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Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) vs Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M6)
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) ($1,299) vs Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M6) ($1,999) — side-by-side specs, weight, pros and cons to help you pick the right ultraportable laptop.
Spec-by-spec
| Spec | Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) | Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M6) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1,299 | $1,999 |
| Weight | 1230g | 1550g |
| Chip | M5 (up to 10-core CPU / 10-core GPU) | M6, 12-core CPU, 12-core GPU |
| Display | 13.6" Liquid Retina, 500 nits | 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR, 1600 nits peak |
| Battery | Up to 18 hours | Up to 24 hours |
| Cooling | Fanless | — |
| Ports | 2× Thunderbolt, MagSafe 3, headphone | 3x Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 3, headphone jack |
| Weight | 1.23 kg (2.7 lb) | 1.55 kg (3.4 lb, Apple published) |
| Memory | — | 16GB, up to 32GB |
Pros & Cons
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5)
- Fanless — silent under any load
- 1.23 kg genuinely sling-friendly
- 18-hour battery is real, not optimistic
- MagSafe frees a Thunderbolt port
- Longest software support in the class
- $200 more than the M4 it replaced
- Only two Thunderbolt ports
- Sustained heavy exports throttle without a fan
Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M6)
- Up to 24 hours of battery, Apple's longest in a Mac
- GPU up to 30 percent faster than the M5 (Apple)
- HDMI and SDXC without a dongle
- 1600-nit XDR display with a nano-texture option
- 1.55 kg for a Pro-class laptop
- $1,999 to start, with 1TB as the entry storage
- Nano-texture display adds $150
- Memory and storage upgrades climb quickly: 32GB and 4TB is $3,899
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M5) is the better value at $1,299. Both are part of our curated ultraportable laptop index — tap through to check current pricing.
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