The Apple MacBook Air (2022) and the MSI Stealth 17 cater to different needs. The MacBook Air is more affordable and offers a balance of performance, portability, and battery life. Its lightweight design and silent operation make it ideal for everyday use, web browsing, light photo editing, and other general tasks. On the other hand, the MSI Stealth 17 is geared towards power users and gamers, offering a high-performance CPU and graphics card, more memory and storage, and a larger, high-refresh-rate screen. However, it's significantly heavier and tends to have a shorter battery life, making it less portable but better for intensive tasks like video editing, 3D rendering, and gaming. If you prioritize mobility and lower costs for everyday tasks, the MacBook Air is suitable, but if you need top-tier performance for demanding applications and don't mind the higher price and less portability, the MSI Stealth 17 is the better choice. 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 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 content creation
Very good overall display quality
Key differences
General Use
7.9/10
8.7/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
486.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
384.0 nits
15.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.5 Hours
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
9.4/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.4/10
The MSI Stealth 17 is very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) is good.
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) offers excellent portability and best-in-class keyboard quality along with a fanless design for silent operation, making it highly suitable for general use where mobility and low noise are key, though it has less RAM and a smaller screen than some alternatives.
Gaming and AI
6.4/10
9.1/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.7/10
2560 x 1664
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 (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
9.4/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
4.1/10
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 (2022) is good.
The MSI Stealth 17 stands out for engineering and design tasks with its robust Intel i9 processor, large RAM capacity, and leading Nvidia RTX GPU, all of which offer high performance; it also has a high-resolution, high-refresh-rate screen and multiple expansions slots, albeit with compromised portability due to its size and weight. In contrast, the Apple MacBook Air (2022) provides satisfactory performance through its M2 chip for less demanding tasks, maintaining superior portability and a high-quality, high-resolution display, making it suitable for on-the-go professionals who prioritize a balance between performance and portability.
Content Creation
7.9/10
8.8/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
2560 x 1664
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 (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
8.5/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.5/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The MSI Stealth 17 and Apple MacBook Air (2022) are both very good for software development, though the MSI Stealth 17 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
8.6/10
13.6in
SIZE
17.3in
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
240Hz
486.0 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.
Choosing the Apple MacBook Air suits general tasks due to its high-resolution display that offers vivid colors and brightness, contributing to a pleasant visual experience in day-to-day usage. For engineering and design, the MacBook Air's strong color accuracy covering various color gamuts makes it ideal for professionals requiring precision. However, for 3D applications and gaming, the MSI Stealth 17's faster refresh rate would benefit smoother motion and responsiveness, although its lower resolution and panel type may not match the sharpness and color fidelity optimal for design tasks.
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
Excellent
Fair
13.6in
SIZE
17.3in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has excellent 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 (2022) 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
$899
$3,899
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has a price of $899 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 (2022) 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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