Versus Engine
Apple MacBook Air (M5) vs iPad Air
Specs, price and the one trade-off that actually decides it — Apple MacBook Air (M5) against iPad Air, 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
- Buttons and Connectors / Camera—
- Buttons and Connectors / Magnetic connector—
- Buttons and Connectors / Microphone—
- Buttons and Connectors / Smart Connector—
- Buttons and Connectors / Speaker—
- Buttons and Connectors / USB-C connector—
- Buttons and Connectors / Volume buttons—
- Camera / 12MP Wide camera / aperture—
- Camera / 12MP Wide camera / features—
- Camera / 12MP Wide camera / lens—
- Capacity—
- Cellular and Wireless / Apple C1X cellular modem / 5G (sub-6 GHz)—
- Cellular and Wireless / Apple C1X cellular modem / Gigabit LTE—
- Cellular and Wireless / Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)—
- 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
- Chip / Apple M4 chip / 8-core CPU—
- 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 / 11-inch / brightness—
- Display / 11-inch / resolution—
- Display / 11-inch / supports—
- 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
- Finish—
- 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
- SIM Card / eSIM—
- Size and Weight / depth—
- Size and Weight / height—
- Size and Weight / iPad Air 11-inch Wi-Fi + Cellular models—
- Size and Weight / iPad Air 11-inch Wi-Fi models—
- Size and Weight / iPad Air 13-inch Wi-Fi + Cellular models—
- Size and Weight / iPad Air 13-inch Wi-Fi models—
- Size and Weight / width—
- Storage512GB 512GB SSD Configurable to: 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB
- Video Recording / 4K video recording / fps—
- video_playbackSupported formats include HEVC, H.264, AV1, and ProRes, HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10+/HDR10, and HLG
iPad Air
11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air with Apple M4 chip and 12MP camera
Where it wins, where it doesn't
Pros
- Powerful Apple M4 chip with 8-core CPU
- High-resolution display with support for Apple Pencil
- Advanced eSIM technology for secure and convenient connectivity
Cons
- Limited to eSIM, incompatible with physical SIM cards
Specifications
- audio_playback—
- Battery and Power—
- battery_life_video_streaming—
- battery_life_wireless_web—
- battery_type—
- Buttons and Connectors / CameraBack
- Buttons and Connectors / Magnetic connectorBack
- Buttons and Connectors / MicrophoneBack
- Buttons and Connectors / Smart ConnectorBack
- Buttons and Connectors / Speakerbottom
- Buttons and Connectors / USB-C connectorbottom
- Buttons and Connectors / Volume buttonsRight side, top
- Camera / 12MP Wide camera / apertureƒ/1.8
- Camera / 12MP Wide camera / featuresPanorama (up to 63MP),Sapphire crystal lens cover,Autofocus with Focus Pixels,Smart HDR 4,Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos,Photo geotagging,Auto image stabilization,Burst mode,Image formats captured: HEIF and JPEG
- Camera / 12MP Wide camera / lensFive-element lens
- Capacity128GB,256GB,512GB,1TB
- Cellular and Wireless / Apple C1X cellular modem / 5G (sub-6 GHz)4x4 MIMO
- Cellular and Wireless / Apple C1X cellular modem / Gigabit LTE4x4 MIMO
- Cellular and Wireless / Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)2x2 MIMO
- Charging and Expansion—
- charging_ports—
- Chip—
- Chip / Apple M4 chip / 8-core CPU3 performance cores and 5 efficiency cores
- configurable_memory—
- configurable_storage—
- cpu_cores—
- Display—
- Display / 11-inch / brightness500 nits
- Display / 11-inch / resolution2360-by-1640-pixel resolution at 264 ppi
- Display / 11-inch / supportsApple Pencil Pro,Apple Pencil (USB-C),Apple Pencil hover
- display_brightness—
- display_color—
- display_size—
- expansion_ports—
- external_display_support—
- FinishBlue,Purple,Starlight,Space Gray
- keyboard—
- media_engine—
- Memory—
- memory_bandwidth—
- neural_accelerators—
- power_adapter—
- SIM Card / eSIMiPad Air uses advanced eSIM technology for more convenience and security (not compatible with physical SIM cards)
- Size and Weight / depth0.24 inch (6.1 mm)
- Size and Weight / height9.74 inches (247.6 mm)
- Size and Weight / iPad Air 11-inch Wi-Fi + Cellular models1.03 pounds (465 grams)
- Size and Weight / iPad Air 11-inch Wi-Fi models1.02 pounds (464 grams)
- Size and Weight / iPad Air 13-inch Wi-Fi + Cellular models1.36 pounds (617 grams)
- Size and Weight / iPad Air 13-inch Wi-Fi models1.36 pounds (616 grams)
- Size and Weight / width7.02 inches (178.5 mm)
- Storage—
- Video Recording / 4K video recording / fps24 fps,25 fps,30 fps,60 fps
- video_playback—