MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) vs MacBook Neo (13-inch, A18 Pro)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Neo A18 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,2993Apple UK store | £6994Apple UK store |
| Chip | M5chip | A18 Prochip |
| CPU | 10-coreCPU | 6-coreCPU |
| GPU | 8-coreGPU | 5-coreGPU |
| Memory | 16GBunified memory, base | 8GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 256GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Up to16 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 11 March 20265ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 4 March 2026. | 11 March 20266ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 4 March 2026. |
| Security updates | Not available7Security updates | Not available7Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Air M5 is £1,299 on Apple’s UK store; the MacBook Neo A18 Pro is £699 on Apple’s UK store.
True to scale
Footprints from above, from Apple’s published dimensions, drawn to one scale and superposed. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.
Body
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Neo A18 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 11.3 x 304.1 x 215 mm | 12.7 x 297.5 x 206.4 mm |
| Weight | 1.23 kg | 1.23 kg |
| Colours | Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight | Silver, Blush, Citrus, Indigo |
| Ports | Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack | One USB 3 (USB-C) port, one USB 2 (USB-C) port, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports | 2 | No Thunderbolt ports.8 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 4 | Not available9 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.10 | No USB-A ports.8 |
| HDMI | No HDMI port.11 | No HDMI port.12 |
| SD card slot | No SD card slot.11 | No SD card slot.12 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Yes | No MagSafe port.8 |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID | Magic Keyboard |
| Touch ID | Yes | Available on the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID configuration13 |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Neo A18 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 13.6 in | 13 in |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1664 | 2408 x 1506 |
| Pixel density | 224 ppi | 219 ppi |
| Display type | Liquid Retina display | Liquid Retina display |
| Brightness | 500 nits | 500 nits |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | No wide colour (P3) display.12 |
| Nano-texture option | No nano-texture display option.11 | No nano-texture display option.12 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Neo A18 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M5 chip | Apple A18 Pro chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 10 | 6 |
| Super cores | 414 | Not available15 |
| Performance cores | Not available16 | 2 |
| Efficiency cores | 614 | 4 |
| GPU cores | 8 | 5 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M5 with 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU or 10-core GPU | Apple A18 Pro with 6-core CPU and 5-core GPU13 |
| Memory (base) | 16GB | 8GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 32GB | 8GB13 |
| Memory options | 16GB, 24GB or 32GB | 8GB |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents17 | No, as Apple documents17 |
| Memory bandwidth | 153 GB/s | 60 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 256GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 4TB | 512GB |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB or 4TB | 256GB or 512GB |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode |
Battery and power
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Neo A18 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 53.8 Wh | 36.5 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles18 | 1,000 cycles18 |
| Video playback (claimed) | 18 h | 16 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 15 h | 11 h |
| Included power adapter | No power adapter in the box.11 | No power adapter in the box.12 |
| Fast charging | Yes | No fast charging.12 |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Neo A18 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 6 | 6 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.11 | No Ethernet port.12 |
| External displays (base) | 2 | 1 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Neo A18 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View | 1080p FaceTime HD camera |
| Camera resolution | 12 MP | Not available19 |
| Speakers | Four-speaker sound system | Dual-speaker sound system |
| Microphones | Three-mic array with directional beamforming | Dual-mic array with directional beamforming |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Neo - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple UK store — 13-inch MacBook Air M5, 10-core CPU, 8-core GPU — From £1,299 ·
↩Apple UK store — MacBook Neo, 256GB — From £699 ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5 ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Say hello to MacBook Neo ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩MacBook Neo (13-inch, A18 Pro): No Thunderbolt ports. No USB-A ports. No MagSafe port.
↩Doesn’t apply: no Thunderbolt port
↩MacBook Air (13-inch, M5): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Air (13-inch, M5): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. No power adapter in the box. No Ethernet port.
↩MacBook Neo (13-inch, A18 Pro): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No wide colour (P3) display. No nano-texture display option. No power adapter in the box. No fast charging. No Ethernet port.
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Neo - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) - Tech Specs ·
↩Doesn’t apply: this chip has no super cores
↩Apple names this chip’s cores differently: 4 super cores, 6 efficiency cores
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Not published by Apple (Apple states resolution: 1080p FaceTime HD camera)
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model ·
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Air M5. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M5) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers, read 9 Oct 2026.
MacBook Neo A18 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with, part numbers. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Neo - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Say hello to MacBook Neo, read 9 Oct 2026.
If you own one of them
Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my MacBook Air M5 (13-inch)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Neo (13-inch, A18 Pro)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.