Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 vs. MacBook Air 13” 2018: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 and MacBook Air 13” 2018 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 Pros

Reasons that Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 is better than MacBook Air 13” 2018.

Significantly faster CPU performance

Intel Core i7-7600U inside Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 has a 29% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i5-8210Y inside MacBook Air 13” 2018.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 - Intel Core i7-7600U
1,883
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 - Intel Core i5-7300U
1,777
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 - Intel Core i7-7500U
1,744
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 - Intel Core i5-7200U
1,611
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 - Intel Core i7-6500U
1,500
MacBook Air 13” 2018 - Intel Core i5-8210Y
1,455
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 - Intel Core i5-6200U
1,333
5% larger display

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 has a 14-inch screen size 5% larger than the 13.3-inch MacBook Air 13” 2018.

Display size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5
14-inch
MacBook Air 13” 2018
13.3-inch
About 10% lighter

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 weighed 2.49 pounds, 10% lighter than the 2.75 pounds MacBook Air 13” 2018.

WeightLenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
Pound
2.49 lbs.
2.75 lbs.
Kilogram
1.13 kg
1.25 kg

MacBook Air 13” 2018 Pros

Reasons that MacBook Air 13” 2018 is better than Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5.

Newer manufacturing

2018 vs. 2017

Supports faster memory

MacBook Air 13” 2018 supports a faster memory speed than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5. It supports up to 2133MHz versus 1866MHz of system memory on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5.

Memory type and speed
MacBook Air 13” 2018 - LPDDR3
2,133 MHz
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 - LPDDR3
1,866 MHz

Key Similars

Similar characteristics share between Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 and MacBook Air 13” 2018.

Supports the same maximum memory size of up to 16GB

Both laptops supports up to 16GB of system memory.

Max system memory size
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5
16 GB
MacBook Air 13” 2018
16 GB

Prices

Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 Price
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (5th Gen) 14-inch Laptop Computer, Intel Core i7-7600U 2.80GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint, Type-C, Win 10 Pro (Renewed)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (5th Gen) 14-inch Laptop Computer, Intel Core i7-7600U 2.80GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Backlit Keyboard, Fingerprint, Type-C, Win 10 Pro (Renewed)
By Lenovo
$399.95
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (5th Gen) - 14" FHD (1920x1080) Display (Intel Core i5-7300U, 16GB Ram, 256GB PCIe SSD, HDMI, Camera, WiFi) Win 10 Pro (Renewed)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (5th Gen) - 14" FHD (1920x1080) Display (Intel Core i5-7300U, 16GB Ram, 256GB PCIe SSD, HDMI, Camera, WiFi) Win 10 Pro (Renewed)
By Lenovo
$274.99
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Laptop 5th Generation, Intel Core i7-7600U 3.90 GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 14 WQHD IPS 2560x1440 Display, Fingerprint Reader, Supported Windows 10 Pro, Renewed 2018
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Laptop 5th Generation, Intel Core i7-7600U 3.90 GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 14 WQHD IPS 2560x1440 Display, Fingerprint Reader, Supported Windows 10 Pro, Renewed 2018
By Lenovo
$359.24
MacBook Air 13” 2018 Price
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch Retina display, 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 128GB) - Space Gray (Renewed)
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch Retina display, 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 128GB) - Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$370.28
2018 Apple MacBook Air with 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
2018 Apple MacBook Air with 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
By Apple
$378.99
Apple 13in MacBook Air (2017 Newest Version) 1.8GHz Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD (Renewed)
Apple 13in MacBook Air (2017 Newest Version) 1.8GHz Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD (Renewed)
By Apple
$239.00
$255.00 6% OFF

Availability

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
Released20172018
Release Date-
  • Available on October 30, 2018
Pricing-
  • $1,199
    Intel Core i5 8210Y | 8GB RAM | 128GB SSD
  • $1,399
    Intel Core i5 8210Y | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
Generations-

Exterior

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
Dimensions12.73” x 8.54” x 0.62” (323.5 x 217.1 x 15.95 mm)
Width: 12.73” (323.5 mm)
Depth: 8.54” (217.1 mm)
Height: 0.62” (15.95 mm)
11.97” x 8.36” x 0.16 - 0.61” (304.1 mm x  212.4 mm x 4.1 – 15.6 mm)
WeightStarting at 2.49 lbs (1.13 kg)Starting at 2.75 pounds (1.25 kg)
Colors
Black Silver
Gold Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Spill-resistant, Backlit with white LED lighting keyboard.
  • Trackpad + TrackPoint® pointing device.
Backlit Magic Keyboard with:
  • 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) individual LED-backlit keys, including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures

Display

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
Size14 Inches13.3 Inches
Info
  • 14” FHD
    1920 x 1080, IPS, 60Hz, anti-glare, non-touch.
  • 14” WQHD
    2560 x 1440, IPS, 60Hz, anti-glare, non-touch.
Retina display
  • 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors
  • Supported scaled resolutions:
    • 1680 by 1050
    • 1440 by 900
    • 1024 by 640
  • 16:10 aspect ratio

Ports

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
  • 2 x Thunderbolt™ 3
    Supports Power Delivery & DisplayPort.
  • 1 x USB 3.0
    Full-size USB-A ports.
  • 1 x Native Network RJ45
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x Headphone / mic combo
  • 1 x MicroSD card reader
  • 1 x Micro SIM slot
  • 1 x Power button
  • 1 x Kensington lock slot
Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB‑C) ports with support for:
  • Charging
  • DisplayPort
  • Thunderbolt (up to 40Gb/s)
  • USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)

Internal Specs

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
Processor
  1. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6200U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.30 → 2.80 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6500U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.50 → 3.10 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W
  3. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7200U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.50 → 3.10 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W
  4. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W
  5. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7500U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.70 → 3.50 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W
  6. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7600U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.80 → 3.90 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 15W
  1. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8210Y
    2 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 3.60 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 7W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6200U
    Intel® HD Graphics 520
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz
  2. 6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6500U
    Intel® HD Graphics 520
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
  3. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7200U
    Intel® HD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz
  4. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    Intel® HD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  5. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7500U
    Intel® HD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
  6. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7600U
    Intel® HD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
  1. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8210Y
    Intel® UHD Graphics 617
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
Memory
  • 8GB 16GB
    1866 MHz Dual-channel LPDDR3 SRAM.
8GB
Configurable to 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory
Discrete Graphics-Support for Thunderbolt 3–enabled external graphics processors (eGPUs)
Storage
  • 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
    M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe (Replaceable).
128GB 256GB
Configurable to 512GB or 1TB SSD

Connectivity

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
Wi-Fi
  • Intel® Dual-Band Wireless-AC(2x2) 8265
    Up to 867 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.
  • Intel® Dual-Band Wireless-AC(2x2) 8260
    Up to 867 Mbps, Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.
  • 802.11ac Wi‑Fi wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible
Bluetooth
  • Bluetooth 4.1
Bluetooth 4.2 wireless technology
Ethernet
  • RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet port (10/100/1000)
-
More
  • WWAN: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X7 LTE-A
-

Battery

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
Size
  • 3-cell smart lithium-ion
  • Battery Capacity: 57 Wh
50.3 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life
  • Up to 15 hours
* Tested with MobileMark 2014
  • Up to 12 hours wireless web
  • Up to 13 hours Apple TV app video playback
  • Up to 30 days of standby time
Power Supply65 W USB (Type-C) power adapter
Supports Rapid Charge.
30W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
OS
  • Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Shipped with macOS Mojave
Built-in Apps-
Photos iMovie GarageBand Pages Numbers Keynote Siri Safari Mail FaceTime Messages Maps News Stocks Home Voice Memos Notes Calendar Contacts Reminders Photo Booth Preview Music Podcasts TV Books App Store Time Machine Find My QuickTime Player

Camera & Audio

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
Camera
  • Front-facing camera
    720p (1280 x 720 HD) camera.
720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio
  • Dolby Audio™ Premium
  •  Microphones
  • Stereo speakers
  • Three microphones
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
Sensors
  • Optional dedicated Windows Hello compliant fingerprint reader.​​
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
Security
  • Fingerprint Reader
  • dTPM 2.0 chip
  • Kensington lock slot
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Apple T2 Security Chip
In the box-
  • MacBook Air
  • 30W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
Warranty-Your MacBook Air comes with 90 days of complimentary technical support and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase AppleCare+ to extend your coverage to three years from your AppleCare+ purchase date and add up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other repairable damage, plus applicable tax.
More-Video Support
  • Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:
    • One external display with 5120-by-2880 resolution at up to 60Hz
    • Up to two external displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at up to 60Hz
  • Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
    • Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
    • VGA, HDMI, and Thunderbolt 2 output using adapters (sold separately)

Key Features

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018
At Glance
Released in
2017
16:9 WQHD
14”
1440p 60Hz
Weight
2.49 lb
1.13 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-7600U
2C/4T, 2.80 → 3.90 GHz
Geekbench 5
885
Single Core
Geekbench 5
1,883
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® HD Graphics 620
24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3
Released in Late
2018
16:10 WQXGA
13.3”
1600p 60Hz
Weight
2.75 lb
1.25 kg
Powered By
Intel Core i5-8210Y
2C/4T, 1.60 → 3.60 GHz
Geekbench 5
728
Single Core
Geekbench 5
1,455
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 617
24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
Up to
16GB
2133 MHz LPDDR3

Comparison Summary

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 vs. MacBook Air 13” 2018

Lenovo has released the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5, a 14-inch machine, in 2017. It is powered by up to a dual-core Intel Core i7-7600U with a boost clock speed up to 3.90 GHz. The laptop has an integrated graphics option up to Intel® HD Graphics 620 (24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz).

On the other hand, we have the 13.3-inch MacBook Air 13” 2018 was introduced by Apple about a year later in late-2018. It comes with a dual-core Intel Core i5-8210Y with a boost clock speed up to 3.60 GHz. It has an integrated graphics option up to Intel® UHD Graphics 617 (24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz).

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 51
6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6200U55863.05%
2
6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6500U67976.72%
3
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7200U72181.47%
4
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U81592.09%
5
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7500U76686.55%
6
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7600U885100.00%
MacBook Air 13” 20181
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8210Y72882.26%
0885

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 51
6th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-6200U1,33370.79%
2
6th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-6500U1,50079.66%
3
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7200U1,61185.55%
4
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U1,77794.37%
5
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7500U1,74492.62%
6
7th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-7600U1,883100.00%
MacBook Air 13” 20181
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8210Y1,45577.27%
01,883

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 has a 14-inch display which is slightly larger than the 13.3-inch MacBook Air 13” 2018. In addition, The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 weighs 2.49 lbs. about 10% lighter than the 2.75 lbs. MacBook Air 13” 2018. Moreover, measured at 12.73” x 8.54” x 0.62”, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 is slightly bulkier than the MacBook Air 13” 2018 at 11.97” x 8.36” x 0.61”.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5MacBook Air 13” 2018

Moving over to upgradability, Lenovo claims that the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 5 supports up to 16GB 1866 MHz LPDDR3 memory. However, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. Fortunately, it comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that users can replace and upgrade in the future.

For MacBook Air 13” 2018, it supports up to 16GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 memory.

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