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Products
Framework Laptop 13 (2025)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M4, 2025)
Tested using Methodology v0.8.3
Updated Aug 14, 2025 12:53 PM
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Amazon.comTested using Methodology v0.8.3
Updated Jul 21, 2025 02:22 PM
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BestBuy.com
Size13.5"
Operating SystemWindows 11
Size13.6"
Operating SystemmacOS
Our Verdict
Framework Laptop 13 (2025)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M4, 2025)
The Apple MacBook Air 13 (M4, 2025) and the Framework Laptop 13 (2025) are ultraportable laptops with completely different approaches. The Framework is a modular Windows laptop where every part is replaceable and upgradeable, while the MacBook runs macOS and has all its components soldered down. The MacBook has a fanless design, so it's silent at all times, but it thermal throttles during long sessions. While the MacBook is a better machine to use, the Framework's modularity and repairability make it more flexible, and it's a great option if you support the right-to-repair movement.
Variants
- Laptop 13 (Base) (Ryzen AI 5 340/16GB/256GB)
- Laptop 13 (Extended Productivity) (Ryzen AI 5 340/16GB/512GB)
- Laptop 13 (Performance) (Ryzen AI 7 350/16GB/512GB)
- Laptop 13 (Extended Performance) (Ryzen AI 7 350/16GB/512GB)
- Laptop 13 (Extended Pro) (Ryzen AI 9 HX 370/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MW133LL/A) (Midnight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MC6C4LL/A) (Midnight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/24GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MW123LL/A) (Midnight - M4 (10-core CPU/8-core GPU)/16GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MW0X3LL/A) (Silver - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MC654LL/A) (Silver - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/24GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MW0W3LL/A) (Silver - M4 (10-core CPU/8-core GPU)/16GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MC6U4LL/A) (Sky Blue - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MC6V4LL/A) (Sky Blue - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/24GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MC6T4LL/A) (Sky Blue - M4 (10-core CPU/8-core GPU)/16GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MW103LL/A) (Starlight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MC6A4LL/A) (Starlight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/24GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 13 (MW0Y3LL/A) (Starlight - M4 (10-core CPU/8-core GPU)/16GB/256GB)
Main Differences forSchool
School
Threshold
School
8.4
8.8
Battery
7.9
9.0
Ports
8.5
5.0
Touchpad
8.0
9.2
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
8.5
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.4
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
180°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
8.8
9.1
Dimensions Photo
Size
13.5"
13.6"
Thickness
0.7" (1.8 cm)
0.5" (1.3 cm)
Width
11.7" (29.8 cm)
12.0" (30.4 cm)
Depth
9.1" (23.0 cm)
8.5" (21.5 cm)
Volume
75.3 in³ (1,233.7 cm³)
51.9 in³ (849.7 cm³)
Weight
2.9 lbs (1.3 kg)
2.6 lbs (1.2 kg)
Charger Size
5.3 in³ (87.5 cm³)
5.5 in³ (89.4 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.6 lbs (0.3 kg)
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
Serviceability
8.9
3.5
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
9.5
6.0
RAM Slots
2
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
2256 x 1504
2560 x 1664
Aspect Ratio
3:2
16:10
Pixel Density
200 PPI
224 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
No
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
85%
86%
Refresh Rate
5.9
5.9
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
60 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
No
Contrast
7.6
7.6
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,497 : 1
1,494 : 1
Brightness
8.3
8.4
Maximum Brightness
438 cd/m²
445 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
4 cd/m²
2 cd/m²
Reflections
8.2
9.0
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Matte
Glossy
Total Reflections
3.97%
1.57%
Indirect Reflections
3.61%
0.24%
Calculated Direct Reflections
0.37%
1.33%
Black Uniformity
7.8
8.8
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
0.905%
0.680%
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
6.7
9.8
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
4.27
1.68
Avg. Gamma
2.05
2.25
Avg. Color dE
3.06
1.08
Avg. Color Temperature
6,748.7 K
6,767 K
Color Gamut
8.5
9.4
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
99.65%
99.98%
sRGB uv
99.26%
99.94%
Adobe RGB xy
75.54%
87.95%
Adobe RGB uv
86.79%
93.47%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
76.43%
99.44%
DCI P3 uv
82.59%
99.45%
Rec. 2020 xy
54.87%
71.86%
Rec. 2020 uv
60.35%
73.27%
Flicker
10
9.0
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
No
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
> 1000Hz
Flicker Active Below
0%
100%
Interface
Keyboard
8.6
8.0
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
8.5
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
63 gf
61 gf
Actuation Force
32 gf
37 gf
Pre-Travel
1.03 mm
0.77 mm
Total Travel
1.63 mm
0.86 mm
Touchpad
8.0
9.2
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
8.0
9.5
Size
13.5 in² (87.0 cm²)
15.8 in² (102.0 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
7.8
8.2
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
77 dB SPL
77 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
5.2 dB
5.9 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
0.1
2.7
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
359 Hz
141 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
10 kHz
20 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
0.9 dB
2.6 dB
Webcam & Microphone
8.3
8.7
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
8.0
9.0
Resolution
1080p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
Yes
No
Face Unlock
No
No
Connectivity
Ports
8.5
5.0
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
0
0
USB-C Ports
4
2
Thunderbolt
No
Thunderbolt 4
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
No
No
DisplayPort
No
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
No
No
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
No
Apple MagSafe 3
Security Lock
No
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Bluetooth
5.4
5.3
Configuration
CPU
Brand
AMD
Apple
Model
Ryzen AI 7 350
M4
Core Count
8
10
Thread Count
16
10
GPU
Brand
AMD
Apple
Model
Radeon 860M
M4
Dedicated/Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
VRAM Size
N/A
N/A
GPU Total Graphics Power (TGP)
N/A
N/A
RAM
Capacity
16 GB
16 GB
Modules
2
Unknown
Type
DDR5
LP-DDR5x
Speed
5,600 MHz
7,500 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
512 GB
256 GB
Usable Capacity
430 GB
211 GB
Drive 1
Western Digital PC SN740 SDDPNQD-512G
Apple SSD AP0256Z
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)
9.3
9.4
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
2,106 points
2,653 points
CPU Multi-Thread
10,886 points
12,873 points
GPU Compute
30,060 points
35,474 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
9.9
9.8
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,951 points
2,156 points
Multi-Thread
12,886 points
10,494 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
8.7
9.1
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
2.7 min
2.9 min
GPU Render Time
2.7 min
0.6 min
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
5.8
7.4
Basemark Image
Overall Score
22,396
44,722
Storage Drive Performance
9.5
9.3
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
1,596.3 MB/s
2,845.4 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
3,750.9 MB/s
2,863.3 MB/s
Random Write Speed
105.0 MB/s
46.3 MB/s
Random Read Speed
57.9 MB/s
68.1 MB/s
Battery
7.9
9.0
Capacity
61 Wh
54 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
10.2 hrs
12.3 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
7.9 hrs
11.9 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
1.8 hrs
3.2 hrs
Charge Time
3.2 hrs
2.8 hrs
Borderlands 3
3.9
3.7
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
22 fps
23 fps
1% Low
15 fps
15 fps
0.1% Low
10 fps
9 fps
1% Low Delta
19 ms
24 ms
0.1% Low Delta
58 ms
63 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
56 fps
43 fps
Civilization VI
6.4
6.6
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
42 fps
42 fps
1% Low
28 fps
29 fps
0.1% Low
26 fps
28 fps
1% Low Delta
12 ms
10 ms
0.1% Low Delta
15 ms
12 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
147 fps
112 fps
Avg. Turn Time
7.19 s
7.3 s
Counter-Strike 2
5.4
0.0
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
48fps
N/A
1% Low
25fps
N/A
0.1% Low
22fps
N/A
1% Low Delta
19 ms
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
25 ms
N/A
Avg. FPS On Low
119fps
N/A
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
4.1
5.1
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
29 fps
37 fps
1% Low
13 fps
22 fps
0.1% Low
12 fps
16 fps
1% Low Delta
43 ms
18 ms
0.1% Low Delta
50 ms
35 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
48 fps
59 fps
Thermals And Noise
6.4
8.1
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
29 °C (84 °F)
26 °C (79 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
52 °C (126 °F)
49 °C (121 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
N/A
Fan Noise Under Load
48.0 dBA
N/A
Power & Fan Control App
No
No
Performance Over Time
9.9
7.3
Performance Over Time Graph
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
87 °C
91 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
1% loss
6% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
80 °C
81 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
0% loss
11% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 11
macOS
Additional Software
None
None
Extra Features
Biometrics
Fingerprint Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen Support
No Stylus Support
No Stylus Support
Secondary Display
No
No
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Framework Laptop 13 (2025)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M4, 2025)
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Framework Laptop 13 (2025) vs Apple MacBook Air 13 (M4, 2025): Main Discussion
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