Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple Macintosh PowerBook Duo 2300c/100
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5) | AppleMacintosh PowerBook Duo 2300c/100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | March 2026 | August 1995 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 13.6″ | 9.5″ |
| Resolution | 2560 × 1664 (better) | 640 × 480 |
| Panel | IPS LCD | – |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | – |
| Brightness | 500 nits | – |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology | 9.5-inch backlit active-matrix colour LCD; 256 colours at 640 × 480 or 32,768 colours at 640 × 400. |
| Pixel density | 224 ppi | – |
| Colour range | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours | – |
| Display features | True Tone | – |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Apple M5 | PowerPC 603e 100 MHz (PowerBook Duo 2300c/100) |
| CPU cores | 10 | 1 |
| Graphics | 8-core GPU or 10-core GPU | – |
| Memory | 16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better) | 20 MB |
| Storage | 512 GB to 4 TB (better) | 1.1 GB |
| CPU | 10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores | 100 MHz PowerPC 603e with 32 KB L1 cache and 33 MHz data path. |
| GPU | Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode | – |
| AI engine | 16-core Neural Engine | – |
| Memory type | Unified memory | Japanese 20 MB factory configuration, expandable to 56 MB; 8 MB on the logic board and one Duo RAM slot. |
| Memory bandwidth | 153 GB/s | – |
| Storage type | SSD, configurable up to 4 TB | 1.1 GB internal hard drive in the Japanese configuration; external floppy drive and CD-ROM access require accessories or a dock. |
| Cooling | Fanless | – |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 18 hours | Up to 4 hours |
| Battery capacity | 53.8 Wh | – |
| Weight | 1.23 kg (better) | 2.2 kg |
| Thickness | 11.3 mm (better) | 38 mm |
| Width × depth | 304.1 × 215 mm | 277 × 216 mm |
| Battery life detail | Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery | Removable Type III nickel-metal hydride battery; Apple quoted two to four hours per charge. |
| 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 | – |
| Fast charging | With a 70 W or higher USB PD power source | – |
| Materials | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 55% recycled content overall | – |
| Colours | Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight | – |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack | – |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 | – |
| Bluetooth | 6 | – |
| Webcam | 12MP Center Stage | – |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| 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 | RS-422 serial/LocalTalk, 152-pin Duo dock connector, power input and built-in 14.4 kbps Express modem in the Japanese configuration; no built-in Ethernet. |
| 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 | – |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys | – |
| Trackpad | Force Touch trackpad | – |
| Speakers | Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos | Built-in mono speaker and microphone; stereo output through an optional Duo Dock. |
| Microphones | Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes | – |
| Biometrics | Touch ID | – |
| In the box | 13-inch MacBook Air, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m); power adapter sold separately | Japanese 20 MB/1.1 GB configuration supplied with KanjiTalk 7.5.2, Express modem, Type III battery and power adapter. |
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