Microsoft Surface Pro 11 vs Apple MacBook Air 15 M3 (2024)
66
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 Microsoft Surface Pro 11
- Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 620 grams less (around 1.37 lbs)
- Around 16% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Display has support for touch input
- Better webcam recording quality
- Much smaller footprint: 26% more compact case (93 vs 125.4 square inches)
- 19% sharper screen – 266 versus 224 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Provides 20% higher max. screen brightness: 600 vs 500 nits
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 15 M3 (2024)
- MacBook with the Apple M3 chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
- Features a much bigger (~41%) battery – 66.5 against 47 watt-hours
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 0.89 kg (1.96 lbs) | 1.51 kg (3.33 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 287 x 209 x 9.3 mm 11.3 x 8.23 x 0.37 inches |
340.4 x 237.6 x 11.5 mm 13.4 x 9.35 x 0.45 inches |
| Area | 600 cm2 (93 inches2) | 809 cm2 (125.3 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~83.9% | ~83.9% |
| Side bezels | 6.2 mm | 5.4 mm |
| Colors | Black, Gold, Gray, Blue | Black, Silver, Gold, Gray |
| Material | Aluminum | Aluminum |
| Transformer | Yes | No |
| Opening angle | 360° | 130° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Passive |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Liquid metal | No | No |
| Number of fans | 1 | - |
| Noise level (max. load) | 44.8 dB | - |
Display
| Size | 13 inches | 15.3 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | No |
| PPI | 266 ppi | 224 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 2880 x 1920 pixels | 2880 x 1864 pixels |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | 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 M3 (2024)
15.3″ (16:10 ratio) = 105.2 in2
Surface Pro 11
13″ (3:2 ratio) = 78 in2
~34% more screen space
| Contrast | 1300:1 | 1422:1 |
| sRGB color space | 100% | 99.9% |
| Adobe RGB profile | - | 87.8% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | - | 98.7% |
| Response time | - | 25 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Full charging time | - | 2:50 hr |
| 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 | Left, Right | Left |
| Charge power | 65 W | 35 / 70 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | 213 grams | 184 / 298 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 3.4 GHz | 4.05 GHz |
| Cores | 10 | 8 (4P + 4E) |
| Threads | 10 | 8 |
| L3 Cache | 6 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Qualcomm Adreno X1-85 | 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 | 30 W | 15 W |
| Type | Integrated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 4 nm | 3 nm |
| GPU base clock | 300 MHz | 500 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | 1250 MHz | 1380 MHz |
| FLOPS | 3.8 TFLOPS | 3.5 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory bus | - | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | 8.45 Gbps | 6.4 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 1536 | 1280 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 96 | 80 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 48 | 40 |
| GPU performance | 3.8 TFLOPS | 3.5 TFLOPS |
| Blender GPU | - | 148 |
| Solar Bay | 7994 | 12242 |
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x8 GB | 2x4 GB |
| Clock | 8448 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 | 1x256 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 1 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.4 (2 tweeters and 4 woofers) |
| Power | 2x2W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | ~82.4 dB | ~85.1 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v7 | v6E |
| Bluetooth | v5.4 | v5.3 |
| Fingerprint | No | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | Yes | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 2560 x 1440 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | No | No |
| USB Type-C | 2x USB 4.0 | 2x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | No | Thunderbolt 3 |
| HDMI | No | No |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | No | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | No | No |
| SD card reader | No | No |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | - | Island |
| Numpad | - | No |
| Backlight | - | Yes |
| Key travel | - | 1 mm |
| Surface | - | Glass |
| Windows Precision | - | 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: 5