Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs Apple MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
59
out of 100
VS
58
out of 100
You can 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
Case
Design, materials, durability and usability
NanoReview Score
Key Differences
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Pro 9
- Higher screen refresh rate: 120 versus 60 Hz
- Easier to carry: weighs 370 grams less (around 0.82 lbs)
- Thinner bezels and 2% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Display has support for touch input
- 18% sharper screen – 266 versus 225 pixels per inch (PPI)
- Smaller footprint: 8% more compact case (93 vs 101.4 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
- Around 27% better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench R23 test
- Features a a little bigger (~10%) battery – 52.6 against 47.7 watt-hours
- Provides 11% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 450 nits
We may earn commissions from Amazon for purchases made via the links below. This does not affect our assessment methodology.
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 0.87 kg (1.92 lbs) | 1.24 kg (2.73 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 287 x 209 x 9.3 mm 11.3 x 8.23 x 0.37 inches |
304.1 x 215 x 11.3 mm 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches |
| Area | 600 cm2 (93 inches2) | 654 cm2 (101.3 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~83.9% | ~82% |
| Side bezels | 6.2 mm | 5.6 mm |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Blue, Green | Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Transformer | Yes | No |
| Opening angle | 360° | 130° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Passive |
| Vapor chamber | No | - |
| Number of fans | 1 | - |
Display
| Size | 13 inches | 13.6 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| PPI | 266 ppi | 225 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 2880 x 1920 pixels | 2560 x 1664 pixels |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, HDR10 |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Glossy | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Contrast | 1200:1 | 1384:1 |
| sRGB color space | 106.1% | 99.9% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 75.1% | 87.6% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | - | 98.4% |
| Response time | - | 29 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Full charging time | 1:30 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 | Left, Right | Left |
| Charge power | 39 W | 30 / 35 / 67 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weigh of AC adapter | - | 174 / 189 / 250 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 1.3 GHz | 3.5 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 M2 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 | 500 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | 1100 MHz | 1456 MHz |
| FLOPS | 1.41 TFLOPS | 3 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory bus | - | 128 bit |
| Memory speed | 5.2 Gbps | 6.4 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 | - |
| Clock | 5200 MHz | 6400 MHz |
| Type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Upgradable | No | No |
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 | - |
Sound
| Speakers | 2.0 | 2.2 |
| Power | 2x2W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | - | 82.7 dB |
| Microphones | 2 | 3 |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | v6E | v6 |
| Bluetooth | v5.1 | v5 |
| Fingerprint | No | Yes |
| Optical drive | No | No |
| Webcam | Above the display | Above the display |
| Webcam resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | No | No |
| USB Type-C | 2x USB 4.0 | 2x USB 4.0 |
| 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 | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | Island | Island |
| Numpad | No | No |
| Backlight | Yes | Yes |
| Key travel | - | 1 mm |
| 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.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 63
