Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 vs Apple Macbook Air (M1, 2020)
44
out of 100
VS
56
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 Go 2
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- Display has support for touch input
- Smaller footprint: 11% more compact case (89 vs 100.1 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple Macbook Air (M1, 2020)
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 2 versus 1
- Around 61% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
- Features a bigger (~22%) battery – 49.9 against 41 watt-hours
- Backlit keyboard
- 52% sharper screen – 227 versus 149 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Provides 21% higher max. screen brightness: 400 vs 330 nits
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 | 1.24 kg (2.73 lbs) | 1.29 kg (2.84 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 278.2 x 206.2 x 15.7 mm 10.95 x 8.12 x 0.62 inches |
304.1 x 212.4 x 16.1 mm 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.63 inches |
| Area | 574 cm2 (88.9 inches2) | 646 cm2 (100.1 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~79.8% | ~79.4% |
| Side bezels | 8 mm | 8.8 mm |
| Colors | Silver, Blue, Green, Yellow | Silver, Gold, Gray |
| Material | Top: Aluminum Middle: Aluminum Bottom: Plastic |
Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 135° | 130° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Passive |
| Vapor chamber | No | Yes |
| Liquid metal | No | - |
| Number of fans | 1 | - |
| Noise level (max. load) | 41.8 dB | - |
Display
| Size | 12.4 inches | 13.3 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| PPI | 149 ppi | 227 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 1536 x 1024 pixels | 2560 x 1600 pixels |
| HDR support | No | Yes, HDR10 |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Glossy (Antireflective) | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
Screen space comparison
Macbook Air (M1, 2020)
13.3″ (16:10 ratio) = 79.5 in2
Surface Laptop Go 2
12.4″ (3:2 ratio) = 71 in2
~12% more screen space
| Contrast | 990:1 | 1069:1 |
| sRGB color space | 93.8% | 99.8% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 65% | 85.9% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | 63.6% | 98.6% |
| Response time | 33 ms | 35 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Voltage | - | 11.4 V |
| Full charging time | 1:30 hr | 2:23 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| USB Power Delivery | No | Yes |
| Charging port position | Right | Left |
| Charge power | 39 W | 30 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | 209 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 R23 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R23 (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 | 1100 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | 1.41 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
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x2 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 | 1x128 GB | 2x128 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 1 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | ~77.5 dB | ~79.6 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6 | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5.1 | v5 |
| Fingerprint | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | No | 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 | No | Yes |
| Key travel | - | 1 mm |
| Size | - | 12.1 x 8.1 cm |
| Surface | Plastic | Glass |
| Windows Precision | Yes | No |
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 68