Which laptop should you pick?

Which laptop should you pick?

Which laptop should you pick?

https://tech.sportskeeda.com/laptops/apple-macbook-air-m4-24gb-vs-apple-macbook-pro-m5-16gb-which-laptop-pick

Publish Date: 2026-02-20 09:09:00

Source Domain: tech.sportskeeda.com

The Apple MacBook Air M4 24GB and the Apple MacBook Pro M5 16GB are two incredibly powerful laptops as of 2026. While the M5 chip outperforms the M4 in raw performance, the RAM difference between these configurations is the key deciding factor. The M4’s 24GB of memory gives it an edge in memory-intensive tasks, but as long as workloads stay within the 16GB range, the M5 maintains the performance lead.

This guide will help you choose between the two if you’re torn, as there’s a big price difference.

Note: Some parts of this article are subjective and reflect the writer’s opinion.

Apple MacBook Air M4 vs. Apple MacBook Pro M5: Specs comparison

The MacBook Air M4 is available in both 13-inch and 15-inch models and can be customized by CPU, RAM, and storage. The Pro model can also be customized for storage and RAM, but it offers only one CPU and GPU option. For the remaining specs, refer to the table below.

Specification

Apple MacBook Air M4

Apple MacBook Pro M5

CPU

10 Cores

10 Cores

GPU

8 or 10 Cores (config-dependent)

10 Cores

Memory

24GB (16GB / 32GB also available)

16GB (24GB / 32GB also available)

Storage

Up to 2TB

Up to 4TB

Display

13″ or 15″ Liquid Retina Display (60Hz)

14” – Liquid Retina XDR display (ProMotion, up to 120Hz)

Battery

53.5 Wh (13”) 66.5 Wh (15”)

72.4 Wh

.

Gaming and productivity expectations

MacBook Air with the M4 chip (Image via Apple)Source