The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is known for its portability with a fanless design, silent operation, and longer battery life, making it ideal for everyday use and traveling. On the other hand, the HP Spectre x360 offers more memory and storage, a built-in fingerprint reader, and a touch screen, better serving users involved in engineering and more demanding tasks. The MacBook is lighter, while the Spectre has superior heat management. Both have good build quality and similar processing capabilities, but for intensive gaming, the HP Spectre might have an edge with its better color coverage and touchscreen. The choice depends on whether you prioritize portability and battery life or the flexibility of a touchscreen with higher memory and storage. 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 15 (2023)
Best in class overall build quality
Very good portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the HP Spectre x360
Very good for general use
Very good for engineering and design
Key differences
Screen Quality
7.8/10
7.6/10
15.3in
SIZE
16.0in
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
501.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
406.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Air 15 has a better screen than the HP Spectre x360 for AI, while the HP Spectre x360 has a better screen for content creation, and software development.
When considering screen quality for general use, the MacBook Air's and HP Spectre x360's displays shine with crisp resolution and brightness, making texts and images clear and easy to view. For engineering and design tasks, their wide color gamuts accurately reproduce a broad range of colors, essential for detailed and color-sensitive work. However, for 3D applications and gaming, the lower refresh rates on these laptops might lead to less smooth visuals compared to models with higher refresh rates, which can be a disadvantage for fast-paced interactions.
Battery
15.0 Hours
11.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air 15 has 15 hours of battery life. The HP Spectre x360 has 11 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
Good
15.3in
SIZE
16.0in
3.3 lbs
WEIGHT
4.7 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has very good portability, while the HP Spectre x360 has good portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has best in class build quality, while the HP Spectre x360 has very good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,299
$1,000
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) has a price of $1,299 and the HP Spectre x360 costs $1,000.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers HP Spectre x360 to be very good for general use, while the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is good.
The HP Spectre x360 outperforms the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) for general use mainly due to its superior main processor and double the RAM, making it better suited for multitasking and more demanding tasks. Additionally, the Spectre's higher screen resolution and touchscreen capability complement its 2-in-1 form factor, offering greater versatility for users, albeit at the cost of some battery life and increased weight compared to the MacBook Air.
Gaming and AI
6.5/10
6.6/10
4.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The HP Spectre x360 and Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) are both only fair for gaming and AI.
The HP Spectre x360 being described as good for gaming and 3D tasks can be attributed to its Windows operating system which supports a vast library of popular games, in addition to having a capable built-in GPU that performs well with graphics-intensive tasks. In contrast, the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) offers fair 3D performance with its integrated GPU but is limited by the MacOS, which doesn't support as many games, leaning its use more towards productivity and less towards gaming.
Engineering and Design
7.6/10
8.0/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
4.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
3.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers HP Spectre x360 to be very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is good.
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) is well-suited for engineering and design due to its high-resolution IPS screen and Apple M2 chip with a 10-core GPU, enabling strong performance and vibrant display quality, ideal for detailed design work; however, it is limited by its 8GB of RAM. The HP Spectre x360, on the other hand, is favorable with double the RAM at 16GB and a powerful Intel i7 processor along with a high-resolution IPS touchscreen, which can improve productivity, offering tablet mode for design input, yet it's heavier and not as quiet in operation.
Content Creation
8.0/10
8.2/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The HP Spectre x360 and Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) are both very good for content creation.
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
8.1/10
8.3/10
6.7/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2880 x 1864
RESOLUTION
3072 x 1920
10.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The HP Spectre x360 and Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) are both very good for software development.
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 15 (2023) and the HP Spectre x360 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Air 15 is boringly good. The new MacBook Air 15 is a very good, but also boring device, because apart from the larger screen and the higher price, there are no differences compared to the smaller MacBook Air M2 from last year. No new processor, no additional ports, just the usual basic hardware - but the overall package is extremely good and it simply works. Above all, the lack of fans is an aspect that should not be underestimated in everyday use. In our opinion, the Air could be a lot better, but Apple goes easy on itself here."
"As we said, Lenovo's Yoga 9i is a tough competitor to the Spectre with an equally admirable OLED display. We're sad that neither of them has an HDMI port nor a niche or slot to hold the stylus, though the HP wins points for its bundled mini docking station and magnetically attached pen. Your choice will come down to screen shape—and in our eyes, just as seeing an OLED screen spoils you for an IPS panel, enjoying a tall 3:2 display spoils you for a more conventional view. The HP Spectre x360 13.5 is our new favorite 2-in-1."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) or the HP Spectre x360
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 HP
HP, also known as Hewlett-Packard, is an American technology company that develops personal computers and computer peripherals. In the laptop industry, HP is known for its entry level Essential series laptops, its mid-range Pavilion, Envy, and Victus series, and high-end Omen and Spectre series, in addition to its business-oriented EliteBook, ProBook, and Dragonfly series laptops. HP laptops generally undercut other mainstream competitors in terms of price, placing itself as the value-oriented mainstream brand.
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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