Microsoft Surface Pro 9 vs Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
56
out of 100
VS
65
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 9
- Significantly easier to carry: weighs 1230 grams less (around 2.71 lbs)
- Display has support for touch input
- Much smaller footprint: 32% more compact case (93 vs 136.7 square inches)
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
- Around 2.4x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
- Features a much bigger (~110%) battery – 100 against 47.7 watt-hours
- MacBook with the Apple M1 Pro chip maintains its performance even when running on battery power.
- Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 2
- Thinner bezels and 3% higher screen-to-body ratio
- Provides 11% higher max. screen brightness: 500 vs 450 nits
Tests and Specifications
Comparison table of test results and technical specsCase
| Weight | 0.87 kg (1.92 lbs) | 2.1 kg (4.63 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 287 x 209 x 9.3 mm 11.3 x 8.23 x 0.37 inches |
355.7 x 248.1 x 16.8 mm 14 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches |
| Area | 600 cm2 (93 inches2) | 882 cm2 (136.8 inches2) |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~83.9% | ~86.2% |
| Side bezels | 6.2 mm | 3.4 mm |
| Colors | Black, Silver, Blue, Green | Silver, Gray |
| Material | Top: Aluminum |
Aluminum |
| Transformer | Yes | No |
| Opening angle | 360° | 135° |
Size comparison
| Cooling system | Active | Active |
| Vapor chamber | No | No |
| Number of fans | 1 | 2 |
| Noise level (max. load) | - | 37.4 dB |
Display
| Size | 13 inches | 16.2 inches |
| Type | IPS LCD | Mini LED |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | - | Yes (24-120 Hz) |
| PPI | 266 ppi | 254 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 3:2 | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 2880 x 1920 pixels | 3456 x 2234 pixels |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Sync technology | No | No |
| Touchscreen | Yes | No |
| Coating | Glossy | Glossy (Antireflective) |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | Yes |
Screen space comparison
MacBook Pro 16 (2021)
16.2″ (16:10 ratio) = 118 in2
Surface Pro 9
13″ (3:2 ratio) = 78 in2
~51% more screen space
| Contrast | 1200:1 | 25700:1 |
| sRGB color space | 106.1% | 100% |
| Adobe RGB profile | 75.1% | 88% |
| DCI-P3 color gamut | - | 99.1% |
| Response time | - | 67 ms |
Max. brightness
Battery
Capacity
| Full charging time | 1:30 hr | 1:25 hr |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes |
| Charging via USB (Power Delivery) | Yes | Yes, 100 W |
| Charging port position | Left, Right | Left, Right |
| Charge power | 39 W | 140 W |
| Cable length | - | 2 meters |
| Weight of AC adapter | - | 353 grams |
CPU
CPU name
| Base frequency | 1.3 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Turbo frequency | 4.4 GHz | - |
| Cores | 10 (2P + 8E) | 10 (8P + 2E) |
| Threads | 12 | 10 |
| L3 Cache | 12 MB | - |
| Integrated GPU | Intel Iris Xe Graphics (80EU) | Apple M1 Pro GPU (16-core) |
| 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 | 30 W |
| Type | Integrated | Integrated |
| Fabrication process | 10 nm | 5 nm |
| GPU base clock | 300 MHz | 450 MHz |
| GPU boost clock | 1200 MHz | 1296 MHz |
| FLOPS | 1.5 TFLOPS | 5.3 TFLOPS |
| Memory size | System Shared | System Shared |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5 |
| Memory bus | - | 256 bit |
| Memory speed | 5.2 Gbps | 6.4 Gbps |
| Shading units (cores) | 640 | 2048 |
| Texture mapping units (TMUs) | 40 | 128 |
| Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) | 20 | 64 |
| GPU performance | 1.5 TFLOPS | 5.3 TFLOPS |
| Blender GPU | - | 465 |
| Solar Bay | - | 12055 |
RAM
RAM size
| Channels | 2x4 GB | 2x8 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 | 2x256 GB |
| Upgradable | Yes | No |
| Total slots | 1 | - |
| NVMe | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | 2.0 | 4.2 (4 tweeters and 2 woofers) |
| Power | 2x2W | - |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
| Loudness | - | ~84.7 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 | 1920 x 1080 |
| USB-A | No | No |
| USB Type-C | 2x USB 4.0 | 3x USB 4.0 |
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| HDMI | No | 1x HDMI 2.0 |
| DisplayPort | No | No |
| VGA | No | No |
| Audio jack (3.5 mm) | No | Yes |
| Ethernet (RJ45) | No | No |
| SD card reader | No | Yes |
| Proprietary charging port | Yes | Yes |
Input
| Keyboard type | - | Island |
| Numpad | - | No |
| Backlight | - | Yes |
| Key travel | - | 1 mm |
| Size | - | 15.5 x 9.9 cm |
| Surface | - | Glass |
| Windows Precision | - | 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: 2