Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus vs Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)

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

Review

Evaluation of Microsoft Surface Pro 7 Plus and Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021) 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
NanoReview Score

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 830 grams less (around 1.83 lbs)
  • Display has support for touch input
  • Much smaller footprint: 15% more compact case (91 vs 107.1 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
  • Around 3.9x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
  • Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 1
  • Features a much bigger (~43%) battery – 70 against 48.9 watt-hours
  • Thinner bezels and 10% higher screen-to-body ratio
  • Better webcam recording quality
  • 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) 1.6 kg (3.53 lbs)
Dimensions 292 x 201 x 8.5 mm
11.5 x 7.91 x 0.33 inches
312.6 x 221.2 x 15.5 mm
12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches
Area 587 cm2 (91 inches2) 691 cm2 (107.2 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~76.7% ~84.6%
Side bezels 16.1 mm 3.4 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 - 2
Max. fan speed (RPM) - 6241 RPM
Noise level (max. load) - 49.5 dB

Display

Size 12.3 inches 14.2 inches
Type IPS LCD Mini LED
Refresh rate 60 Hz 120 Hz
PPI 267 ppi 254 ppi
Aspect ratio 3:2 16:10
Resolution 2736 x 1824 pixels 3024 x 1964 pixels
HDR support No Yes, Dolby Vision
Touchscreen Yes No
Coating Glossy Glossy (Antireflective)
Display tests
Contrast 1200:1 48900:1
sRGB color space 96.8% -
Adobe RGB profile 63.7% -
DCI-P3 color gamut - 99.3%
Response time 35 ms 49 ms
Max. brightness
500 nits

Battery

Capacity
Full charging time 1:40 hr 2:30 hr
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
USB Power Delivery Yes Yes
Charging port position Right Left, Right
Charge power 65 W 67 / 96 W
Cable length - 2 meters
Weigh of AC adapter 255 grams 274 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 1.7-3.0 GHz 3.2 GHz
Turbo frequency 4.1 GHz -
Cores 2 10 (8P + 2E)
Threads 4 10
L3 Cache 6 MB -
Integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics Xe G4 Apple M1 Pro GPU (16-core)
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 30 W
Type Integrated Integrated
Fabrication process 10 nm 5 nm
GPU base clock 300 MHz 450 MHz
GPU boost clock 1100 MHz 1296 MHz
FLOPS 0.84 TFLOPS 5.2 TFLOPS
Memory size System Shared System Shared
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Memory bus - 256 bit
Memory speed 4.27 Gbps 6.4 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 384 2048
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 24 128
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 12 64
GPU performance
0.84 TFLOPS
5.2 TFLOPS

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x4 GB 4x4 GB
Clock 4267 MHz 6400 MHz
Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5
Upgradable No No

Storage

Storage size
Bus PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) Custom
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x128 GB 1x512 GB
Upgradable Yes No
Total slots 1 -
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers 2.0 4.2
Power 2x1.6W -
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Loudness 75.2 dB 84.9 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 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A 1x USB 3.1 No
USB Type-C 1x USB 3.1 3x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt No 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 Yes Yes
Proprietary charging port No Yes

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.

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Total votes: 3

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