Apple Macbook Air (M1, 2020) vs Acer Aspire 5 (A515-56)
You can select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Review
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Case
Design, materials, durability and usability
NanoReview Score
Key Differences
Advantages of the Apple Macbook Air (M1, 2020)
- Easier to carry: weighs 360 grams less (around 0.79 lbs)
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 2 versus 1
- Thinner bezels and 3% higher screen-to-body ratio
- 127% sharper screen – 227 versus 100 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Much smaller footprint: 25% more compact case (100.1 vs 134.4 square inches)
- Provides 33% higher max. screen brightness: 400 vs 300 nits
Advantages of the Acer Aspire 5 (A515-56)
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- User-upgradable RAM (up to 16GB) and an SSD
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Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
Weight | 1.29 kg (2.84 lbs) | 1.65 kg (3.64 lbs) |
Dimensions | 304.1 x 212.4 x 16.1 mm 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.63 inches |
363.4 x 238.5 x 17.9 mm 14.31 x 9.39 x 0.7 inches |
Area | 646 cm2 (100.1 inches2) | 867 cm2 (134.4 inches2) |
Screen-to-body ratio | ~79.4% | ~77.4% |
Side bezels | 8.8 mm | 9 mm |
Colors | Silver, Gold, Gray | Black, Silver, Gold, Blue, Pink |
Transformer | No | No |
Opening angle | 130° | 140° |
Size comparison
Cooling system | Passive | Active |
Vapor chamber | Yes | No |
Number of fans | - | 1 |
Noise level (max. load) | - | 39 dB |
Display
Size | 13.3 inches | 15.6 inches |
Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
PPI | 227 ppi | 100 ppi |
Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:9 |
Resolution | 2560 x 1600 pixels | 1366 x 768 pixels |
HDR support | Yes, HDR10 | No |
Touchscreen | No | No |
Coating | Glossy (Antireflective) | Matte |
Contrast | 1069:1 | - |
sRGB color space | 99.8% | - |
Adobe RGB profile | 85.9% | - |
DCI-P3 color gamut | 98.6% | - |
Response time | 35 ms | - |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
Voltage | 11.4 V | - |
Full charging time | 2:23 hr | 2:00 hr |
Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
Replaceable | No | No |
Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
USB Power Delivery | Yes | No |
Charging port position | Left | Left |
Charge power | 30 W | 45 W |
Cable length | 2 meters | - |
Weigh of AC adapter | 172 grams | 260 grams |
CPU
CPU name
Base frequency | 3.2 GHz | 2.0 GHz |
Turbo frequency | - | 3.5 GHz |
Cores | 8 (4P + 4E) | 2 |
Threads | 8 | 4 |
L3 Cache | - | 4 MB |
Integrated GPU | Apple M1 GPU | Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4 48 EUs |
Fabrication process | 5 nm | 10 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
TGP | 15 W | - |
Type | Integrated | Dedicated |
Fabrication process | 5 nm | 12 nm |
GPU base clock | 450 MHz | - |
GPU boost clock | 1278 MHz | - |
FLOPS | 2.6 TFLOPS | 2.822 TFLOPS |
Memory size | System Shared | 2 GB |
Memory type | LPDDR4X | GDDR6 |
Memory bus | 128 bit | 64 bit |
Memory speed | 4.27 Gbps | ~8-10 Gbps |
Shading units (cores) | 1024 | 896 |
Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 64 | 56 |
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 32 | 32 |
GPU performance
RAM
RAM size
Channels | 2x4 GB | 2x4 GB |
Clock | 4266 MHz | 3200 MHz |
Type | LPDDR4X | DDR4 |
Upgradable | No | Yes |
Total slots | - | 1 |
Max. ram size | - | 16 GB |
Storage
Storage size
Bus | Custom | PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) |
Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
Channels | 1x256 GB | 1x128 GB |
Upgradable | No | Yes |
Total slots | - | 1 |
NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
Audio chip | - | Intel Tiger Lake-U/Y PCH-LP |
Speakers | 2.0 | 2.0 |
Dolby Atmos | Yes | No |
Loudness | 79.6 dB | 68.7 dB |
Microphones | 3 | 2 |
Connectivity
Wi-Fi standard | v6 | v6 |
Bluetooth | v5 | v5 |
Fingerprint | Yes | No |
Optical drive | No | No |
Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
Webcam resolution | 1280 x 720 | 1280 x 720 |
USB-A | No | 3x USB 3.2 |
USB Type-C | 2x USB 3.1 | 1x USB 3.2 |
Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 3 | No |
HDMI | No | 1x HDMI 1.4 |
DisplayPort | No | No |
VGA | No | No |
Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
Ethernet (RJ45) | No | Yes |
SD card reader | No | No |
Proprietary charging port | No | Yes |
Input
Keyboard type | Island | Island |
Numpad | No | No |
Backlight | Yes | Yes |
Key travel | 1 mm | - |
Size | 12.1 x 8.1 cm | 10.6 x 7.8 cm |
Surface | Glass | Plastic |
Windows Precision | No | Yes |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
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Total votes: 19