Which is better for school and office work?

The MacBook Air M5. Its battery lasts a full day, it is lighter to carry and it stays silent. The MSI is fine for office work but you will carry more weight and charge more often.

Which is better for gaming and video editing?

The MSI VenturePro 16. The RTX 5050 GPU and 32GB of RAM handle games and GPU-accelerated editing far better than the Air's integrated graphics.

The MacBook Air M5 lasts much longer per charge, up to 24 hours against a 55Whr battery in the MSI. For years of service, the MSI's upgradeable RAM and SSD let you extend its useful life.

Do I need the touchscreen?

Only if you draw, take notes by hand or prefer tapping through Windows. The Air has no touchscreen, so pick the MSI if touch input matters to you.

Is the MSI worth stepping up to over the Air?

Yes if you need a discrete GPU, a larger touchscreen or expandable memory. No if you mainly want portability, battery life and macOS.

Apple MacBook Air M5 vs MSI VenturePro 16

Buy the MacBook Air M5 if you want a light, quiet laptop that lasts a full day and runs macOS. Buy the MSI VenturePro 16 if you need a touchscreen, a discrete GPU and lots of RAM for Windows apps, gaming or 3D work. The Air wins on battery, weight and build feel; the MSI wins on screen size, touch input, graphics power and upgradeability. Owners of the MSI praise its speed and value, while Air owners rate its battery and portability highly.

Choose the MacBook Air M5 if you want 24-hour battery life, a 3.4 lb body and macOS in a machine that stays fast and silent for everyday work.
Choose the MSI VenturePro 16 if you need a 16-inch touchscreen, an RTX 5050 GPU and 32GB of RAM for gaming, CAD or heavy multitasking on Windows.

Prices

Apple MacBook Air M5: $1,089.00 at PC Richard & Son (checked today)
MSI VenturePro 16: $1,349.00 at EXcaliberPC.com (checked today)
Difference: the Apple MacBook Air M5 is $260.00 cheaper than the MSI VenturePro 16 today

	Apple MacBook Air M5	MSI VenturePro 16
Operating system	macOS	Windows 11 Home
Display	13.6-inch 2560 x 1664 Liquid Retina, no touch	16-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS touch, 120Hz
Graphics	Integrated 8-core M5 GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 with 8GB GDDR7
Memory	16GB unified, configurable to 32GB	32GB DDR5, expandable to 96GB or 128GB
Battery	Up to 24 hours	55Whr cell, far shorter runtime
Weight	3.4 lb	4.19 lb
Ports	Two Thunderbolt 4, headphone jack	USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, 3.5mm jack
Storage	512GB or 1TB SSD, fixed at purchase	1TB NVMe SSD, upgradeable via M.2 slot

Spec	Apple MacBook Air M5	MSI VenturePro 16
Resolution	3024 x 1964	1920 x 1200
Operating System	Mac OS	Windows 11 Home
Touchscreen	Yes	Yes
Drive Type	Solid State Drive	Solid State Drive
Number Of Cores	Hexa Core	Hexa Core
Color	Silver, Space Black	White
Language	English / North America	English / North America
Available Ports	USB-C, HDMI	USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, 3.5 mm Jack
Biometric Security	Fingerprint Scan	Facial Recognition
Weight	3.4 lb	4.19 lbs
Screen Size	14 inches	16 inches
Drive Capacity	512 GB drive, 1 TB drive	32 GB drive

Spec	Apple MacBook Air M5	MSI VenturePro 16
Installed Memory	16 GB RAM, 24 GB RAM, 32 GB RAM	32 GB RAM
Processor Speed	4.6 GHz CPU	5.2 GHz CPU
Graphics	Apple M5 8-core	NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5050 Laptop GPU 8G GDDR7
Processor Brand	Apple	Intel CPU
Battery Life	24 hours battery life	—
With Retina Display	Yes	—
Origin	China	—
Screen Resolution	2560 x 1664	—
Touch Screen	false	—

Apple MacBook Air M5 vs MSI VenturePro 16

Prices

Apple MacBook Air M5 vs MSI VenturePro 16

Prices

MSI VenturePro 16

What separates them

Price history

Prices at every store