Microsoft Surface Pro 7 vs Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
46
out of 100
VS
55
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 7
- Includes an old-school USB-A port
- Easier to carry: weighs 190 grams less (around 0.42 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 Air 13 (M1, 2020)
- Around 4.1x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 2 versus 1
- MacBook with the Apple M1 chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
- Thinner bezels and 4% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Features a bigger (~11%) battery – 49.9 against 45 watt-hours
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 1.1 kg (2.43 lbs) | 1.29 kg (2.84 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 292 x 201 x 8.5 mm 11.5 x 7.91 x 0.33 inches |
304.1 x 212.4 x 16.1 mm 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.63 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, Gold, Gray |
| Material | Aluminum | Aluminum |
| Transformer | No | No |
| Opening angle | 175° | 130° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Passive | Passive |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Liquid metal | - | No |
Display
| Size | 12.3 inches | 13.3 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | - | No |
| 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 |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Glossy | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
Screen space comparison
MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
13.3″ (16:10 ratio) = 79.5 in2
Surface Pro 7
12.3″ (3:2 ratio) = 69.8 in2
~13% more screen space
| Contrast | 1001:1 | 1069:1 |
| sRGB color space | 93.2% | 99.8% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 60.3% | 85.9% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | - | 98.6% |
| Response time | 35 ms | 35 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Voltage | - | 11.4 V |
| Full charging time | 1:30 hr | 2:23 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes | Yes, 65 W |
| Charging port position | Right | Left |
| Charge power | 65 W | 30 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | 281 grams | 172 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 1.2 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 3.4 GHz | - |
| Cores | 2 | 8 (4P + 4E) |
| Threads | 4 | 8 |
| L3 Cache | 4 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Intel UHD Graphics G1 | Apple M1 GPU |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (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 | 900 MHz | 1278 MHz |
| FLOPS | 0.5 TFLOPS | 2.6 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Memory bus | - | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | 1.87 Gbps | 4.27 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 256 | 1024 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 16 | 64 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 8 | 32 |
| GPU performance | 0.5 TFLOPS | 2.6 TFLOPS |
| Blender GPU | - | 235 |
| Solar Bay | - | 6004 |
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x2 GB | 2x4 GB |
| Clock | 1866 MHz | 4266 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Upgradable | No | No |
| Total slots | 2 | - |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) | Custom |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x128 GB | 2x128 GB |
| Upgradable | No | No |
| Total slots | 1 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Audio chip | Ice Lake-U/Y PCH-LP cAVS | - |
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Power | 2x1.6W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | ~78.3 dB | ~79.6 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6 | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5 | v5 |
| Fingerprint | Optional | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | Yes | 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 | Yes | No |
| Proprietary charging port | No | No |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | 1.3 mm | 1 mm |
| Size | 10.2 x 5.3 cm | 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.
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Total votes: 128