The Apple MacBook Air (2022) is a great choice for general use, offering excellent battery life, a high-quality display, and a silent, fanless design, making it highly portable and suitable for everyday tasks. It's also competitively priced and has a robust build quality with a backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader for security. However, it's not designed for intensive gaming or heavy engineering tasks due to its integrated GPU and lower performance components compared to the MSI.
On the other hand, the MSI Creator 16 AI Studio is tailored for demanding tasks such as 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering workloads with its high-performance CPU and dedicated RTX 4080 GPU. It boasts a larger, high-resolution touchscreen with superior color accuracy and a higher refresh rate, which is ideal for creators and professionals who require precision and speed. It also has more RAM and storage, expandability options, and advanced connectivity with Thunderbolt ports. However, it comes at a higher price point, has a bulkier design, and shorter battery life, which may impact its portability.
In summary, if you prioritize portability, silent operation, and general productivity within a midrange budget, the MacBook Air is the way to go. But if your work demands top-tier performance for creative or engineering tasks and you're willing to invest in a heavier, less portable machine with a higher price tag, the MSI Creator 16 AI Studio would be the better investment. 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 (2022)
Best in class overall build quality
Excellent portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the MSI Creator 16 AI Studio
Very good for general use
Best in class for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Excellent for content creation
Best in class overall display quality
Key differences
General Use
7.9/10
8.8/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
486.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
1000.0 nits
15.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
9.0 Hours
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
9.4/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.3/10
The MSI Creator 16 AI Studio is very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) 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
6.4/10
8.9/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.5/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The MSI Creator 16 AI Studio is very good for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) is only fair.
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
7.5/10
9.5/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The MSI Creator 16 AI Studio is best in class for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) is good.
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
7.9/10
9.1/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The MSI Creator 16 AI Studio is excellent for content creation, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) 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
8.0/10
8.9/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
8.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The MSI Creator 16 AI Studio and Apple MacBook Air (2022) are both very good for software development, though the MSI Creator 16 AI Studio is somewhat better.
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
7.6/10
9.7/10
13.6in
SIZE
16.0in
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
486.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
1000.0 nits
The MSI Creator 16 AI Studio has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air for general use, gaming and 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
15.0 Hours
9.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The MSI Creator 16 AI Studio has 9 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
Excellent
Good
13.6in
SIZE
16.0in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
4.3 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has excellent portability, while the MSI Creator 16 AI Studio has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has best in class build quality, while the MSI Creator 16 AI Studio has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$899
$2,999
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has a price of $899 and the MSI Creator 16 AI Studio costs $2,999.
"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."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2022) or the MSI Creator 16 AI 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 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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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.