Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple PowerBook G4 12-inch (Early 2003)

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MacBook Air 13″ (M5) compared with PowerBook G4 12-inch (Early 2003)

	AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5)	ApplePowerBook G4 12-inch (Early 2003)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2026	2003
Display
Screen size
Screen size	13.6″	12.1″
Resolution
Resolution	2560 × 1664 (better)	1024 × 768
Panel
Panel	IPS LCD	–
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	60 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	500 nits	–
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology	12.1-inch TFT XGA active-matrix display. Exact panel technology, brightness and refresh unpublished.
Pixel density
Pixel density	224 ppi	–
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours	–
Display features
Display features	True Tone	–
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M5	PowerPC G4 867 MHz (PowerBook 12-inch Early 2003)
CPU cores
CPU cores	10	1
Graphics
Graphics	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go (32 MB DDR)
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)	256 MB or 640 MB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 4 TB (better)	40 GB
CPU
CPU	10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores	867 MHz PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine, 256 KB L2 cache and 133 MHz system bus. Exact supplier/SKU not inferred.
GPU
GPU	Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode	NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go, AGP 4 × and 32 MB DDR video memory.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory	256 MB PC2100 DDR266 stock: 128 MB onboard plus 128 MB SO-DIMM. Maker-supported maximum 640 MB retained; third-party 1152 MB maximum in EveryMac is not a maker configuration.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	153 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD, configurable up to 4 TB	40 GB 4200 rpm Ultra ATA/100 hard drive. Combo reads DVD 8 ×, writes CD-R 24 × and CD-RW 10 ×; optional SuperDrive writes DVD-R 1 ×, CD-R 8 × and CD-RW 4 ×. No unlisted drive capacity combinations.
Cooling
Cooling	Fanless	–
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	Up to 5 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	53.8 Wh (better)	47 Wh
Weight
Weight	1.23 kg (better)	2.1 kg
Thickness
Thickness	11.3 mm (better)	30 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	304.1 × 215 mm	277 × 219 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery	47 Wh, up to five hours maker claim. Published 2.1 kg includes battery and optical drive and varies by configuration/manufacturing process; closed metric dimensions 27.7 × 21.9 × 3.0 cm.
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	–
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 alloy enclosure
Colours
Colours	Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight	–
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 7	Optional AirPort Extreme 802.11b/g
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	6	1.1
Webcam
Webcam	12MP Center Stage	–
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 12 Mbps USB 1.1 ports, one FireWire 400, 10/100 Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, audio line in and headphone output. Mini-VGA supports included VGA and S-video/composite adapters. No PC Card slot.
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	Dual display or mirroring; external display up to 1600 × 1200 at millions of colours.
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys	Full-size keyboard, 78 US or 79 ISO keys, embedded numeric keypad.
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	–
Speakers
Speakers	Four-speaker sound system; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos	Stereo speakers with midrange-enhancing third speaker
Microphones
Microphones	Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes	Internal omnidirectional microphone
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	Apple Video Adapter, VGA adapter, modem cable, 45 W power adapter, plug and cord. January 7 maker launch promised later-January availability; full production review on February 3 confirms subsequent availability but exact first sale month is unestablished, so year retained.