MSI Katana 17 (2023) vs Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)

Compared 2 laptops: MSI Katana 17 (2023), vs Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026). Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Processor - Intel Core i7 12650H
- Intel Core i7 13620H
- Intel Core i9 13900H
- Apple M5 (8-сore GPU)
- Apple M5 (10-Core)
Storage - 512 GB
- 1024 GB
- 2048 GB
- 512 GB
- 1024 GB
- 2048 GB
- 4096 GB
RAM - 16 GB
- 32 GB
- 64 GB
- 16 GB
- 24 GB
- 32 GB

Review

Key Specs MSI Katana 17 (2023) and Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)
System Performance
System and app performance
Gaming Performance
Graphics in popular 3D games
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Battery Life
Estimated real-world battery life
Connectivity
Ports, webcam, and interfaces
Case & Design
Appearance, materials, durability, comfort
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
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Function
Importance (Weight)
Performance:
Gaming:
Display:
Battery life:
Connectivity:
Portability:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Body

Design and ergonomics comparison
Weight 2.6 kg 1.23 kg
Pixel size 398x273x25.2 mm 304.1x215x11.3 mm
Area 1087 cm² 654 cm²
Screen-to-body ratio 75.9 % 82 %
Side bezels 7.5 mm 5.6 mm
Colors Black - Black
- Silver
- Gold
- Blue
Material Plastic Aluminum
Transformer No No
Opening angle 180 ° 130 °
Cooling system
Cooling typeActivePassive
Vapor chamberNoNo
Liquid metalNoNo
Cooler count2n/a
Cooler speed6000 RPMn/a
Noise Level59.1 dBn/a

Display

Display quality comparison
Diagonal 17.3 in 13.6 in
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Refresh rate 144 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate n/a No
Pixel density 127 ppi 225 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:9 16:10
Resolution 1920x1080 pixels 2560x1664 pixels
HDR support No Yes, Dolby Vision
Sync Tech No No
Touchscreen No No
Coating Matte Glossy (Anti-Reflective)
Light sensor No Yes
Display test
Max brightness
MSI Katana 17 (2023)
250 nits
Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)
500 nits
Contrast1271:11437:1
DCI-P3 gamut40.8 %98.1 %
sRGB gamut61 %100 %
Adobe RGB gamut42.2 %86.8 %
Response time30 ms20 ms

Battery

Capacity 53.5 Wh 53.8 Wh
Battery Type Li-Po Li-Po
Removable No No
Fast Charging Yes Yes
USB PD No Yes
Charge Port Location Left Left
Charge Power 180/200/240 W 35/40/70 W
Cable Length n/a 2 m
Charger weight 740/852 g 116/80/167 g

Processor

Processor Intel Core i7 12650H Apple M5 (8-сore GPU)
Base frequency 2.3 GHz 4.61 GHz
Turbo Frequency 4.7 GHz n/a
Cores 10 (6P + 4E) 10 (4P + 6E)
Threads 16 10
L3 Cache 24 MB n/a
Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics (64EU) Apple M5 GPU (8-core)
Process tech. 10 nm 3 nm
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
MSI Katana 17 (2023)
2450
Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)
4091
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
MSI Katana 17 (2023)
11150
Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)
16670
Cinebench
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
MSI Katana 17 (2023)
1910
Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)
n/a
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
MSI Katana 17 (2023)
14971
Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026)
n/a

GPU Model

GPU Model GeForce RTX 3050 Mobile 6GB Apple M5 GPU (8-Core)
TGP 75 W n/a
Nvidia Optimus MUX n/a
Graphics Type Discrete Integrated
Process tech. 8 nm 3 nm
GPU Frequency 1403 MHz n/a
Boost GPU Frequency 1635 MHz 1620 MHz
FLOPS 6.7 TFLOPS 3.3 TFLOPS
Video Memory 6 n/a
Memory Type GDDR6 LPDDR5X
Tire Width 128 bit 128 bit
Memory speed 12 Gbit/s 9.6 Gbit/s
Shader Units 2048 1024
TMUs 64 64
ROPs 40 32

RAM

RAM Size 16 GB 16 GB
Channels 2x8 GB 2x8 GB
Frequency 5200 MHz 9600 MHz
Type DDR5 LPDDR5X
Replaceable Yes No
Total Slots 2 n/a
Max RAM 64 n/a

Storage

Bus PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) Custom
Type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x512 GB 2x256 GB
Replaceable Yes No
Total Slots 2 n/a
NVMe Yes Yes
Storage Capacity 512 GB 512 GB

Sound

Audio Formats 2.0 2.2
Speaker Power 2x2 W n/a
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Max Volume 78.5 dB 82.1 dB
Microphones 2 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version v6 v7
Bluetooth version 5.2 6.0
Fingerprint sensor No Yes
IR sensor No No
CD drive No No
Webcam Above Display Above Display
Webcam Resolution 1280x720 1920x1080
Ports
USB-A3x3.2No
USB-C1x3.22x4.0
ThunderboltNoThunderbolt 4
HDMI1x2.1No
DisplayPortNoNo
VGANoNo
3.5 mm Audio JackYesYes
Ethernet (RJ45)YesNo
Card ReaderNoNo
Charging PortYesYes

Keyboard & Touchpad

Key Type Island Layout Island Layout
Numeric Keypad Yes No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key Travel 1.7 mm 1 mm
Touchpad
Size10.5x6.5 cmn/a
SurfacePlasticGlass
Windows PrecisionYesNo
* Attention! Ports, display type, speakers, and specs may differ by model or country.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Apple MacBook Air 13 M5 (2026) the clear winner in this comparison.

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