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Microsoft Surface Pro 8 vs Apple MacBook Air (Intel, 2020)

58 out of 100
Microsoft Surface Pro 8
VS
50 out of 100
Apple MacBook Air (Intel, 2020)
Microsoft Surface Pro 8
Apple MacBook Air (Intel, 2020)
You can select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
CPU
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Microsoft Surface Pro 8 and Apple MacBook Air (Intel, 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
NanoReview Score

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Pro 8
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
  • Around 3.1x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
  • Significantly easier to carry: weighs 410 grams less (around 0.9 lbs)
  • Thinner bezels and 6% higher screen-to-body ratio
  • Supports next-generation Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks
  • Better webcam recording quality
  • Display has support for touch input
  • 17% sharper screen – 266 versus 227 pixels per inch (PPI)
  • Smaller footprint: 8% more compact case (92.5 vs 100.1 square inches)
  • Provides 13% higher max. screen brightness: 450 vs 400 nits
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Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs
Laptop:
Surface Pro 8
vs
MacBook Air (Intel, 2020)

Case

Weight 0.88 kg (1.94 lbs) 1.29 kg (2.84 lbs)
Dimensions 287 x 208 x 9.3 mm
11.3 x 8.19 x 0.37 inches		 304.1 x 212.4 x 16.1 mm
11.97 x 8.36 x 0.63 inches
Area 597 cm2 (92.5 inches2) 646 cm2 (100.1 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~84.3% ~79.4%
Side bezels 6.2 mm 8.8 mm
Colors Black, Silver Silver, Gold, Gray
Transformer No No
Opening angle - 140°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber Yes No
Number of fans 1 1
Max. fan speed (RPM) - 8100 RPM
Noise level - 45.8 dB

Display

Size 13 inches 13.3 inches
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
PPI 266 ppi 227 ppi
Aspect ratio 3:2 16:10
Resolution 2880 x 1920 pixels 2560 x 1600 pixels
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, HDR10
Touchscreen Yes No
Coating Glossy (Antireflective) Glossy (Antireflective)
Display tests
Contrast 1000:1 1300:1
sRGB color space 100% 98.3%
Adobe RGB profile - 64.2%
Response time - 35 ms
Max. brightness
Surface Pro 8 +13%
450 nits
MacBook Air (Intel, 2020)
400 nits

Battery

Capacity
Voltage - 11.4 V
Full charging time - 2:50 hr
Battery type - Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
USB Power Delivery Yes Yes
Charging port position Right Left
Charge power 0 W 30 W
Cable length - 2 meters

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 0.9-2.4 GHz 1.1 GHz
Turbo frequency 4.2 GHz 3.2 GHz
Cores 4 2
Threads 8 4
L3 Cache 8 MB 4 MB
Integrated GPU Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EU Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4
Fabrication process 10 nm 10 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 10 nm
GPU base clock 300 MHz 300 MHz
GPU boost clock 1100 MHz 1100 MHz
FLOPS 1.41 TFLOPS -
Memory size System Shared System Shared
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory speed 4.27 Gbps 3.73 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 640 384
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 40 48
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 20 6
GPU performance

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x4 GB 2x4 GB
Clock 4266 MHz 3733 MHz
Type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Upgradable No No
Total slots - 2

Storage

Storage size
Bus PCI-E Gen 4.0 (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 2x2W -
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Loudness - 75.8 dB
Microphones 2 3

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6 v5
Bluetooth v5.1 v5
Fingerprint - Yes
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1920 x 1080 1280 x 720
Ports
USB-A No No
USB Type-C 2x USB 4.0 2x USB 3.1
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 4 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 No No
Proprietary charging port Yes No

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Mechanical Island
Numpad No No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel - 1 mm
Touchpad
Size - 12.1 x 8.1 cm
Surface Glass Glass
Windows Precision Yes No
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can be different depending on the laptop’s particular configuration or region.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
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Total votes: 2

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