Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 13.5 vs Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
42
out of 100
VS
55
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 4 13.5
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- Display has support for touch input
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
- Around 2.2x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 2 versus 1
- MacBook with the Apple M1 chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 1.28 kg (2.82 lbs) | 1.29 kg (2.84 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 308 x 223 x 14.5 mm 12.13 x 8.78 x 0.57 inches |
304.1 x 212.4 x 16.1 mm 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.63 inches |
| Area | 687 cm2 (106.5 inches2) | 646 cm2 (100.1 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~79% | ~79.4% |
| Side bezels | 11.3 mm | 8.8 mm |
| Colors | Black, Gold, Gray, Blue | Silver, Gold, Gray |
| Material | Aluminum | Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | - | 130° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Passive |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Liquid metal | - | No |
| Number of fans | 2 | - |
| Noise level (max. load) | 40 dB | - |
Display
| Size | 13.5 inches | 13.3 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | - | No |
| PPI | 201 ppi | 227 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 2256 x 1504 pixels | 2560 x 1600 pixels |
| HDR support | No | Yes, HDR10 |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Glossy | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
Screen space comparison
Surface Laptop 4 13.5
13.5″ (3:2 ratio) = 84.1 in2
MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
13.3″ (16:10 ratio) = 79.5 in2
~5% more screen space
| Contrast | 1424:1 | 1069:1 |
| sRGB color space | 97.2% | 99.8% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 66.8% | 85.9% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 64.7% | 98.6% |
| Response time | 50 ms | 35 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Voltage | - | 11.4 V |
| Full charging time | - | 2:23 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes | Yes, 65 W |
| Charging port position | Left, Right | Left |
| Charge power | 65 W | 30 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | 306 grams | 172 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 0.9-2.4 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.2 GHz | - |
| Cores | 4 | 8 (4P + 4E) |
| Threads | 8 | 8 |
| L3 Cache | 8 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EU | Apple M1 GPU |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 15 W | 15 W |
| Type | Integrated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
| GPU base clock | 300 MHz | 450 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | 1300 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | 1.7 TFLOPS | 2.6 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory bus | - | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | 4.27 Gbps | 4.27 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 640 | 1024 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 40 | 64 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 20 | 32 |
| GPU performance | 1.7 TFLOPS | 2.6 TFLOPS |
GPU Benchmarks
Steel Nomad Lite Score
| Blender GPU | - | 235 |
| Solar Bay | - | 6004 |
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x4 GB | 2x4 GB |
| Clock | 4266 MHz | 4266 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Upgradable | No | No |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) | Custom |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x256 GB | 2x128 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 1 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | ~78.4 dB | ~79.6 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6 | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5 | v5 |
| Fingerprint | No | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | Yes | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1280 x 720 | 1280 x 720 |
| USB-A | 1x USB 3.2 | No |
| USB Type-C | 1x USB 3.2 | 2x USB 3.1 |
| Thunderbolt | No | Thunderbolt 3 |
| 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 | Yes | No |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.3 mm | 1 mm |
| Size | 11.4 x 7.6 cm | 12.1 x 8.1 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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Total votes: 108
