Products
Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
Tested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Oct 29, 2025 02:49 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Tested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Oct 29, 2025 03:00 PM
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Amazon.com
Size
14"
Operating System
Windows 10
Size
13.3"
Operating System
macOS
Our Verdict
Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
The Acer Swift 3 (2020) and the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) are both thin and light laptops; however, the Swift 3 runs Windows, while the MacBook Air runs macOS. The MacBook Air is better in most aspects, such as the display, keyboard, touchpad, speakers, webcam, and general performance. On the other hand, the Swift 3 has longer battery life, especially for video playback, and it also has a wider port selection that includes a full-size HDMI and a USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support.
Variants
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-5790) (Aqua Blue - i5/8GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-50KQ) (Pure Silver - i5/8GB/256GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-52BZ) (Pure Silver - i5/8GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-5166) (Pure Silver - i5/8GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-511-70TU) (Pure Silver - i7/16GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-7567) (Pure Silver - i7/16GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-75QC) (Pure Silver - i7/8GB/256GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-73UP) (Pure Silver - i7/8GB/512GB)
- Swift 3 14 (SF314-511-7412) (Pure Silver - i7/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MGND3LL/A) (Gold - 7-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MGNE3LL/A) (Gold - 7-core GPU/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MGN93LL/A) (Silver - 7-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MGNA3LL/A) (Silver - 7-core GPU/8GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MGN63LL/A) (Space Gray - 7-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MGN73LL/A) (Space Gray - 7-core GPU/8GB/512GB)
Main Differences for
School
School
Threshold
School
7.8
8.4
Webcam & Microphone
3.6
8.2
Touchpad
6.8
8.8
Build Quality
7.5
9.5
Ports
8.0
4.0
Battery
9.4
8.8
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
7.5
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
6.9
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
180°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
No
Yes
Portability
8.9
9.1
Dimensions Photo
Size
14"
13.3"
Thickness
0.6" (1.6 cm)
0.5" (1.3 cm)
Width
12.8" (32.4 cm)
12.0" (30.5 cm)
Depth
8.6" (21.9 cm)
8.4" (21.2 cm)
Volume
69.3 in³ (1,135.3 cm³)
51.3 in³ (840.6 cm³)
Weight
2.6 lbs (1.2 kg)
2.9 lbs (1.3 kg)
Charger Size
8.2 in³ (135.0 cm³)
5.5 in³ (90.6 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
Serviceability
6.5
3.3
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
8.0
5.5
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
1
0
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
Yes
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
1920 x 1080
2560 x 1600
Aspect Ratio
16:9
16:10
Pixel Density
157 PPI
225 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
No
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
80%
84%
Refresh Rate
5.9
5.9
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
60 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
No
Contrast
7.9
6.8
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,720 : 1
1,044 : 1
Brightness
6.7
7.8
Maximum Brightness
279 cd/m²
372 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
17 cd/m²
4 cd/m²
Reflections
7.3
8.9
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Matte
Glossy
Total Reflections
5.66%
1.73%
Indirect Reflections
4.91%
0.16%
Calculated Direct Reflections
0.75%
1.57%
Black Uniformity
7.7
7.4
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
0.925%
1.071%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
6.7
6.8
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
26°
25°
Color Washout From Right
25°
28°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
39°
40°
Color Shift From Right
41°
46°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
27°
28°
Brightness Loss From Right
27°
31°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
32°
29°
Gamma Shift From Right
30°
32°
Vertical Viewing Angle
6.2
6.8
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
24°
25°
Color Washout From Above
26°
25°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
37°
37°
Color Shift From Above
36°
41°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
27°
27°
Brightness Loss From Above
28°
28°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
40°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
25°
37°
Gamma Shift From Above
27°
35°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
6.7
9.7
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
4.38
1.75
Avg. Gamma
2.11
2.2
Avg. Color dE
2.89
1.21
Avg. Color Temperature
6,388 K
6,883.6 K
Color Gamut
8.6
9.4
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
99.97%
99.96%
sRGB uv
99.91%
99.84%
Adobe RGB xy
78.17%
88.07%
Adobe RGB uv
86%
92.88%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
78.92%
99.57%
DCI P3 uv
84.07%
99.15%
Rec. 2020 xy
56.68%
72.25%
Rec. 2020 uv
61.53%
73.92%
Flicker
10
10
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
Yes
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
No Flicker
Flicker Active Below
0%
0%
Interface
Keyboard
7.2
7.6
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
7.0
7.5
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
On / Off
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
61 gf
63 gf
Actuation Force
34 gf
37 gf
Pre-Travel
0.90 mm
0.76 mm
Total Travel
1.33 mm
0.85 mm
Touchpad
6.8
8.8
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
7.0
9.0
Size
10.9 in² (70.3 cm²)
14.9 in² (96.0 cm²)
Material
Plastic
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
7.8
8.9
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
76 dB SPL
79 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
5.0 dB
4.5 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
0.1
1.6
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
364 Hz
247 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
16 kHz
20 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
1.0 dB
1.9 dB
Webcam & Microphone
3.6
8.2
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
3.0
8.5
Resolution
720p
720p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
No
No
Connectivity
Ports
8.0
4.0
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
2
0
USB-C Ports
1
2
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt 3
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
2.0
No
DisplayPort
No
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
No
No
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
No
No
Security Lock
Yes
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.0
5.0
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
Core i5-1135G7
M1
Core Count
4
8
Thread Count
8
8
GPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
Iris Xe Graphics G7
M1
Dedicated/Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
VRAM Size
N/A
N/A
RAM
Capacity
8 GB
8 GB
Modules
1 (Soldered)
2 (Soldered)
Type
LP-DDR4X
LP-DDR4X
Speed
4,267 MHz
4,266 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
512 GB
256 GB
Usable Capacity
460 GB
218 GB
Drive 1
SK Hynix HFM512GDJTNI-82A0A
SDRGJHI4
Drive 1 Type
SSD
SSD
Drive 2
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Drive 2 Type
No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive
Performance
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
8.1
8.8
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,409 points
1,721 points
CPU Multi-Thread
5,340 points
7,437 points
GPU Compute
15,232 points
19,359 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
8.4
9.1
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,368 points
1,497 points
Multi-Thread
5,092 points
6,855 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
5.9
6.2
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
7.8 min
7.3 min
GPU Render Time
N/A
N/A
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
5.1
6.1
Basemark Image
Overall Score
16,155
26,868
Storage Drive Performance
9.0
9.3
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
933.8 MB/s
2,580.5 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
1,181.1 MB/s
2,487.4 MB/s
Random Write Speed
106.7 MB/s
51.5 MB/s
Random Read Speed
55.6 MB/s
60.5 MB/s
Battery
9.4
8.8
Capacity
56 Wh
50 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
13.8 hrs
13.3 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
12.2 hrs
6.6 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
2.1 hrs
2.6 hrs
Charge Time
2.3 hrs
3.1 hrs
Borderlands 3
1.1
2.4
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
7 fps
15 fps
1% Low
1 fps
6 fps
0.1% Low
0 fps
3 fps
1% Low Delta
1,253 ms
86 ms
0.1% Low Delta
2,224 ms
302 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
36 fps
32 fps
Civilization VI
4.6
5.6
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
22 fps
32 fps
1% Low
16 fps
23 fps
0.1% Low
14 fps
21 fps
1% Low Delta
18 ms
12 ms
0.1% Low Delta
25 ms
17 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
82 fps
71 fps
Avg. Turn Time
7.96 s
11.63 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
6.7
7.7
CS:GO graph
Avg. FPS
88 fps
65 fps
1% Low
36 fps
N/A
0.1% Low
30 fps
N/A
1% Low Delta
16 ms
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
22 ms
N/A
Avg. FPS On Low
134 fps
94 fps
Counter-Strike 2
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
1% Low
0.1% Low
1% Low Delta
0.1% Low Delta
Avg. FPS On Low
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
3.0
2.0
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
19 fps
13 fps
1% Low
3 fps
9 fps
0.1% Low
1 fps
5 fps
1% Low Delta
290 ms
31 ms
0.1% Low Delta
871 ms
135 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
37 fps
26 fps
Thermals And Noise
7.7
8.3
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
27 °C (80 °F)
28 °C (82 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
45 °C (112 °F)
47 °C (117 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
N/A
Fan Noise Under Load
43.0 dBA
N/A
Power & Fan Control App
No
No
Performance Over Time
8.6
7.5
Performance Over Time Graph
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
72 °C
N/A
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
9% loss
13% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
69 °C
N/A
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
0% loss
3% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 10
macOS
Additional Software
Yes
None
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
Fingerprint Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor
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Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)
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Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) vs Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020): Main Discussion
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