Quick/Comparisons
Both laptops have underwhelming gaming performance, with the MacBook Air 15 M5 (2026) scoring 27 and the MacBook Pro 16 (2021) scoring 22.
The MacBook Air 15 M5 (2026) excels in professional work with a strong performance score of 81, outpacing the MacBook Pro 16 (2021) by 19 points.
The MacBook Air 15 M5 (2026) leads in portability with a score of 84, thanks to its 15.3-inch display and lightweight design.
81 | Performance | 62 |
27 | Gaming | 22 |
54 | Display | 82 |
86 | Battery Life | 88 |
79 | Connectivity | 76 |
81 | Portability | 68 |
70 | QuickComparisons Score | 72 |
| March 2026 | Launched | October 2021 |
| ~83.9% | Screen-to-body ratio: | ~86.2% |
| 340.4 x 237.6 x 11.5 mm (13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches) | Dimensions: | 355.7 x 248.1 x 16.8 mm (14 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches) |
| 15.3 inches | Size | 16.2 inches |
| IPS LCD | Type | Mini LED |
| 60 Hz | Refresh Rate | 120 Hz |
| No | Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (24-120 Hz) |
| 224 ppi | PPI | 254 ppi |
| 16:10 | Aspect ratio | 16:10 |
| 2880 x 1864 pixels | Resolution | 3456 x 2234 pixels |
| Yes, Dolby Vision | HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| No | Sync technology | No |
| No | Touchscreen | No |
| Glossy (Antireflective) | Coating | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Yes | Ambient light sensor | Yes |
| — | Display tests | — |
| 1223:1 | Contrast | 25700:1 |
| 100% | sRGB color space | 100% |
| 86.30% | Adobe RGB profile | 88% |
| 97.50% | DCI-P3 color gamut | 99.10% |
| 27 ms | Response time | 67 ms |
| 500 nits | Max. brightness | 500 nits |
| 4121 | Geekbench 6 (Single-Core) | 2319 |
| 17463 | Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core) | 10231 |
| 202 | Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core) 206 | 109 |
| 1162 | Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core) | 804 |
| 1.51 kg (3.33 lbs) | Weight | 2.1 kg (4.63 lbs) |
| 340.4 x 237.6 x 11.5 mm 13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches | Dimensions | 355.7 x 248.1 x 16.8 mm 14 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches |
| 809 cm 2 (125.3 inches 2 ) | Area | 882 cm 2 (136.8 inches 2 ) |
| ~83.9% | Screen-to-body ratio | ~86.2% |
| 5.4 mm | Side bezels | 3.4 mm |
| Black, Silver, Gold, Blue | Colors | Silver, Gray |
| Aluminum | Material | Aluminum |
| No | Transformer | No |
| 130° | Opening angle | 135° |
| Passive | Cooling system | Active |
| No | Vapor chamber | No |
| No | Liquid metal | — |
| — | Number of fans | 2 |
| — | Noise level (max. load) | 37.4 dB |
| Apple M5 (10-Core) | CPU name | Apple M1 Pro |
| 4.61 GHz | Base frequency | 3.2 GHz |
| 10 (4P + 6E) | Cores | 10 (8P + 2E) |
| 10 | Threads | 10 |
| Apple M5 GPU (10-core) | Integrated GPU | Apple M1 Pro GPU (16-core) |
| 3 nm | Fabrication process | 5 nm |
| Apple M5 GPU (10-Core) | GPU name | Apple M1 Pro GPU (16-core) |
| Integrated | Type | Integrated |
| 3 nm | Fabrication process | 5 nm |
| 1620 MHz | GPU boost clock | 1296 MHz |
| 4.1 TFLOPS | FLOPS | 5.3 TFLOPS |
| System Shared | Memory size | System Shared |
| LPDDR5X | Memory type | LPDDR5 |
| 128 bit | Memory bus | 256 bit |
| 9.6 Gbps | Memory speed | 6.4 Gbps |
| 1280 | Shading units (cores) | 2048 |
| 80 | Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 128 |
| 40 | Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 64 |
| 4.1 TFLOPS | GPU performance | 5.3 TFLOPS |
| 260 | Blender GPU | 481 |
| 22815 | Solar Bay | 11797 |
| 16GB | RAM size | 16GB |
| 2x8 GB | Channels | 2x8 GB |
| 9600 MHz | Clock | 6400 MHz |
| LPDDR5X | Type | LPDDR5 |
| No | Upgradable | No |
| 512GB | Storage size | 512GB |
| Custom | Bus | Custom |
| SSD (M2) | Storage type | SSD (M2) |
| 2x256 GB | Channels | 2x256 GB |
| No | Upgradable | No |
| Yes | NVMe | Yes |
| 66.5 Wh | Capacity | 100 Wh |
| — | Full charging time | 1:25 hr |
| Li-Po | Battery type | Li-Po |
| No | Replaceable | No |
| Yes | Fast charging | Yes |
| Yes, 70 W | Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes, 100 W |
| Left | Charging port position | Left, Right |
| 35 / 40 / 70 W | Charge power | 140 W |
| 2 meters | Cable length | 2 meters |
| 116 / 80 / 167 grams | Weight of AC adapter | 353 grams |
| v7 | Wi-Fi | v6 |
| v6.0 | Bluetooth | v5 |
| Yes | Fingerprint | Yes |
| No | Infrared sensor | No |
| No | Optical drive | No |
| Above the display | Webcam | Above the display |
| 1920 x 1080 | Webcam resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| No | USB-A | No |
| 2x USB 4.0 | USB Type-C | 3x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 4 |
| No | HDMI | 1x HDMI 2.0 |
| No | DisplayPort | No |
| No | VGA | No |
| Yes | Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes |
| No | Ethernet (RJ45) | No |
| No | SD card reader | Yes |
| Yes | Proprietary charging port | Yes |
| — | [Keyboard] | — |
| Island | Keyboard type | Island |
| No | Numpad | No |
| Yes | Backlit | Yes |
| 1 mm | Key Travel | 1 mm |
| — | [Touchpad] | — |
| — | Size | 15.5 x 9.9 cm |
| Glass | Surface | Glass |
| No | Windows Precision | No |
| 2.4 (2 tweeters and 4 woofers) | Speakers | 4.2 (4 tweeters and 2 woofers) |
| Yes | Dolby Atmos | Yes |
| ~84.8 dB | Loudness | ~84.7 dB |
| 3 | Microphones | 3 |
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