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

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

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MacBook Air 13″ (M5) compared with Macintosh PowerBook 5300cs/100
AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5)AppleMacintosh PowerBook 5300cs/100
Overview
ReleasedMarch 2026August 1995
Display
Screen size13.6″10.4″
Resolution2560 × 1664 (better)640 × 480
PanelIPS LCD–
Refresh rate60 Hz–
Brightness500 nits–
TouchscreenNoNo
Display typeLiquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology10.4-inch backlit dual-scan FSTN passive-matrix colour LCD with 256 colours
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 GB (better)16 MB
Storage512 GB to 4 TB (better)750 MB
CPU10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores100 MHz PowerPC 603e with 32 KB L1 cache and a 33.3 MHz bus; 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 also lists 8 MB configurations
Memory bandwidth153 GB/s–
Storage typeSSD, configurable up to 4 TBJapanese bundled configuration has 750 MB internal IDE storage and a removable 1.4 MB Apple SuperDrive floppy module; English support also lists 500 MB drives
CoolingFanless–
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)Up to 18 hoursUp to 4 hours
Battery capacity53.8 Wh–
Weight1.23 kg (better)2.9 kg
Thickness11.3 mm (better)54.8 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 2.5–4 hours and two-hour charging while asleep or unused, four hours during use. Maker 2.9 kg weight 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 audio 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; 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/750 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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