The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is a more affordable, lightweight option with exceptional battery life and silent operation, suitable for general use like web browsing, office work, and media consumption. Conversely, the MSI Stealth 17 is pricier with superior performance capabilities for tasks like 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering software. It also has a larger screen and advanced features like a high-refresh-rate display, but it is heavier and has a significantly shorter battery life, making it less portable. The MacBook is ideal for everyday tasks and mobility, while the MSI caters to power users with demanding software needs. 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 keyboard
Advantages of the MSI Stealth 17
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Excellent 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
8.7/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
395.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
15.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
8.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is praised for its long battery life, light weight and fanless operation, making it highly convenient for portability and quiet environments, while the MSI Stealth 17 features a more robust CPU and significantly more RAM which enhances performance but trades off with lower battery life and less portability.
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
9.1/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
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
8.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has an integrated GPU that is less powerful than dedicated gaming GPUs, and it runs macOS, which many popular games do not support, limiting its 3D capabilities. In contrast, the MSI Stealth 17 is equipped with a high-end Nvidia RTX graphics card and a high refresh rate display, operates on Windows 11 Pro which supports a wide range of games, making it excellent for gaming and 3D applications.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
9.4/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Stealth 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020), with its Apple M1 chip, provides solid performance and screen quality for engineering and design, but the MSI Stealth 17 offers exceptional performance with its Intel i9 processor, a more powerful Nvidia RTX GPU, and greater RAM capacity, making it excellent for more demanding engineering and design tasks. While the MacBook Air is more portable and has better battery life, making it suitable for on-the-go work, the MSI Stealth 17's superior CPU, RAM, and GPU make it better suited for intensive applications despite being less portable and having a shorter battery life.
Content Creation
7.8/10
8.8/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The MSI Stealth 17 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.
Software Development
7.7/10
8.5/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is 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.
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 Stealth 17 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The Apple MacBook Air's screen offers clear and vibrant images suitable for everyday tasks and engineering work due to its high resolution and coverage of color gamuts, but its lower refresh rate isn't ideal for 3D applications that benefit from smoother visuals. In contrast, the MSI Stealth 17's screen, with its similarly high resolution and color accuracy, excels for both general and technical uses, providing a rich visual experience, but may fall short for gaming or 3D modeling where its refresh rate is not high enough to ensure fluid motion. Both laptops are geared more towards productivity and creative work rather than high-end gaming or 3D rendering tasks, where screens with faster refresh rates are preferred.
Battery
15.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The MSI Stealth 17 has 5.5 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
Fair
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the MSI Stealth 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.8/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the MSI Stealth 17 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$3,899
$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 Stealth 17 costs $3,899.
"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 Stealth 17 Studio is a laptop with a quiet RTX 4080 for almost every occasion. The MSI Stealth 17 Studio is equally capable of high-level media processing and playing current games. It remains pleasantly quiet, even if a few percentage points of power have had to be sacrificed in the process. But, it is not quite perfect: To some extent, the Stealth 17 is well thought out. It packs tons of graphics power and high-end components in a slim case. The laptop's cooling system can be set such that, noise-wise, it doesn't even reach low volume. However, small flaws cloud otherwise exceptionally positive impressions."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the MSI Stealth 17
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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