The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is more affordable, portable, and offers silent operation with long battery life, making it suitable for general use and on-the-go tasks. Conversely, the MSI Raider GE76 costs more but delivers superior performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering tasks. It also has a higher capacity for gaming, though it is less portable and has a shorter battery life. 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)
Best in class overall build quality
Very good portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the MSI Raider GE76
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
General Use
7.6/10
8.4/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
395.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
15.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
6.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
8.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
5.8/10
The MSI Raider GE76 is very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is favored for its portability and longer battery life, which are critical for general use, complemented by its high-quality screen and sufficient performance from its M1 CPU and built-in graphics for everyday tasks. The MSI Raider GE76, while more powerful with its Intel CPU and Nvidia graphics, offering superior performance and a larger, higher-refresh-rate screen, is less portable and has a shorter battery life, but its vast storage and high RAM make it very suitable for more demanding general use cases.
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
8.9/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.3/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The MSI Raider GE76 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) with its own M1 GPU provides a fair experience in 3D tasks, but it's constrained by a comparatively lower performing GPU and screen refresh rate of 60 Hz, which may hinder demanding 3D rendering and gaming capabilities.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
9.0/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.3/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The MSI Raider GE76 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
The MSI Raider GE76 stands out for engineering and design use due to its superior Intel i7-12700H processor, which is more powerful compared to the Apple M1 chip in the MacBook Air, as well as its higher RAM capacity for handling more complex tasks efficiently.
Content Creation
7.8/10
8.4/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Raider GE76 is very good for content creation, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) 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.
Screen Quality
7.5/10
8.6/10
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
The MSI Raider GE76 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The MacBook Air's screen delivers a pleasant viewing experience for everyday tasks with sufficient resolution and brightness, but it may not have the high color accuracy and wide gamuts required for precise engineering and design work. The MSI Raider GE76, on the other hand, offers a screen with high resolution and brightness, along with excellent color reproduction, which is ideal for professionals in engineering and design who need accurate color representation. However, for 3D applications and gaming, where the MSI Raider may fall short, it's because a relatively lower refresh rate can lead to less fluid motion and responsiveness, an area where other laptops specialized in gaming may excel.
Battery
15.0 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The MSI Raider GE76 has 6 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
Poor
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
6.3 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the MSI Raider GE76 has poor 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 MSI Raider GE76 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
$3,552
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the MSI Raider GE76 costs $3,552.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers MSI Raider GE76 to be very good for software development, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) 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.
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How the Apple MacBook Air (2020) and the MSI Raider GE76 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."
"The MSI Raider GE76: with Alder Lake and RTX 3080 Ti to gaming heaven. Yes, MSI could improve some aspects (like the quality of the webcam), but the manufacturer offers a very convincing and balanced overall package. The biggest advantage is definitely the immense performance potential. The combination of Core i9-12900HK, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, 32 GB DDR5 RAM and two NVMe SSDs offers a lot of performance for the next couple of years and plenty of power for 3D applications. Most titles would run smoothly on an external 4K screen no matter the quality preset. We came away impressed with the integrated 360 Hz panel's fast response times and good color accuracy."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the MSI Raider GE76
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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