If you prioritize battery life and portability, the Apple MacBook Air (2020) with its lightweight design and longer battery life is the better choice. However, if your focus is on performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, or gaming, the MSI GF65 Thin with its dedicated graphics card offers superior capability in these areas, although it has a shorter battery life and is heavier, impacting its portability. Both laptops have the same amount of RAM and storage, though the MacBook Air is usually less expensive and operates silently without a fan, which could be a consideration if noise is a concern. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air (2020)
Good for general use
Good for engineering and design
Good for software development
Good for content creation
Good overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Very good portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the MSI GF65 Thin
The MSI GF65 Thin has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Air (2020).
Key differences
General Use
7.6/10
6.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
395.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
262.0 nits
15.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
8.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.3/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good for general use, while the MSI GF65 Thin is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) offers a balance of performance with its efficient CPU, suitable for everyday tasks, and combined with its high-quality screen, comes in a very portable and fanless design with long battery life, making it ideal for general use. On the other hand, the MSI GF65 Thin is tailored towards gaming with a dedicated GPU, larger screen, and higher refresh rate, but this impacts its battery life, it's heavier, and it tends to be noisier with less impressive screen color quality, making it less optimal for users who prioritize portability and battery over performance.
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
6.8/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.1/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The MSI GF65 Thin and Apple MacBook Air (2020) are both only fair for gaming and AI, though the MSI GF65 Thin is somewhat better.
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
7.3/10
6.7/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.6/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.1/10
8.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good for engineering and design, while the MSI GF65 Thin is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is equipped with the efficient Apple M1 CPU and GPU, delivering solid performance for engineering and design tasks with lower operating noise, while its high-resolution screen excels in color accuracy; it's more portable due to its lighter weight and longer battery life.
Content Creation
7.8/10
6.8/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.6/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good for content creation, while the MSI GF65 Thin is only fair.
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
6.3/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
4.6/10
8.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good for software development, while the MSI GF65 Thin is only fair.
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
7.5/10
6.8/10
13.3in
SIZE
15.6in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
262.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air has a better screen than the MSI GF65 Thin for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The MacBook Air has a high-resolution display that delivers crisp and vibrant visuals, making it suitable for general use and tasks that require accurate color representation, like engineering and design, because of its wide color gamut. However, its refresh rate is relatively low, which is a drawback for 3D applications where a high refresh rate can render motion more smoothly. On the other hand, the MSI GF65 Thin has a modest display that meets the needs for general activities and supports fair color accuracy for engineering and design, but like the MacBook Air, it falls short in 3D performance due to its lower refresh rate.
Battery
15.0 Hours
4.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The MSI GF65 Thin has 4.5 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
15.6in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
4.1 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the MSI GF65 Thin has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
6.7/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the MSI GF65 Thin has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$1,100
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the MSI GF65 Thin costs $1,100.
"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."
"The MSI GF65 Thin offers a GeForce RTX 3060 on a budget. The MSI GF65 is a relatively inexpensive RTX 3060 laptop and, perhaps not coincidentally, it also comes with a slower-than-average RTX 3060 GPU. Other laptops we've tested thus far with the same GPU are about 10 to 15 percent faster. CPU performance is also slightly slower than average unless if users decide to enable Cooler Boost mode. Colors, black-white response times, Thunderbolt, and DisplayPort are either average or completely omitted. Gamers who want to maximize performance-per-dollar without sacrificing RAM or SSD upgradeability will find the lightweight MSI GF65 attractive."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the MSI GF65 Thin
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 MSI
MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.
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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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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Laptops Expert
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