Microsoft Surface Laptop 13 (2nd Edition) vs Apple MacBook Air 15 M5 (2026)
57
out of 100
VS
65
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 Microsoft Surface Laptop 13 (2nd Edition)
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- Easier to carry: weighs 290 grams less (around 0.64 lbs)
- Display has support for touch input
- Much smaller footprint: 24% more compact case (94.9 vs 125.4 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 15 M5 (2026)
- MacBook with the Apple M5 (10-Core) chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
- Around 63% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Features a much bigger (~33%) battery – 66.5 against 50 watt-hours
- Thinner bezels and 2% higher screen-to-body ratio
- 26% sharper screen – 224 versus 178 pixels per inch (PPI)
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 1.22 kg (2.69 lbs) | 1.51 kg (3.33 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 285.65 x 214.14 x 15.6 mm 11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61 inches |
340.4 x 237.6 x 11.5 mm 13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches |
| Area | 612 cm2 (94.8 inches2) | 809 cm2 (125.3 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~82.3% | ~83.9% |
| Side bezels | 5.5 mm | 5.4 mm |
| Colors | Black, Gray, Purple | Black, Silver, Gold, Blue |
| Material | Aluminum | Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 135° | 130° |
| Kensington lock | No | No |
| Model codes | - | Mac17,4 |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Passive |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Liquid metal | No | No |
| Number of fans | 1 | - |
| Noise level (max. load) | 29.6 dB | - |
Display
| Size | 13 inches | 15.3 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | No | No |
| PPI | 178 ppi | 224 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1280 pixels | 2880 x 1864 pixels |
| HDR support | No | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Glossy (Antireflective) | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
Screen space comparison
MacBook Air 15 M5 (2026)
15.3″ (16:10 ratio) = 105.2 in2
Surface Laptop 13 (2nd Edition)
13″ (3:2 ratio) = 78 in2
~34% more screen space
| Contrast | 1000:1 | 1223:1 |
| sRGB color space | 95.3% | 100% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 70.6% | 86.3% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 70.2% | 97.5% |
| Response time | 39 ms | 27 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes | Yes, 70 W |
| Charging port position | Right | Left |
| Charge power | 45 W | 35 / 40 / 70 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | - | 116 / 80 / 167 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 4.04 GHz | 4.61 GHz |
| Cores | 6 | 10 (4P + 6E) |
| Threads | 6 | 10 |
| L3 Cache | 6 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Adreno X2-45 | Apple M5 GPU (10-core) |
| Fabrication process | 3 nm | 3 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| Type | Integrated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 3 nm | 3 nm |
| GPU base clock | 500 MHz | - |
| GPU boost clock | 910 MHz | 1620 MHz |
| FLOPS | 2.1 TFLOPS | 4.1 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Memory bus | 128 bit | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | 9.52 Gbps | 9.6 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 1152 | 1280 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 72 | 80 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 36 | 40 |
| GPU performance | 2.1 TFLOPS | 4.1 TFLOPS |
| Blender GPU | - | 1897 |
| Solar Bay | - | 22390 |
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | GB | 2x8 GB |
| Clock | 9523 MHz | 9600 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Upgradable | No | No |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | Custom | Custom |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x256 GB | 2x256 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 1 | - |
| NVMe | No | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.4 (2 tweeters and 4 woofers) |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | ~82.1 dB | ~84.8 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v7 | v7 |
| Bluetooth | v5.4 | v6.0 |
| Fingerprint | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | - | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | 1x USB 3.2 | No |
| USB Type-C | 2x USB 3.2 | 2x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | No | Thunderbolt 4 |
| HDMI | No | No |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | No | No |
| SD card reader | No | No |
| Proprietary charging port | No | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.5 mm | 1 mm |
| 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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