The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is typically much cheaper and lighter, offering great build quality, a high-resolution screen, and a silent operation due to its fanless design. However, it lacks a dedicated graphics card and touchscreen, making it less ideal for intensive gaming or engineering tasks that demand high graphical performance. On the other hand, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio is more expensive but comes with a more powerful processor, a dedicated graphics card, and a touchscreen, which supports better performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, and gaming activities, in addition to being more versatile due to its convertible design. Give Feedback
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Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air (2020)
Best in class overall build quality
Very good portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
Screen Quality
7.5/10
8.0/10
13.3in
SIZE
14.4in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
491.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air has a better screen than the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio for software development, and content creation, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio has a better screen for general use, gaming and AI, and engineering and design.
The MacBook Air, with its high-resolution display and excellent brightness, makes for a vibrant and crisp viewing experience which is great for everyday tasks. For engineering and design, its color accuracy across various color gamuts like DCI-P3 ensures that designers see precise shades, but its lack of high refresh rate makes it suboptimal for 3D applications. The Surface Laptop Studio also shines in general use with similar attributes but steps ahead in engineering with its higher color accuracy, while its standard refresh rate, like the MacBook Air, isn't ideal for the quick image rendering needed in gaming and 3D modeling.
Battery
15.0 Hours
8.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio has 8 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
Good
13.3in
SIZE
14.4in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
4.0 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$1,700
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio costs $1,700.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio are both good for general use.
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
6.2/10
6.6/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.9/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and Apple MacBook Air (2020) are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) with its integrated M1 GPU is less capable of handling demanding 3D applications compared to dedicated GPUs, and its screen refresh rate is standard, impacting the smoothness of 3D rendering. Meanwhile, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio features a more powerful Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU and a higher refresh rate screen, making it better suited for gaming and 3D tasks; however, it is important to note that many games are incompatible with macOS, which limits the MacBook Air's gaming potential.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
7.3/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.5/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and Apple MacBook Air (2020) are both good for engineering and design.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) with its M1 chip offers solid performance for engineering and design with good screen quality and is highly portable due to its light weight and fanless, silent operation. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, on the other hand, has a more powerful Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU, making it better for GPU-intensive tasks, and it features a high-contrast, flexible touchscreen enabling it as a drawing tablet for design work, but it's heavier and has a shorter battery life.
Content Creation
7.8/10
7.4/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio are both good for content creation.
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
7.7/10
7.3/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
5.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio are both good for software development.
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.
Give feedback
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How the Apple MacBook Air (2020) and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry is a very good, but too expensive daily MacBook. The new MacBook Air M2 is undoubtedly once again a very good mobile companion, but we are still a little bit disappointed on a very high level, which is definitely connected with the increased price point. The new chassis is extremely slim and the front edge is no problem during typing, but the bezels are pretty wide for a modern device and in addition with the vertical space required for the notch, the new Air has larger footprint than some Windows rivals."
"There’s no doubt that the Surface Laptop Studio is groundbreaking. We’ve come to expect such things from the Surface lineup, so it’s always nice to see a product that exceeds our expectations. The pull-forward laptop-screen concept has been tried before, but never in a device that’s so stylish and packed with innovative features like a haptic touchpad and robust digital stylus support."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio
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.
About Microsoft
Microsoft is an American technology corporation. Microsoft is best known for their Windows operating system and Surface laptop series. The Surface Laptop is their standard notebook offering, while their Surface Go, Surface Pro, and Surface Studio are their 2-in-1/tablet offerings in order of increasing capability. Although Microsoft charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a well integrated and packaged device since Microsoft develops the Windows operating system.
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.
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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.
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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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.