Framework Laptop 16 vs Apple MacBook Air 15 M3 (2024)
64
out of 100
VS
60
out of 100
Please 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
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Value for money (Beta)
Key Differences
Advantages of the Framework Laptop 16
- Higher screen refresh rate: 165 versus 60 Hz
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 4 versus 2
- Around 37% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Features a bigger (~28%) battery – 85 against 66.5 watt-hours
- User-upgradable RAM (up to 96GB) and an SSD
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 15 M3 (2024)
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 590 grams less (around 1.3 lbs)
- MacBook with the Apple M3 chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
- Thinner bezels and 17% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Much smaller footprint: 22% more compact case (125.4 vs 160.4 square inches)
- 19% sharper screen – 224 versus 189 pixels per inch (PPI)
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 2.1 kg (4.63 lbs) | 1.51 kg (3.33 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 356.58 x 290.2 x 17.95 mm 14.04 x 11.43 x 0.71 inches |
340.4 x 237.6 x 11.5 mm 13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches |
| Area | 1035 cm2 (160.5 inches2) | 809 cm2 (125.3 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~71.7% | ~83.9% |
| Side bezels | 6 mm | 5.4 mm |
| Colors | Black, Gray, Orange, Purple | Black, Silver, Gold, Gray |
| Material | Top: Aluminum Middle: Plastic Bottom: Plastic |
Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 155° | 130° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Passive |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Liquid metal | Yes | No |
| Number of fans | 2 | - |
| Noise level (max. load) | 49 dB | - |
Display
| Size | 16 inches | 15.3 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 165 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | No |
| PPI | 189 ppi | 224 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1600 pixels | 2880 x 1864 pixels |
| HDR support | No | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Sync technology | G-Sync | No |
| Touchscreen | No | No |
| Coating | Matte | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | No | Yes |
Screen space comparison
Laptop 16
16″ (16:10 ratio) = 115.1 in2
MacBook Air 15 M3 (2024)
15.3″ (16:10 ratio) = 105.2 in2
~9% more screen space
| Contrast | 1500:1 | 1422:1 |
| sRGB color space | - | 99.9% |
| Adobe RGB profile | - | 87.8% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 100% | 98.7% |
| Response time | 9 ms | 25 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Full charging time | - | 2:50 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | Yes | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes, 240 W | Yes, 70 W |
| Charging port position | - | Left |
| Charge power | 100 / 180 / 240 W | 35 / 70 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | 160 / 400 grams | 184 / 298 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 3.8 GHz | 4.05 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 5.1 GHz | - |
| Cores | 8 | 8 (4P + 4E) |
| Threads | 16 | 8 |
| L3 Cache | 16 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Radeon 780M | Apple M3 GPU |
| Fabrication process | 4 nm | 3 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 100 W | 15 W |
| Type | Dedicated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 4 nm | 3 nm |
| GPU base clock | - | 500 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | - | 1380 MHz |
| FLOPS | 23.2 TFLOPS | 3.5 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | 8 GB | System Shared |
| Memory type | GDDR7 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory bus | 128 bit | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | ~24 Gbps | 6.4 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 4608 | 1280 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 144 | 80 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 48 | 40 |
| GPU performance | 23.2 TFLOPS | 3.5 TFLOPS |
GPU Benchmarks
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Blender GPU | 4323 | 145 |
| Solar Bay | 61827 | 12242 |
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 1x8 GB | 2x4 GB |
| Clock | 5600 MHz | 6400 MHz |
| Type | DDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 2 | - |
| Max. ram size | 96 GB | - |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) | Custom |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x256 GB | 1x256 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 2 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Audio chip | Realtek ALC1318 | - |
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.4 (2 tweeters and 4 woofers) |
| Power | 2x2W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | No | Yes |
| Loudness | ~86 dB | ~85.1 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6E | v6E |
| Bluetooth | v5.2 | v5.3 |
| Fingerprint | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | No | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | No | No |
| USB Type-C | 4x USB 4.0 | 2x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | No | Thunderbolt 3 |
| HDMI | 1x HDMI 2.0 | No |
| DisplayPort | 1x v1.4 | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | Yes | No |
| SD card reader | Yes | No |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | Yes | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.5 mm | 1 mm |
| Size | 12.2 x 7.6 cm | - |
| Surface | Glass | Glass |
| Windows Precision | Yes | No |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
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