Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple PowerBook G4 (12-inch, 1.5GHz)

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MacBook Air 13″ (M5) compared with PowerBook G4 (12-inch, 1.5GHz)

	AppleMacBook Air 13″ (M5)	ApplePowerBook G4 (12-inch, 1.5GHz)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2026	2005
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Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology	12.1-inch TFT XGA active-matrix display; panel technology and refresh unpublished.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 1.5 GHz (PowerBook 12-inch 2005)
CPU cores
CPU cores	10	1
Graphics
Graphics	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 (64 MB DDR)
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)	512 MB or 1.25 GB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 4 TB (better)	60 GB to 100 GB
CPU
CPU	10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores	1.5 GHz PowerPC G4, 512 KB on-chip L2 and 167 MHz system bus. Exact silicon supplier omitted.
GPU
GPU	Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode	NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 with 64 MB DDR video memory and AGP 4×.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory	512 MB PC2700 DDR333 standard; one SO-DIMM slot, maximum 1.25 GB.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	153 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD, configurable up to 4 TB	5400 rpm Ultra ATA/100 hard drive with Sudden Motion Sensor. Combo base60GB; SuperDrive base80GB; 100GB build-to-order on either. 8× DVD±RW/CD-RW SuperDrive; optical-drive differences retained in details.
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)	50 Wh
Weight
Weight	1.23 kg (better)	2.1 kg
Thickness
Thickness	11.3 mm	–
Width × depth
Width × depth	304.1 × 215 mm	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery	50 Wh lithium-ion, up to five hours. Published reference weight 2.1 kg with battery and optical drive; varies by configuration/manufacturing. Published dimensions: height 3.0 cm, width 27.7 cm, depth 21.9 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	45 W power adapter
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 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	AirPort Extreme 802.11g/b
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	6	2.0 + EDR
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 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400, 10/100 Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, mini-DVI, audio input and headphone output. Mini-DVI-to-DVI and mini-DVI-to-VGA adapters included; television adapter separate.
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 and mirroring; external resolution up to 2048 × 1536.
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys	Full-size keyboard with embedded numeric keypad
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Two-finger scrolling/panning, tap, double-tap and drag support
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 announced 31 January 2005 with availability planned later that week. Actual first on-sale month unestablished after a bounded search; year precision retained. Launch Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and iLife ’05; later units shipped Tiger.