MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) vs MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Pro M51 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,9993last Apple UK store price | £1,1994launch price |
| Chip | M5chip | M4chip |
| CPU | 10-coreCPU | 10-coreCPU |
| GPU | 10-coreGPU | 10-coreGPU |
| Memory | 16GBunified memory, base | 16GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 1TB5storage, base | 256GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to24 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 22 October 20256ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 15 October 2025. | 12 March 20254ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 5 March 2025. |
| Security updates | Not available7Security updates | Not available7Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Pro M5 is £1,999 as Apple’s last UK store price, per Apple UK Store (archived 5 October 2026); the MacBook Air M4 is £1,199 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
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 Pro M51 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 15.5 x 312.6 x 221.2 mm | 11.5 x 340.4 x 237.6 mm |
| Weight | 1.55 kg | 1.51 kg |
| Colours | Space Black, Silver | Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight |
| Ports | Three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 port, 3.5mm headphone jack | Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports | 3 | 2 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.8 | No USB-A ports.9 |
| HDMI | HDMI port | No HDMI port.10 |
| SD card slot | Yes | No SD card slot.10 |
| 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 | No Touch Bar.11 | Not available12 |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Pro M51 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 14.2 in | 15.3 in |
| Resolution | 3024 x 1964 | 2880 x 1864 |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | 224 ppi |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display | Liquid Retina display |
| Brightness | Not available13 | 500 nits |
| Brightness (SDR, outdoor) | 1,000 nits14 | Not available15 |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | 1,600 nits | Not available16 |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | Not available17 |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | Yes | No nano-texture display option.10 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Pro M51 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M5 chip | Apple M4 chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 10 | 10 |
| Super cores | 414 | Not available18 |
| Performance cores | Not available19 | 4 |
| Efficiency cores | 614 | 6 |
| GPU cores | 10 | 10 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M5 with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU20 | M4 with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU |
| Memory (base) | 16GB | 16GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 32GB | 32GB |
| Memory options | 16GB, 24GB or 32GB | 16GB, 24GB or 32GB |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents21 | No, as Apple documents21 |
| Memory bandwidth | 153 GB/s | 120 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 1TB5 | 256GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 4TB | 2TB |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB or 4TB | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB |
| 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 Pro M51 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 72.4 Wh | 66.5 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles22 | 1,000 cycles22 |
| Video playback (claimed) | 24 h | 18 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 16 h | 15 h |
| Included power adapter | No power adapter in the box.11 | 35 W |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Pro M51 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.11 | No Ethernet port.10 |
| External displays (base) | 2 | 2 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Pro M51 | MacBook Air M42 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers | Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming23 | Three-mic array with directional beamforming |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025) - Tech Specs ·
↩- ↩
Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with the M4 chip and a sky blue colour ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new 14‑inch MacBook Pro powered by the M5 chip ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Air (15-inch, M4, 2025): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5): No Touch Bar. No power adapter in the box. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: the Touch Bar was only fitted to MacBook Pro
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple’s one SDR brightness figure is the outdoor one
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) - Tech Specs ·
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no outdoor brightness for this display
↩Doesn’t apply: Apple lists no separate HDR peak for this display
↩Not published by Apple.
↩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 (14-inch, M5) - Tech Specs ·
↩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) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Pro M5. 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) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new 14‑inch MacBook Pro powered by the M5 chip; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model, read 9 Oct 2026.
MacBook Air M4. 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, M4, 2025) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with the M4 chip and a sky blue colour; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers, 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 Pro M5 (14-inch)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Air M4 (15-inch, 2025)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.