory16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB16 MB
Storage512 GB to 4 TB500 MB
CPU10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores100 MHz PowerPC 603e with a 33.3 MHz bus, 32 KB L1 cache and no L2 cache
GPUNeural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode–
AI engine16-core Neural Engine–
Memory typeUnified memoryJapanese bundled configuration has 16 MB, expandable to 64 MB; English support gives an 8 MB base configuration
Memory bandwidth153 GB/s–
Storage typeSSD, configurable up to 4 TB500 MB internal IDE hard drive and removable 1.4 MB Apple SuperDrive floppy module
CoolingFanless–
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)Up to 18 hoursUp to 4.5 hours
Battery capacity53.8 Wh–
Weight1.23 kg2.8 kg
Thickness11.3 mm51.4 mm
Width × depth304.1 × 215 mm293 × 217 mm
Battery life detailUp to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer batteryRemovable nickel-metal hydride battery; Apple claims 3–4.5 hours. Charging takes two hours while asleep or unused, four hours during use. Japanese maker 2.8 kg includes the floppy module; replacing it with the PC Card tray reduces weight by about 180 g
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 PD–
Fast chargingWith a 70 W or higher USB PD power source–
Materials100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 55% recycled content overall–
ColoursSky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight–
Connections
Ports2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack–
Wi-FiWi-Fi 7–
Bluetooth6–
Webcam12MP Center Stage–
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 supportTwo Type I/II PC Card slots or one Type III, ADB, RS-422 serial/LocalTalk, HDI-30 SCSI, stereo sound input/output, external video, infrared and power input; Ethernet requires a PC Card
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 displayVideo output supports 256 colours; third-party hardware can provide greater colour depth
KeyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys–
TrackpadForce Touch trackpadBuilt-in solid-state trackpad
SpeakersFour-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby AtmosBuilt-in speaker and omnidirectional microphone with 16-bit stereo audio input/output
MicrophonesThree-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes–
BiometricsTouch ID–
In the box13-inch MacBook Air, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m); power adapter sold separatelyJapanese 16 MB/500 MB bundle includes nickel-metal hydride battery, power adapter, PC Card tray, KanjiTalk 7.5.2 CD-ROM and PowerBook Mobility Bundle

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