Apple just announced its latest generation of the MacBook Air, this time powered by an M4 chip, and is $100 cheaper than last time! Those will likely be appreciated updates for buyers in the market for a new Mac, but when compared to Microsoft’s latest offering in the same category, the new MacBook Air doesn’t seem as great.
The Surface Laptop 7 launched in June 2024, and we heralded it as the best Windows laptop, period. It’s pretty much perfect, from the excellent haptic trackpad and large 120Hz touchscreen display to the brilliant Snapdragon X SoC powering things under the hood, delivering all day battery life and incredible performance with few compatibility issues.
I’ve been daily driving my Surface Laptop 7 since day one, and I can’t recommend it enough. I really do believe it to be the best laptop in the world, and I don’t think the new MacBook Air knocks it from that position. The new M4 chip is indeed more powerful than what you can find in the Surface Laptop 7, but it’s not by a huge margin.
In day-to-day usage, you’re not going to notice much of a performance gap between the two. But you will definitely notice the difference in display specs, with the MacBook Air M4 still shipping with a measly 60Hz display. The 120Hz display on the Surface Laptop 7 is buttery smooth, making the 60Hz panel feel stuttery and slow.
Of course, we can't comment on battery benchmarks yet, but Apple does claim the M4 MacBook Air should see you through 18 hours. To compare, Microsoft says the Surface Laptop 7 will last 20 hours. On paper, Microsoft has Apple beat here, but ultimately, I think it's fair to say that both of these laptops will probably last around the same amount of time.
The new MacBook Air feels reactionary
In a lot of ways, the new MacBook Air feels like a reaction to the Surface Laptop 7 and the Copilot+ PC launch as a whole. It now has 16GB RAM in the base configuration, and it’s also now $999, which is $100 less than the previous generation. This matches the Surface Laptop 7 one to one, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Apple is positioning the MacBook Air as a direct competitor to Copilot+ PCs.
But I can’t help but feel like the MacBook Air isn’t a good deal when you look at a Windows laptop like the Surface Laptop 7. Spec for spec, the only area where the MacBook Air really beats the Surface Laptop 7 is in the SoC department. Pretty much everything else is a win for the Surface Laptop 7.
Admittedly, the MacBook Air is a touch thinner and lighter, but I don’t think that makes the MacBook Air a better product. It’s things like the 120Hz display, fast and secure face unlock, and more varied port selection that ends users truly value. 120Hz really does make the Surface Laptop 7 feel better to use than the 60Hz MacBook Air.
It’s true that the MacBook Air is fanless, and the Surface Laptop 7 is not. However, in real life, this doesn’t matter. I can only ever recall the Surface Laptop 7’s fan being audible when rendering long video or running a graphically intensive task. In daily usage, the Surface Laptop 7 is silent, just like the MacBook Air is.
In fact, the fanless nature of the MacBook Air has often been a culprit for throttling issues, at least with the M2 and M3 versions. The Surface Laptop 7 can sustain performance for much longer than the MacBook Air thanks to that fan, and so I don’t consider it having a fan a negative at all.
Ultimately, the MacBook Air M4 feels like a desperate attempt to compete with the Copilot+ PC space. All the Copilot+ PCs that launched at that $999 price tag last year have been excellent, and the Surface Laptop 7 leads the pack. Of course, Apple will probably sell 10 times the amount as Microsoft will of the Surface Laptop 7, and I think that’s a shame, because I truly think there are better laptops for your money.
And this is even more of the case when you consider the fact that the Surface Laptop 7 is almost always on sale for LESS than $999. You can find it right now for as low as $778. At that price, it's a no-brainer. The Surface Laptop 7 is better value for money, for sure.
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