Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs Apple Macbook Air (M1, 2020)
58
out of 100
VS
56
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
You can adjust the importance of each feature to more precisely determine which laptop better suits your personal needs.
Key Differences
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Pro 9
- Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 420 grams less (around 0.93 lbs)
- Thinner bezels and 6% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Better webcam recording quality
- Display has support for touch input
- 17% sharper screen – 266 versus 227 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Smaller footprint: 7% more compact case (93 vs 100.1 square inches)
- Provides 13% higher max. screen brightness: 450 vs 400 nits
Advantages of the Apple Macbook Air (M1, 2020)
- Around 24% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
Value for money
Please input the prices of the laptops (with selected configurations) and press the "Calculate" button to determine which one offers better value for money.
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 0.87 kg (1.92 lbs) | 1.29 kg (2.84 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 287 x 209 x 9.3 mm 11.3 x 8.23 x 0.37 inches |
304.1 x 212.4 x 16.1 mm 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.63 inches |
| Area | 600 cm2 (93 inches2) | 646 cm2 (100.1 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~83.9% | ~79.4% |
| Side bezels | 6.2 mm | 8.8 mm |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Blue, Green | Silver, Gold, Gray |
| Material | Top: Aluminum |
Aluminum |
| Transformer | Yes | No |
| Opening angle | 360° | 130° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Passive |
| Vapor chamber | No | Yes |
| Number of fans | 1 | - |
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 |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Glossy | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
| Contrast | 1200:1 | 1069:1 |
| sRGB color space | 106.1% | 99.8% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 75.1% | 85.9% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | - | 98.6% |
| Response time | - | 35 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Voltage | - | 11.4 V |
| Full charging time | 1:30 hr | 2:23 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| USB Power Delivery | Yes | Yes |
| Charging port position | Left, Right | Left |
| Charge power | 39 W | 30 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | - | 172 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 1.3 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.4 GHz | - |
| Cores | 10 (2P + 8E) | 8 (4P + 4E) |
| Threads | 12 | 8 |
| L3 Cache | 12 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU) | Apple M1 GPU |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (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 | 1.41 TFLOPS | 2.6 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory bus | - | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | 5.2 Gbps | 4.27 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 640 | 1024 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 40 | 64 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 20 | 32 |
GPU performance
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x4 GB | 2x4 GB |
| Clock | 5200 MHz | 4266 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Upgradable | No | No |
Storage
Storage size
| Bus | PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x) | Custom |
| Storage type | SSD (M2) | SSD (M2) |
| Channels | 1x128 GB | 2x128 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 1 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Power | 2x2W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | - | ~79.6 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6E | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5.1 | v5 |
| Fingerprint | No | Yes |
| Infrared sensor | Yes | No |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1280 x 720 |
| 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) | No | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | No | No |
| SD card reader | No | No |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | No |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | - | 1 mm |
| Size | - | 12.1 x 8.1 cm |
| Surface | - | Glass |
| Windows Precision | Yes | No |
Further details
Notes on Surface Pro 9:
- Depending on the 5G/WiFi support, LPDDR4X/LPDDR5 memory is installed.
- The Surface Pro 9 SQ® 3/5G model does not have Thunderbolt 4.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.
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Total votes: 34