Apple MacBook Air 15″ (M5) vs Apple MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2006)

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MacBook Air 15″ (M5) compared with MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2006)

	AppleMacBook Air 15″ (M5)	AppleMacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2006)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2026	May 2006
Display
Screen size
Screen size	15.3″	17″
Resolution
Resolution	2880 × 1864 (better)	1680 × 1050
Panel
Panel	IPS LCD	–
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	60 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	500 nits (better)	300 nits
Touchscreen
Touchscreen	No	No
Display type
Display type	Liquid Retina display; LED-backlit with IPS technology	Widescreen TFT display; matte at launch, with glossy option added later in May 2006 with millions of colours. Exact panel technology and refresh rate unpublished in the maker sources read.
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	Intel Core Duo 2.16 GHz (MacBook Pro Early 2006)
CPU cores
CPU cores	10	2
Graphics
Graphics	10-core GPU	ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (256 MB GDDR3)
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)	1 GB or 2 GB
Storage
Storage	512 GB to 4 TB (better)	100 GB to 120 GB
CPU
CPU	10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores	Dual-core Intel Core Duo at 2.16 GHz, with 2 MB shared L2 cache and 667 MHz frontside bus. The record retains the maker’s clock and model rather than copying an unverified retail-chip specification.
GPU
GPU	Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing; Media Engine with H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW acceleration and AV1 decode	ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (256 MB GDDR3)
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory type
Memory type	Unified memory	667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM in two SO-DIMM slots; 1 GB standard, configurable to 2 GB.
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	153 GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD, configurable up to 4 TB	120 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive, configurable to 100 GB at 7200 rpm. 8× SuperDrive with 2.4× double-layer DVD+R writing.
Cooling
Cooling	Fanless	–
Battery and size
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 18 hours	Up to 5.5 hours
Battery capacity
Battery capacity	66.5 Wh	68 Wh (better)
Weight
Weight	1.51 kg (better)	3.1 kg
Thickness
Thickness	11.5 mm (better)	25.9 mm
Width × depth
Width × depth	340.4 × 237.6 mm	392 × 265 mm
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 15 hours wireless web; lithium-polymer battery	Removable 68 Wh lithium-polymer battery; up to 5.5 hours in Apple’s test. Maker reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Charger
Charger	Sold separately in the UK (35 W dual-port or 70 W Apple USB-C adapters offered); needs at least 35 W over USB PD	85 W MagSafe 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	Silver
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 4, MagSafe 3, headphone jack	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack, MagSafe
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 7	AirPort Extreme 802.11g
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	6	2.0 + EDR
Webcam
Webcam	12MP Center Stage	Built-in iSight camera
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	3 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, MagSafe, dual-link DVI, ExpressCard/34, separate combined optical digital audio input/line input and combined optical digital audio output/headphone output, and Kensington lock slot. VGA adapter included; composite/S-video adapter optional.
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	One external display up to 2560 × 1600 alongside the built-in screen through dual-link DVI; included VGA adapter, optional composite/S-video adapter.
Keyboard
Keyboard	Backlit Magic Keyboard, 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys	Full-size backlit keyboard with ambient light sensors, 78 US or 79 ISO keys, 12 function keys and four arrow keys; embedded numeric keypad
Trackpad
Trackpad	Force Touch trackpad	Scrolling trackpad with a separate button; two-finger scrolling, tap, double-tap and drag.
Speakers
Speakers	Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos	Built-in stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	Three-mic array with directional beamforming; Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum modes	Built-in omnidirectional microphone under the left speaker grille
Biometrics
Biometrics	Touch ID	–
In the box
In the box	15-inch MacBook Air, USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m); power adapter sold separately	MacBook Pro, removable battery, 85 W MagSafe Power Adapter with AC wall plug and power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Apple Remote and DVI-to-VGA adapter included. Mac OS X 10.4.6 Tiger and iLife ’06. Apple’s 24 April 2006 notice states shipping the following week, supporting May month precision without an exact delivery day. The optional glossy screen was introduced later in May and is not treated as an original launch configuration.