MacBook Air (15-inch, M5) vs MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5 Pro)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,4993Apple UK store | £2,4994Apple UK store |
| Chip | M5chip | M5 Prochip |
| CPU | 10-coreCPU | 15-coreCPU |
| GPU | 10-coreGPU | 16-coreGPU |
| Memory | 16GBunified memory, base | 24GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 1TBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Up to22 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 £1,499 on Apple’s UK store; the MacBook Pro M5 Pro is £2,499 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 Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 11.5 x 340.4 x 237.6 mm | 15.5 x 312.6 x 221.2 mm |
| Weight | 1.51 kg | 1.6 kg |
| Colours | Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight | Space Black, Silver |
| Ports | Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack | Three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 port, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports8 | 2 | 3 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 5 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.9 | No USB-A ports.10 |
| HDMI | No HDMI port.11 | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | No SD card slot.11 | Yes |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Yes | Yes |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID |
| Touch ID | Yes | Yes |
| Touch Bar | Not available12 | No Touch Bar.13 |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 15.3 in | 14.2 in |
| Resolution | 2880 x 1864 | 3024 x 1964 |
| Pixel density | 224 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Display type | Liquid Retina display | Liquid Retina XDR display |
| Brightness | 500 nits | Not available14 |
| Brightness (SDR, outdoor) | Not available15 | 1,000 nits16 |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | Not available17 | 1,600 nits |
| Refresh rate | Not available18 | 120 Hz |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | No nano-texture display option.11 | Yes |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M5 chip | Apple M5 Pro chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 10 | 15 |
| Super cores | 419 | 516 |
| Performance cores | Not available20 | 1016 |
| Efficiency cores | 619 | Not available21 |
| GPU cores | 10 | 16 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M5 with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU | M5 Pro with 15-core CPU and 16-core GPU, or M5 Pro with 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU16 |
| Memory (base) | 16GB | 24GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 32GB | 64GB16 |
| Memory options | 16GB, 24GB or 32GB | 24GB, 48GB or 64GB (64GB with 20-core GPU)16 |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents22 | No, as Apple documents22 |
| Memory bandwidth | 153 GB/s | 307 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 1TB |
| Storage (maximum) | 4TB | 4TB16 |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB or 4TB | 1TB, 2TB or 4TB16 |
| 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 Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 66.5 Wh | 72.4 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles23 | 1,000 cycles23 |
| Video playback (claimed) | 18 h | 22 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 15 h | 14 h |
| Included power adapter | No power adapter in the box.11 | No power adapter in the box.13 |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) | Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) |
| Bluetooth | 6 | 6 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.11 | No Ethernet port.13 |
| External displays (base) | 2 | 3 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Air M51 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View | 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View |
| Camera resolution | 12 MP | 12 MP |
| Speakers | Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers |
| Microphones | Three-mic array with directional beamforming | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming24 |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M5) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple UK store — 15-inch MacBook Air M5, 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU — From £1,499 ·
↩Apple UK store — 14-inch MacBook Pro M5 Pro, 15-core CPU, 16-core GPU — From £2,499 ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5 ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Different Thunderbolt generations. MacBook Air M5: Thunderbolt 4. MacBook Pro M5 Pro: Thunderbolt 5.
↩MacBook Air (15-inch, M5): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5 Pro): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Air (15-inch, M5): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. No power adapter in the box. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: the Touch Bar was only fitted to MacBook Pro
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5 Pro): No Touch Bar. No power adapter in the box. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple’s one SDR brightness figure is the outdoor one
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no outdoor brightness for this display
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no separate HDR peak for this display
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M5) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple names this chip’s cores differently: 4 super cores, 6 efficiency cores
↩Apple lists this chip’s cores as 5 super cores, 10 performance cores, with no efficiency cores
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Air M5. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M5) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5, read 9 Oct 2026.
MacBook Pro M5 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model, 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 (15-inch)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Pro M5 Pro (14-inch)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.