Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M4) vs Apple MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)

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MacBook Air 15″ (M4) compared with MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)

	AppleMacBook Air 15″ (M4)	AppleMacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2025	November 2018
Display
Screen size
Screen size	15.3″	13.3″
Resolution
Resolution	2880 × 1864 (better)	2560 × 1600
Panel
Panel	IPS LCD	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	Retina display; LED-backlit IPS; 16:10 aspect ratio
Pixel density
Pixel density	224 ppi	227 ppi
Colour range
Colour range	Wide colour (P3); 1 billion colours	Millions of colours; sRGB rather than P3 (Macworld)
Display features
Display features	True Tone	–
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M4	Intel Core i5-8210Y
CPU cores
CPU cores	10	2
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	4
Graphics
Graphics	10-core GPU	Intel UHD Graphics 617
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	38 TOPS	–
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)	8 GB or 16 GB
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 2 TB (better)	128 GB to 1.536 TB
CPU
CPU	10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores	Eighth-generation dual-core Intel Core i5 at 1.6 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz, with 4 MB L3 cache; exact i5-8210Y identifier confirmed by Macworld and TechRadar. Apple T2 Security Chip with secure boot and storage encryption.
GPU
GPU	10-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode	Intel UHD Graphics 617; compatible Thunderbolt 3 external graphics processors supported
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory	8 GB or 16 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	120 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD, configurable up to 2 TB	PCIe-based SSD; 128 GB or 256 GB standard, configurable to 512 GB or 1.5 TB
Cooling
Cooling	Fanless	–
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	Up to 13 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	66.5 Wh (better)	50.3 Wh
Weight
Weight	1.51 kg	1.25 kg (better)
Thickness
Thickness	11.5 mm (better)	15.6 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	340.4 × 237.6 mm	304.1 × 212.4 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery	Up to 12 hours wireless web, 13 hours iTunes movie playback or 30 days standby; lithium-polymer. Apple's tests used 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. Chassis height tapers from 4.1 to 15.6 mm; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger
Charger	35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter	30 W USB-C Power Adapter; USB-C charging
Fast charging
Fast charging	With the 70 W USB-C Power Adapter	–
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; more than 55% recycled content overall	100% recycled aluminium enclosure
Colours
Colours	Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight	Gold, Silver, Space Grey
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 3, headphone jack
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	Wi-Fi 5
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	4.2
Webcam
Webcam	12MP Center Stage	720p FaceTime HD
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 Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports with charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt up to 40 Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; 3.5 mm headphone jack
External displays
External displays	Up to two at up to 6K 60 Hz, alongside the built-in display	One display at 5120 × 2880 and up to 60 Hz, or two at 4096 × 2304 and up to 60 Hz alongside the built-in display; VGA, HDMI and Thunderbolt 2 through separate adaptors
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (US) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys	Third-generation butterfly mechanism (Macworld); 78 US or 79 ISO individually LED-backlit keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys; ambient light sensor
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Force Touch trackpad with pressure sensing and Multi-Touch gestures
Speakers
Speakers	Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos	Stereo speakers; wide stereo playback
Microphones
Microphones	Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes	Three microphones
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	Touch ID
In the box
In the box	15-inch MacBook Air, 35 W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)	MacBook Air; 30 W USB-C Power Adapter; USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)