Versus Engine
Apple MacBook Air (M5) vs Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra
Specs, price and the one trade-off that actually decides it — Apple MacBook Air (M5) against Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra, side by side.
Cheaper to start
Tie
Both start at a similar price.
Rated higher
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
9.6 vs 0.0 on our design scale.
Standout
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
Completely silent under normal load
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
The fanless efficiency benchmark: desktop-class work in a silent chassis, from $1,099.
Where it wins, where it doesn't
Pros
- Completely silent under normal load
- Battery life that removes charger anxiety
- Very light for the performance on offer
Cons
- Throttles under sustained load — no fan to shed heat
- Not suitable for serious local model inference
- Memory and storage fixed at purchase
Specifications
- audio_playbackSupported formats include AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Atmos
- Battery and PowerUp to 18 hours video streaming Up to 15 hours wireless web Built-in 53.8-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m) Fast-charge capable with 70W or higher USB PD power source
- battery_life_video_streamingUp to 18 hours video streaming
- battery_life_wireless_webUp to 15 hours wireless web
- battery_typeBuilt-in 53.8-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
- Charging and ExpansionMagSafe 3 charging port 3.5 mm headphone jack Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports with support for: Charging DisplayPort Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s) USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s) MagSafe 3 3.5 mm headphone jack Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) External Display Support Supports up to two external displays: Two displays up to a native resolution of 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz
- charging_portsMagSafe 3 charging port, Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports
- ChipApple M5 chip 10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores 10-core GPU Neural Accelerators Hardware-accelerated ray tracing 16-core Neural Engine 153GB/s memory bandwidth Media Engine Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW Video decode engine Video encode engine ProRes encode and decode engine AV1 decode
- configurable_memory24GB or 32GB
- configurable_storage1TB, 2TB, or 4TB
- cpu_cores10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores
- DisplayLiquid Retina display 13.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2 2560-by-1664 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch 500 nits brightness Color Support for 1 billion colors Wide color (P3) True Tone technology
- display_brightness500 nits brightness
- display_colorSupport for 1 billion colors, Wide color (P3), True Tone technology
- display_size13.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2 2560-by-1664 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch
- expansion_ports3.5 mm headphone jack
- external_display_supportSupports up to two external displays: Two displays up to a native resolution of 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz, One display up to a native resolution of 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Accessories—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) AP—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Battery / Charging—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Brightness—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Camera—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Color—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Dimensions—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Display—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Durability—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Memory & Storage—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Network & Connectivity—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) OS—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) S Pen—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Security—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) SIM—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Sound—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Weight—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Accessories—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) AP—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Brightness—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Camera—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Color—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Dimensions—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Display—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Memory & Storage—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Network & Connectivity—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) OS—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) S Pen—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Security—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) SIM—
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Sound—
- keyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard with: 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys, Touch ID, Ambient light sensor
- media_engineHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
- Memory16GB 16GB unified memory Configurable to: 24GB or 32GB
- memory_bandwidth153GB/s memory bandwidth
- neural_accelerators16-core Neural Engine
- power_adapter40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max
- Storage512GB 512GB SSD Configurable to: 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB
- video_playbackSupported formats include HEVC, H.264, AV1, and ProRes, HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10+/HDR10, and HLG
Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra
14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra with Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and 16GB + 1TB storage
Where it wins, where it doesn't
Pros
- 14.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with 120Hz refresh rate
- Up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM
- IP68 water and dust resistance
Cons
- Heavier and bulkier compared to smaller tablets
Specifications
- audio_playback—
- Battery and Power—
- battery_life_video_streaming—
- battery_life_wireless_web—
- battery_type—
- Charging and Expansion—
- charging_ports—
- Chip—
- configurable_memory—
- configurable_storage—
- cpu_cores—
- Display—
- display_brightness—
- display_color—
- display_size—
- expansion_ports—
- external_display_support—
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) AccessoriesPro Keyboard Book Cover Keyboard Slim Book Cover Frame Cover (Ultra only) Anti-Reflecting Screen Protector
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) APMediaTek Dimensity 9500
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Battery / Charging11,600 mAh / 45W
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) BrightnessPeak 1,600 nits / HBM 1,000 nits
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) CameraRear: 13 MP + 8 MP ultra-wide Front: 12 MP ultra-wide
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) ColorGray, Silver
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Dimensions208.5 x 326.3 x 5.1 mm
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Display14.6-inch, 28 2960 x 1848, 120Hz, Dynamic AMOLED 2X
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) DurabilityIP68
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Memory & Storage16GB + 1TB, 12GB + 512GB, 12GB + 256GB, microSD up to 2TB
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Network & Connectivity5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v6.0
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) OSAndroid 17, One UI 9
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) S PenS Pen (BLE not supported) In-box
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) SecurityFingerprint on Display
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) SIMDual SIM (pSIM + eSIM)
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) SoundQuad Speaker (4-channel Spatial Audio)
- Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra (14.6-inch) Weight692 g (Wi-Fi), 695 g (5G)
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) AccessoriesPro Keyboard Book Cover Keyboard Slim Book Cover Frame Cover (Ultra only) Anti-Reflecting Screen Protector
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) APMediaTek Dimensity 9500
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) BrightnessPeak 1,600 nits / HBM 1,000 nits
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) CameraRear: 13 MP Front: 12 MP ultra-wide
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) ColorGray, Silver
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Dimensions187.8 x 289.5 x 5.3 mm
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Display12.6-inch, 29 2800 x 1752, 120Hz, Dynamic AMOLED 2X
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Memory & Storage12GB + 512GB, 12GB + 256GB, microSD up to 2TB
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) Network & Connectivity5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth v6.0
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) OSAndroid 17, One UI 9
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) S PenS Pen (BLE not supported) In-box
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) SecurityFingerprint on Display
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) SIMDual SIM (pSIM + eSIM)
- Galaxy Tab S12+ (12.6-inch) SoundQuad Speaker (4-channel Spatial Audio)
- keyboard—
- media_engine—
- Memory—
- memory_bandwidth—
- neural_accelerators—
- power_adapter—
- Storage—
- video_playback—