Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 15 vs Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
53
out of 100
VS
73
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
You can adjust the importance of each feature to more precisely determine which laptop better suits your personal needs.
Key Differences
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 15
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- Display has support for touch input
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
- Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 1
- Around 45% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
- Features a much bigger (~48%) battery – 70 against 47.4 watt-hours
- Thinner bezels and 5% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Better webcam recording quality
- 27% sharper screen – 254 versus 200 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Provides 25% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 400 nits
- Much smaller footprint: 17% more compact case (107.1 vs 128.6 square inches)
Value for money
Please input the prices of the laptops (with selected configurations) and press the "Calculate" button to determine which one offers better value for money.
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 1.54 kg (3.4 lbs) | 1.6 kg (3.53 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 340 x 244 x 14.7 mm 13.39 x 9.61 x 0.58 inches |
312.6 x 221.2 x 15.5 mm 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches |
| Area | 830 cm2 (128.7 inches2) | 691 cm2 (107.2 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~80.7% | ~84.6% |
| Side bezels | 11.5 mm | 3.4 mm |
| Colors | Black, Gray | Silver, Gray |
| Material | Aluminum | Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 135° | 135° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Active |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Liquid metal | No | - |
| Number of fans | 2 | 2 |
| Max. fan speed (RPM) | - | 6241 RPM |
| Noise level (max. load) | 38.1 dB | 49.5 dB |
Display
| Size | 15 inches | 14.2 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | Mini LED |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 120 Hz |
| PPI | 200 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 2496 x 1664 pixels | 3024 x 1964 pixels |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Glossy | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
Screen space comparison
Surface Laptop 5 15
15″ (3:2 ratio) = 103.8 in2
MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
14.2″ (16:10 ratio) = 90.6 in2
~14% more screen space
| Contrast | 1369:1 | 48900:1 |
| sRGB color space | 97.3% | - |
| Adobe RGB profile | 70.3% | - |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 68.1% | 99.3% |
| Response time | 40 ms | 49 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Full charging time | - | 2:30 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| USB Power Delivery | Yes | Yes |
| Charging port position | Left, Right | Left, Right |
| Charge power | 65 W | 67 / 96 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | 305 grams | 274 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 1.7 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.7 GHz | - |
| Cores | 10 (2P + 8E) | 10 (8P + 2E) |
| Threads | 12 | 10 |
| L3 Cache | 12 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Intel Iris Xe Graphics (96EU) | Apple M1 Pro GPU (16-core) |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Graphics Card
GPU name
| TGP | 15 W | 30 W |
| Type | Integrated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
| GPU base clock | 300 MHz | 450 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | - | 1296 MHz |
| FLOPS | 1.69 TFLOPS | 5.2 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory bus | - | 256 bit |
| Memory speed | 5.2 Gbps | 6.4 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 768 | 2048 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 48 | 128 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 24 | 64 |
GPU performance
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x4 GB | 4x4 GB |
| Clock | 5200 MHz | 6400 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Upgradable | No | No |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) | Custom |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x256 GB | 1x512 GB |
| Upgradable | No | No |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 2.0 | 4.2 (4 tweeters and 2 woofers) |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | ~78.1 dB | ~84.9 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6 | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5.1 | v5 |
| Fingerprint | No | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | Yes | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1280 x 720 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | 1x USB 3.1 | No |
| USB Type-C | 1x USB 4.0 | 3x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| HDMI | No | 1x HDMI 2.0 |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | Yes | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | No | No |
| SD card reader | No | Yes |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.3 mm | 1 mm |
| Size | 11.5 x 7.7 cm | 13.2 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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