Products
Microsoft Surface Go 2 (2020)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1, 2021)
Tested using Methodology v0.8
Updated Feb 22, 2024 02:44 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Tested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Oct 29, 2025 03:01 PM
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Amazon.com
Size
10.5"
Operating System
Windows 10
Size
16"
Operating System
macOS
Our Verdict
Microsoft Surface Go 2 (2020)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1, 2021)
The Microsoft Surface Go 2 (2020) and the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M1, 2021) are completely different devices. The Surface Go 2 is a compact 10.5-inch Windows tablet with an optional keyboard-type cover and a low-power CPU designed to handle simple tasks like web browsing and video playback. In contrast, the MacBook Pro 16 is a powerful macOS mobile workstation designed for demanding tasks like video editing and 3D rendering. The MacBook Pro 16 is better in nearly every way, though the Surface Go 2 is much more portable.
Variants
- Surface Go 2 (STV-00001) (Platinum - Pentium Gold 4425Y/4GB/64GB)
- Surface Go 2 (TGF-00001) (Platinum - Pentium Gold 4425Y/4GB/64GB)
- Surface Go 2 (STV-00003) (Platinum - Pentium Gold 4425Y/4GB/64GB)
- Surface Go 2 (STQ-00001) (Platinum - Pentium Gold 4425Y/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 2 (STQ-00003) (Platinum - Pentium Gold 4425Y/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 2 (STR-00001) (Platinum - Pentium Gold 4425Y/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 2 (TFZ-00001) (Platinum - m3-8100Y with LTE/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 2 (STW-00001) (Platinum - m3-8100Y with LTE/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 2 (RRX-00001) (Platinum - m3-8100Y/4GB/64GB)
- Surface Go 2 (TFZ-00003) (Platinum - m3-8100Y/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Go 2 (MHM-00001) (Silver - m3-8100Y/8GB/128GB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1H3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Max/10‑core CPU/32‑core GPU/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1F3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Pro chip/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1E3LL/A) (Silver - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK1A3LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Max/10‑core CPU/32‑core GPU/32GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK193LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/1TB)
- MacBook Pro 16 (MK183LL/A) (Space Gray - M1 Pro/10‑core CPU/16‑core GPU/16GB/512GB)
Main Differences for
School
School
Threshold
School
7.2
8.6
Battery
6.2
9.4
Portability
9.6
7.2
Touchpad
6.3
9.7
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
2.5
9.7
Ports
2.5
8.5
Build Quality
8.0
9.5
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Tablet
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
8.0
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
6.9
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
170°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
No
Yes
Portability
9.6
7.2
Dimensions Photo
Size
10.5"
16"
Thickness
0.5" (1.3 cm)
0.7" (1.7 cm)
Width
9.9" (25.1 cm)
14.0" (35.6 cm)
Depth
7.1" (18.1 cm)
9.8" (24.8 cm)
Volume
35.8 in³ (586.1 cm³)
91.6 in³ (1,500.9 cm³)
Weight
1.2 lbs (0.5 kg)
4.7 lbs (2.2 kg)
Charger Size
6.0 in³ (98.5 cm³)
13.3 in³ (218.3 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)
Serviceability
0.0
3.5
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
0
6.0
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
0
0
Replaceable Battery
No
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
No
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
1920 x 1280
3456 x 2234
Aspect Ratio
3:2
16:10
Pixel Density
220 PPI
254 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
Yes
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
77%
91%
Refresh Rate
5.9
8.7
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
120 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
Apple ProMotion
Contrast
7.3
10
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,282 : 1
50,250 : 1
Brightness
7.8
8.5
Maximum Brightness
368 cd/m²
469 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
6 cd/m²
4 cd/m²
Reflections
6.9
8.8
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Glossy
Glossy
Total Reflections
4.798%
1.91%
Indirect Reflections
0.291%
0.18%
Calculated Direct Reflections
4.5%
1.73%
Black Uniformity
7.5
10
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
1.014%
0.355%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
7.2
6.9
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
28°
25°
Color Washout From Right
26°
29°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
60°
39°
Color Shift From Right
60°
47°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
29°
28°
Brightness Loss From Right
28°
32°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
33°
33°
Gamma Shift From Right
32°
38°
Vertical Viewing Angle
7.1
7.0
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
25°
26°
Color Washout From Above
26°
31°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
45°
38°
Color Shift From Above
45°
45°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
29°
29°
Brightness Loss From Above
30°
34°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
45°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
29°
28°
Gamma Shift From Above
28°
33°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
8.2
9.9
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
3.15
1.46
Avg. Gamma
2.18
2.22
Avg. Color dE
1.97
1
Avg. Color Temperature
6,583 K
6,709.7 K
Color Gamut
8.6
9.5
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
105.88%
99.94%
sRGB uv
105.34%
99.76%
Adobe RGB xy
77.7%
88.91%
Adobe RGB uv
88.3%
94.33%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
78%
99.73%
DCI P3 uv
83.7%
99.09%
Rec. 2020 xy
56%
72.6%
Rec. 2020 uv
61.13%
73.59%
Flicker
10
10
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
No
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
> 1000Hz
Flicker Active Below
0%
0%
Interface
Keyboard
7.8
8.0
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
7.5
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
66 gf
59 gf
Actuation Force
43 gf
41 gf
Pre-Travel
0.95 mm
0.78 mm
Total Travel
1.41 mm
0.86 mm
Touchpad
6.3
9.7
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
6.5
9.5
Size
8.2 in² (53.0 cm²)
24.8 in² (160.0 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
7.4
8.4
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
70 dB SPL
76 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
4.5 dB
4.9 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
1.2
0.7
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
250 Hz
116 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
13 kHz
20 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
1.8 dB
1.5 dB
Webcam & Microphone
8.7
9.1
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
9.0
9.5
Resolution
1080p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
Yes
No
Connectivity
Ports
2.5
8.5
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
0
0
USB-C Ports
1
3
Thunderbolt
No
Thunderbolt 4
USB-C Charging
Yes
Yes
USB-C Display Out
Yes
Yes
HDMI
No
2.0
DisplayPort
No
No
3.5mm Jack
Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone
Card Reader
MicroSD UHS 2
SD UHS 2
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
Surface Connect
Apple MagSafe 3
Security Lock
No
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
Pentium Gold 4425Y
M1 Max
Core Count
2
10
Thread Count
4
10
GPU
Brand
Intel
Apple
Model
UHD Graphics 615
M1 Max
Dedicated/Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
VRAM Size
N/A
N/A
RAM
Capacity
8 GB
32 GB
Modules
2 (Soldered)
Unknown
Type
LP-DDR3
LP-DDR5
Speed
1,866 MHz
6,400 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
128 GB
512 GB
Usable Capacity
91 GB
463 GB
Drive 1
KBG40ZPZ128G TOSHIBA MEMORY
Apple SSD AP512R
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)
2.5
9.7
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
420 points
1,784 points
CPU Multi-Thread
962 points
12,733 points
GPU Compute
3,858 points
68,226 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
2.5
9.6
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
385 points
1,535 points
Multi-Thread
970 points
12,390 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
0.0
7.9
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
42.3 min
4.1 min
GPU Render Time
N/A
N/A
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
1.6
9.0
Basemark Image
Overall Score
3,603
80,945
Storage Drive Performance
7.9
9.5
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
422.9 MB/s
4,506.1 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
1,181.1 MB/s
4,846.1 MB/s
Random Write Speed
32.0 MB/s
54.2 MB/s
Random Read Speed
27.2 MB/s
57.5 MB/s
Battery
6.2
9.4
Capacity
27 Wh
100 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
8.4 hrs
15.0 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
3.9 hrs
8.4 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
1.6 hrs
2.1 hrs
Charge Time
2.5 hrs
2.1 hrs
Borderlands 3
0.0
6.0
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
N/A
48 fps
1% Low
N/A
30 fps
0.1% Low
N/A
16 fps
1% Low Delta
N/A
12 ms
0.1% Low Delta
N/A
43 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
N/A
58 fps
Civilization VI
0.4
6.8
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
3 fps
52 fps
1% Low
2 fps
37 fps
0.1% Low
2 fps
33 fps
1% Low Delta
103 ms
8 ms
0.1% Low Delta
107 ms
11 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
12 fps
97 fps
Avg. Turn Time
28.49 s
9.69 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
2.2
9.1
CS:GO graph
Avg. FPS
14 fps
129 fps
1% Low
3 fps
N/A
0.1% Low
1 fps
N/A
1% Low Delta
323 ms
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
1,744 ms
N/A
Avg. FPS On Low
34 fps
162 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
0.4
6.0
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
3 fps
93 fps
1% Low
1 fps
25 fps
0.1% Low
1 fps
11 fps
1% Low Delta
505 ms
29 ms
0.1% Low Delta
1,113 ms
77 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
5 fps
134 fps
Thermals And Noise
9.9
7.7
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
24 °C (74 °F)
25 °C (77 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
28 °C (82 °F)
45 °C (112 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
N/A
25.0 dBA
Fan Noise Under Load
N/A
43.4 dBA
Power & Fan Control App
No
No
Performance Over Time
7.4
9.8
Performance Over Time Graph
Performance Over Time Image
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
54 °C
93 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
0% loss
1% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
63 °C
88 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
17% loss
0% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 10
macOS
Additional Software
None
None
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
Face Recognition
Fingerprint Sensor
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Microsoft Surface Go 2 (2020)
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