The Apple MacBook Air (2022) is less expensive and offers good performance for general use, as well as a silent, fanless operation with solid battery life, making it suitable for everyday tasks and portable use. Choose the MacBook Air if you value portability and affordability, and the Titan GT77 if your work demands high-end computing power and you are less concerned with portability and price. 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
Advantages of the MSI Titan GT77
Very good for general use
Best in class for engineering and design
Best in class for gaming and AI
Excellent for software development
Excellent for content creation
Best in class overall display quality
Key differences
General Use
7.9/10
8.9/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
486.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
602.0 nits
15.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
5.0 Hours
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
10.0/10
9.4/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
5.5/10
The MSI Titan GT77 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
10.0/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.8/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.7/10
The MSI Titan GT77 is best in class for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) is only fair.
The Apple MacBook Air is deemed fair for 3D because it uses its own M2 chip for processing and graphics, which provides sufficient capability for light 3D tasks but lacks the dedicated power found in gaming-focused devices. Meanwhile, the MSI Titan GT77 excels at gaming and 3D applications thanks to its high-end Intel i9 processor and Nvidia RTX 4080 graphics unit, which vastly outperform the MacBook's integrated GPU, alongside a high refresh rate screen that improves gaming visuals and responsiveness.
Engineering and Design
7.5/10
10.0/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
4.1/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The MSI Titan GT77 is best in class for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) is good.
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) with its M2 processor and integrated GPU provides capable performance for engineering and design tasks within a highly portable form factor and excellent build quality. In contrast, the MSI Titan GT77 boasts superior processing and graphical power with its Intel i9 CPU and Nvidia RTX GPU, more RAM, and a higher-resolution Mini LED screen, catering to the most demanding engineering and design applications at the cost of portability and battery life.
Content Creation
7.9/10
9.1/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
The MSI Titan GT77 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
9.1/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
8.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
10.0/10
The MSI Titan GT77 is excellent for software development, while the Apple MacBook Air (2022) is very 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
7.6/10
9.7/10
13.6in
SIZE
17.3in
2560 x 1664
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
Mini LED
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
486.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
602.0 nits
The MSI Titan GT77 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 offers a balance of resolution and brightness, making it suitable for daily tasks and media consumption, but its lower refresh rate limits its appeal for 3D applications where smoother visuals are crucial. On the other hand, the MSI Titan GT77 boasts superior resolution and wide color coverage providing an edge for engineering and design work, allowing professionals to see fine details and accurate colors. However, despite its overall high-quality display, the MSI may not be the best choice for gaming and 3D modeling if the refresh rate isn't optimized for the high frame rates needed in these scenarios.
Battery
15.0 Hours
5.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The MSI Titan GT77 has 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
Poor
13.6in
SIZE
17.3in
2.7 lbs
WEIGHT
7.2 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has excellent portability, while the MSI Titan GT77 has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has best in class build quality, while the MSI Titan GT77 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$899
$5,430
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Air (2022) has a price of $899 and the MSI Titan GT77 costs $5,430.
"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 Titan GT77 HX 13V is the utimate gaming laptop with RTX 4090 & Core i9-13950HX. The new MSI Titan GT77 will most likely only reach a very small group of users due to the high price, but it is still an impressive showcase of what is possible. The high-end gamer combines the best components you can currently get in almost every regard and it is a very good overall package, which does not have to hide behind full-fledged desktop systems."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2022) or the MSI Titan GT77
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
103,695
Recommendations made
22,468
Consumer hours saved
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.