Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) | AppleMacBook Air 15″ (M4) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | June 2013 | March 2025 |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 13.3″ | 15.3″ |
| Resolution | 1440 × 900 | 2880 × 1864 (better) |
| Panel | TN LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | – | 60 Hz |
| Brightness | – | 500 nits |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Display type | Glossy LED-backlit widescreen LCD, millions of colours; TN panel confirmed by Notebookcheck's exact-model review. Refresh rate and brightness unpublished by Apple. | Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology |
| Pixel density | – | 224 ppi |
| Colour range | – | Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours |
| Display features | – | True Tone |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4250U or Intel Core i7-4650U | Apple M4 |
| CPU cores | 2 | 10 |
| CPU threads | 4 | – |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics 5000 | 10-core GPU |
| AI engine (NPU) | – | 38 TOPS |
| Memory | 4 GB or 8 GB | 16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better) |
| Storage | 128 GB to 512 GB | 256 GB to 2 TB (better) |
| CPU | Dual-core Intel Core i5-4250U at 1.3 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.6 GHz and 3 MB shared L3 cache; configurable to Core i7-4650U at 1.7 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz and 4 MB shared L3 cache. Exact identities confirmed by Notebookcheck. | 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores |
| GPU | Intel HD Graphics 5000 integrated graphics | 10-core GPU; 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 | 4 GB of 1600 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory, configurable to 8 GB | Unified memory |
| Memory bandwidth | – | 120 GB/s |
| Storage type | 128 GB or 256 GB PCIe-based flash storage; the 256 GB base is configurable to 512 GB. Processor and memory upgrades apply to either base. | SSD, configurable up to 2 TB |
| Cooling | – | Fanless |
| Battery and size | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 12 hours | Up to 18 hours |
| Battery capacity | 54 Wh | 66.5 Wh (better) |
| Weight | 1.35 kg (better) | 1.51 kg |
| Thickness | 17 mm | 11.5 mm (better) |
| Width × depth | 325 × 227 mm | 340.4 × 237.6 mm |
| Battery life detail | Built-in 54 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 12 hours wireless web, 10 hours iTunes movie playback or 30 days standby under Apple's test conditions. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. | Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery |
| Charger | 45 W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter with cable management | 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter |
| Fast charging | – | With the 70 W USB-C Power Adapter |
| Materials | Aluminium enclosure; tapered thickness from 3 to 17 mm | 100% recycled aluminium enclosure; more than 55% recycled content overall |
| Colours | Silver | Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × USB-A, Thunderbolt, MagSafe 2, headphone jack, SD card slot | 2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ac AirPort Extreme (draft specification); compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n | Wi-Fi 6E |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 | 5.3 |
| Webcam | 720p FaceTime HD | 12MP Center Stage |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Port detail | Two USB 3 ports up to 5 Gb/s, Thunderbolt up to 10 Gb/s with native Mini DisplayPort output, MagSafe 2 SDXC card slot and headphone jack supporting the Apple iPhone headset remote and microphone. DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI and HDMI require separate adapters. | 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 |
| External displays | Built-in screen plus one external display up to 2560 × 1600, both with millions of colours; dual display and video mirroring, HDMI audio and video through a compatible adapter | Up to two at up to 6K 60 Hz, alongside the built-in display |
| Keyboard | Full-size backlit keyboard with 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys, four arrow keys and ambient light sensor | Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys |
| Trackpad | Multi-Touch trackpad with inertial scrolling, pinch, rotate, swipe, three-finger swipe, four-finger swipe, tap, double-tap and drag | Force Touch trackpad |
| Speakers | Stereo speakers | Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos |
| Microphones | Dual microphones | Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes |
| Biometrics | – | Touch ID |
| In the box | MacBook Air, power adapter, AC wall plug and power cord; OS X Mountain Lion and iLife | 15-inch MacBook Air, 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m) |
More comparisons
- Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013)
- Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M5) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
- Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M5)
- Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M5)
- Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M4) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
- Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M2) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
- Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M3) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
- Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M3) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
- Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M2) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
- Apple MacBook Air 13″ (M1) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
- Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4) vs Apple MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020)
- Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4) vs Apple MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019)
- Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4) vs Apple MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)
- Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
- Apple MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)
- Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015) vs Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4)

