M5 14-inch MacBook Pro vs M5 13-inch MacBook Air

The arrival of the M5 MacBook Air means that Apple once again has two laptops with the standard M5 chip inside. Apple first put the M5 chip inside the 14-inch MacBook Pro laptop.

Both of these devices take up “less than $2000” in Apple’s computer system. Here’s how two MacBooks with the same chip compare.

14-inch M5 MacBook Pro and 13-inch M5 MacBook Air

While both machines are running on standard M5 chipthere is a $600 price difference between two laptops.

The M5 MacBook Air starts with $1099 compared to the M5 MacBook Pro starting at $1699.

The base model MacBook Air has 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display while the MacBook Pro has 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display. XDR refers to the ability to display dynamic high-quality content, such as HDR photos and videos.

There is also a difference between the M5 chip used in the base model of each laptop. Each M5 chip has 10-core CPU. The MacBook Air version starts with 8-core GPU compared to 10-core GPU inside the M5 MacBook Pro.

Both machines can be configured with up to 4TB SSD storage. However, the MacBook Pro starts with 1TB storage compared to the MacBook Air’s 512GB storage.

Each memory starts at 16GB with options for 24GB again 32GB RAM.

Portability and battery life

The MacBook Air is light on 2.7 kilograms (1.24 kg) compared to the MacBook Pro in 3.4 kilograms (1.55 kg). Simple also means small. The MacBook Air is it 0.44 inches (1.13 cm) thickness compared to the MacBook Pro at 0.61 inches (1.55 cm).

The display difference extends to width and depth as well. The MacBook Air is 11.97 inches (30.41 cm) wide and 8.46 inches (21.5 cm) deep. The MacBook Pro is 12.31 inches (31.26 cm) wide and 8.71 inches (22.12 cm) deep.

Battery life is another difference. The thin and heavy MacBook Pro is promising up to 24 hours of battery life in comparison up to 18 hours on a MacBook Air.

That six-hour battery life difference is based on video streaming, though. The MacBook Pro clocks in at just one hour of battery life for wireless web browsing at 16 hours compared to 15 hours on the MacBook Air.

Air vs Pro I/O

Both devices have the same 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View support and 1080 HD video recording.

The speaker system is very impressive on the MacBook Pro with a highly reliable six-speaker sound system with powerful canceling woofers and wide stereo sound. Apple only advertises a four-speaker sound system for MacBook Air without other details.

Apple is also putting better built-in mics into the MacBook Pro, which has a A studio-quality array of three microphones with a high signal-to-noise ratio. The MacBook Air is simply described as having list of three mics.

Both feature a 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones, while the MacBook Pro adds. HDMI port which supports multi-channel audio output.

Other port variations include three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports. as well as SDXC card slot on MacBook Pro compared to HDMI, no SD card, and just two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports. on MacBook Air.

One area where the M5 MacBook Air is more modern than the wireless M5 MacBook Pro. The most expensive MacBook Pro has it Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.3 compared to the MacBook Air’s Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) and Bluetooth 6.

The display of the MacBook Pro gives a real picture of what is different

But the MacBook Pro is the ultimate champion when it comes to display quality.

The MacBook Pro’s 14.2-inch display has plenty of real estate 3024 by 1964 pixelsand it works mini-LED light for deeper blacks and better contrast.

The MacBook Air’s 13.6-inch display does not have a mini-LED backlight and it does 2560 by 1664 pixels.

Both support i P3 wide color gamut standard and have True Tone technology to automatically adjust the color temperature based on the ambient light.

The MacBook Pro, however, features ProMotion technology with a consistent refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The MacBook Air display is clocked at 60Hz.

The MacBook Pro is also interesting 1000 nits brightness in comparison 500 nits brightness on a MacBook Air. The brightness of the MacBook Pro can also be increased up to The highest value is 1600 nits for HDR content.

Which one is best for you depends on your needs (and maybe color choice)

Finally, the MacBook Air comes in four colors: blue sky, silver, starlight (bright gold), and at midnight (dark blue). The MacBook Pro offers just two colors, but one is available a dark place (and another i silver).

I M5 MacBook Air it’s a solid machine that balances performance and portability. I M5 MacBook Proon the other hand, it packs more ports, a better display, and more battery life for mixed use at the cost of being thin and light.