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Apple MacBook Air (2020) vs Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

Apple MacBook Air (2020)

Apple MacBook Air (2020)

137 reviews

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Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

61 reviews

View Product Details

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For 'Never Apple' Creative Types

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Great portability

Strong performance with M1 processor

Up to 12.5 hours of battery life on a single charge

High quality case and good panel

Good optimization for macOS

Great screen

Good keyboard

Excellent build quality

USB-A and USB-C ports

Excellent battery life

Not suitable for those who need more multitasking power or storage space

Windows laptops offer more performance at a lower price point

No significant design updates since 2018

Not upgradeable RAM

Speakers are fitted behind the keyboard between the screen, which may affect sound quality

Lacks some of the advantages of the Surface Pro form factor

Verdict

The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is a great choice for those looking for a highly portable laptop with strong performance. It features an M1 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of solid state storage. The battery life is also impressive, lasting up to 12.5 hours on a single charge. However, the base model may not be suitable for those who need more multitasking power or storage space. Additionally, some Windows laptops offer more performance at a lower price point.

Verdict

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio is a great all-rounder, with a good screen, keyboard, build quality and trackpad. It has USB-A and USB-C ports for added convenience, but RAM is not upgradeable. Battery life is excellent and Windows Hello face unlock is fast and reliable. The speakers are fitted behind the keyboard between the screen, which may affect sound quality. The form factor offers more muscle and cooling than the Surface Pro but lacks some of its advantages such as having hot parts off your lap and propped up off the desk.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Performance

Verdict – The Core i3 is the better choice for everyday tasks

There are also noticeable advantages in terms of the emissions, and especially the fan is much quieter with a slower maximum speed. This means the i3 MacBook Air is quieter for longer periods of time, even when you stress it.The MacBook Air with the dual-core i3 processor is the better device for basic workloads. The subjective performance impression is very good in these scenarios, the fan is quieter, and you can still enjoy the good display as well as the improved keyboard

Neutral

notebookcheck.net

Overpriced but possibly worth it if you know what you want

. . + Screen really is nice with good colour + well built, minimalist + pen, keyboard, and track pad experience very solid I bought this because I really I needed a mid-range performing machine that can do the occasional photoshop/mark up (I'm an Art Director) for overpaint reviews and can dance around TEAMS, Google enterprise, watch movies, etc. Doesn't have to be highend 3D machine or a one stop video editor - I have my desktop for that

Touchpad

RELEASED TOO SOON

I didn't know enough to immerse myself in the (hard-to-find) Essentials Manual before touching the FORCE touchpad. Took a long time that to realize that "force" really meant FORCE (as in "smash it down" ) There is a System Preferences bypass, but I got embroiled in a DARK MODE display (black screen), missing cursor, and of course loss of Intel-chip based favorite apps which all took precedence over trying to find and read a possible Manual. Help menu did not help.

Touchpad is very disappointing

It looks like a software glitch, but over course of 6 months it wasn't addressed (you can search on Reddit about other people reporting this issue). - You'll notice sometimes after pulling laptop out from a backpack touchpad becomes very sensitive. You won't be able to figure for a long time what's going on, but eventually you'll find out that putting laptop to sleep and flipping it upside down for 10 seconds reproduces issue. Weird, huh? - Eventually, in tablet mode you'll find out when you press on the screen near one of the edges it moves and slightly hits laptop's base which produces annoying sound

Keyboard

Magic Keyboard makes the new $999 MacBook Air

In 2018, the system finally got a much-needed reboot, adding a high-res screen, slimmer bezels and Touch ID. But at the same time, it also added the much-maligned butterfly keyboard and kicked the price up. I always felt that was a mistake -- $999 is an important psychological and financial barrier, especially for students, writers and anyone who needs maximum reliability and usability on a budget. Keyboard evolution Now that I've had a chance to go hands-on with the new MacBook Air, the keyboard really stands out as a major selling point

Neutral

By far the best laptop I've owned. (Updated January 2022)

This is my only gripe with the keyboard. Performance - I did not notice extreme thermal throttling, and fan noise was not aggressive at high load. However, the fans are located to the sides of the device, and you will certainly feel them at some point during normal use if you ever rest your hands to the side of SLS. Drivers seemed to be half a year or older out of the box, oddly including the Nvidia drivers

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