The Acer Aspire 3 14 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023).
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023)
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Good overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.0/10
8.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1864
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
250.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
501.0 nits
9.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
15.0 Hours
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
10.0/10
8.3/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
8.9/10
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is very good for general use, while the Acer Aspire 3 14 is good.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
5.9/10
6.6/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.3/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1864
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
10.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is only fair for gaming and AI, while the Acer Aspire 3 14 is poor.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
6.1/10
8.0/10
4.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.7/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.3/10
8.0 GB
RAM
24.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is very good for engineering and design, while the Acer Aspire 3 14 is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
7.2/10
8.4/10
4.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.7/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1864
8.0 GB
RAM
24.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is very good for content creation, while the Acer Aspire 3 14 is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.1/10
8.6/10
4.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
6.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
24.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1864
6.2/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
10.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is very good for software development, while the Acer Aspire 3 14 is good.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
6.1/10
7.8/10
14.0in
SIZE
15.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2880 x 1864
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
250.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
501.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air 15 has a better screen than the Acer Aspire 3 14 for general use, AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
PerfectRec’s screen quality scores take into account various important factors that are relevant for different use cases.
Battery
9.5 Hours
15.0 Hours
The Acer Aspire 3 14 has 9.5 hours of battery life. The Apple MacBook Air 15 has 15 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Very Good
14.0in
SIZE
15.3in
3.0 lbs
WEIGHT
3.3 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.4in
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) and Acer Aspire 3 14 both have very good portability, though the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has somewhat better portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
6.2/10
10.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the Acer Aspire 3 14 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$434
$1,199
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Acer Aspire 3 14 has a price of $434 and the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) costs $1,199.
"The Apple MacBook Air 15 is boringly good. The new MacBook Air 15 is a very good, but also boring device, because apart from the larger screen and the higher price, there are no differences compared to the smaller MacBook Air M2 from last year. No new processor, no additional ports, just the usual basic hardware - but the overall package is extremely good and it simply works. Above all, the lack of fans is an aspect that should not be underestimated in everyday use. In our opinion, the Air could be a lot better, but Apple goes easy on itself here."
Get a great deal on the Acer Aspire 3 14 or the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023)
About Acer
Acer is a prominent Taiwanese electronics brand which makes a wide range of laptops, with multiple product lines catering to personal use, gaming, and business use. They are renowned for having exceptional value for money, as they frequently offer good specifications at a lower price than other manufacturers.
About Apple
Apple, an American technology company, is one of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. Their MacBook laptops feature a slim, minimalistic design, class-leading battery life, and premium display and speaker quality. In 2020 Apple switched from using Intel processors to their own silicon chips which have excellent performance and efficiency. The macOS operating system is the second most widely used OS, after Windows.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
109,095
Recommendations made
23,638
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.