Microsoft Surface Pro 11 vs Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)

Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Display
3024 x 1964
Battery
70 Wh
CPU
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Microsoft Surface Pro 11 and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023) important characteristics
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
NanoReview Score
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Please input up-to-date prices for the selected laptop configurations to get an accurate value-for-money index.
Currency
VS
107.6
(Excellent)
Value Index
59.2
(Average)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Pro 11
  • Significantly easier to carry: weighs 660 grams less (around 1.46 lbs)
  • Around 20% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
  • Display has support for touch input
  • Better webcam recording quality
  • Much smaller footprint: 13% more compact case (93 vs 107.1 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
  • MacBook with the Apple M3 chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
  • Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 2
  • Features a much bigger (~49%) battery – 70 against 47 watt-hours

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 0.89 kg (1.96 lbs) 1.55 kg (3.42 lbs)
Dimensions 287 x 209 x 9.3 mm
11.3 x 8.23 x 0.37 inches
312.6 x 221.2 x 15.5 mm
12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches
Area 600 cm2 (93 inches2) 691 cm2 (107.2 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~83.9% ~84.6%
Side bezels 6.2 mm 3.4 mm
Colors Black, Gold, Gray, Blue Black, Silver, Gray
Material Aluminum Aluminum
Transformer Yes No
Opening angle 360° 135°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber No No
Liquid metal No No
Number of fans 1 2
Max. fan speed (RPM) - 6800 RPM
Noise level (max. load) 44.8 dB 48.5 dB

Display

Size 13 inches 14.2 inches
Type IPS LCD Mini LED
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (24-120 Hz)
PPI 266 ppi 254 ppi
Aspect ratio 3:2 16:10
Resolution 2880 x 1920 pixels 3024 x 1964 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 Pro 14 (M3, 2023)
14.2″ (16:10 ratio) = 90.6 in2
Surface Pro 11
13″ (3:2 ratio) = 78 in2
~16% more screen space
Display tests
Contrast 1300:1 1000000:1
sRGB color space 100% 100%
DCI-P3 color gamut - 100%
Response time - 72 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Full charging time - 2:00 hr
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes Yes, 100 W
Charging port position Left, Right Left, Right
Charge power 65 W 70 / 96 W
Cable length - 2 meters
Weight of AC adapter 213 grams 273 / 315 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 - 141
Solar Bay 7994 12983

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 2x256 GB
Upgradable Yes No
Total slots 1 -
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 2.0 4.2 (4 tweeters and 2 woofers)
Power 2x2W -
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Loudness ~82.4 dB ~84 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
Ports
USB-A No No
USB Type-C 2x USB 4.0 3x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt No Thunderbolt 4
HDMI No 1x HDMI 2.1
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) No Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) No No
SD card reader No Yes
Proprietary charging port Yes Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type - Island
Numpad - No
Backlight - Yes
Key travel - 1 mm
Touchpad
Size - 13.2 x 8.1 cm
Surface - Glass
Windows Precision - No
Further details
Notes on MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023):
    - The M3 Max version of the 14-inch MacBook is only available with a 30-core GPU, not the 40-core as listed in the specs. It's approximately 25% slower and features a 384-bit wide memory bus.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
8 (80%)
2 (20%)
Total votes: 10

Comments

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