Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus vs Apple MacBook Pro 13 (M1, 2020)

You can select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
CPU
Apple M1
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus and Apple MacBook Pro 13 (M1, 2020) 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
Case
Design, materials, durability and usability

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus
  • Includes an old-school USB-A port
  • Significantly easier to carry: weighs 600 grams less (around 1.32 lbs)
  • Display has support for touch input
  • 18% sharper screen – 267 versus 227 pixels per inch (PPI)
  • Smaller footprint: 9% more compact case (91 vs 100.1 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 13 (M1, 2020)
  • Around 2.5x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
  • Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 2 versus 1
  • Thinner bezels and 4% higher screen-to-body ratio
  • Features a bigger (~19%) battery – 58.2 against 48.9 watt-hours
  • Provides 25% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 400 nits
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Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 0.77 kg (1.7 lbs) 1.37 kg (3.02 lbs)
Dimensions 292 x 201 x 8.5 mm
11.5 x 7.91 x 0.33 inches
304.1 x 212.4 x 15.6 mm
11.97 x 8.36 x 0.61 inches
Area 587 cm2 (91 inches2) 646 cm2 (100.1 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~76.7% ~79.4%
Side bezels 16.1 mm 8.8 mm
Colors Black, Silver Silver, Gray
Transformer No No
Opening angle - 135°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Passive Active
Vapor chamber No No
Number of fans - 1
Max. fan speed (RPM) - 7000 RPM
Noise level (max. load) - 41.9 dB

Display

Size 12.3 inches 13.3 inches
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
PPI 267 ppi 227 ppi
Aspect ratio 3:2 16:10
Resolution 2736 x 1824 pixels 2560 x 1600 pixels
HDR support No Yes, HDR10
Touchscreen Yes No
Coating Glossy Glossy (Antireflective)
Display tests
Contrast 1200:1 1759:1
sRGB color space 96.8% 100%
Adobe RGB profile 63.7% 88.3%
Response time 35 ms 36 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Voltage - 11.4 V
Full charging time 1:40 hr 2:00 hr
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
USB Power Delivery Yes Yes
Charging port position Right Left
Charge power 65 W 61 W
Cable length - 2 meters
Weigh of AC adapter 255 grams 275 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 1.7-3.0 GHz 3.2 GHz
Turbo frequency 4.1 GHz -
Cores 2 8 (4P + 4E)
Threads 4 8
L3 Cache 6 MB -
Integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4 Apple M1 GPU
Fabrication process 10 nm 5 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (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 0.84 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) 384 1024
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 24 64
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 12 32
GPU performance
0.84 TFLOPS
2.6 TFLOPS

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x4 GB 2x4 GB
Clock 4267 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 1x256 GB
Upgradable Yes No
Total slots 1 -
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 2.0 2.0
Power 2x1.6W -
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Loudness 75.2 dB 77.5 dB
Microphones 2 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6 v6
Bluetooth v5 v5
Fingerprint No Yes
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1280 x 720 1280 x 720
Ports
USB-A 1x USB 3.1 No
USB Type-C 1x USB 3.1 2x USB 4.0
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 Yes No
Proprietary charging port No No

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad No No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel - 1 mm
Touchpad
Size - 13.2 x 8.1 cm
Surface - 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

So, which laptop would you choose?
2 (50%)
2 (50%)
Total votes: 4

Comments

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