Products
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 (2019)
Tested using Methodology v0.8.2
Updated Oct 29, 2025 03:00 PM
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Amazon.com
Tested using Methodology v0.8
Updated Oct 29, 2025 02:49 PM
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Amazon.com
Size
13.3"
Operating System
macOS
Size
15"
Operating System
Windows 10
Our Verdict
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 (2019)
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 (2019) and the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) are both premium thin and light laptops. The main differences between them have to do with the operating system, CPU performance, and battery life. The Surface Laptop 3 runs Windows, while the MacBook Air 13 runs macOS. The MacBook Air 13's M1 SoC performs significantly better than the AMD Ryzen 5 3580U in almost all aspects, and because it's more power-efficient, the MacBook Air 13 has much longer battery life. The MacBook Air 13 also has a better wide gamut display with full DCI P3 coverage, whereas the Surface Laptop 3 only has full sRGB coverage.
Variants
- 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)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (V9R-00022) (Matte Black - Ryzen 5/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (VGZ-00022) (Matte Black - Ryzen 5/8GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (VFL-00022) (Matte Black - Ryzen 7/16GB/512GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (V9R-00001) (Platinum - Ryzen 5/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (V4G-0001) (Platinum - Ryzen 5/8GB/128GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (VGZ-00001) (Platinum - Ryzen 5/8GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 3 15 (VFL-00001) (Platinum - Ryzen 7/16GB/512GB)
Main Differences for
School
School
Threshold
School
8.4
7.5
Battery
8.8
6.1
Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
8.8
4.9
Reflections
8.9
6.2
Portability
9.1
8.5
Full Comparison
Design
Style
Style Photo
Form Factor
Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)
Build Quality
9.5
9.5
Build Quality Photo
Hinge
9.1
9.1
Hinge Photo
Range
135°
140°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
9.1
8.5
Dimensions Photo
Size
13.3"
15"
Thickness
0.5" (1.3 cm)
0.6" (1.5 cm)
Width
12.0" (30.5 cm)
13.4" (34.0 cm)
Depth
8.4" (21.2 cm)
9.6" (24.4 cm)
Volume
51.3 in³ (840.6 cm³)
74.3 in³ (1,216.9 cm³)
Weight
2.9 lbs (1.3 kg)
3.4 lbs (1.5 kg)
Charger Size
5.5 in³ (90.6 cm³)
6.9 in³ (112.5 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
0.6 lbs (0.3 kg)
Serviceability
3.3
4.3
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
5.5
4.5
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
0
1
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
No
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
2560 x 1600
2496 x 1664
Aspect Ratio
16:10
3:2
Pixel Density
225 PPI
199 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
No
Yes
Screen-To-Body Ratio
84%
81%
Refresh Rate
5.9
6.9
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
60 Hz
60 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
No
FreeSync
Contrast
6.8
7.7
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,044 : 1
1,589 : 1
Brightness
7.8
8.0
Maximum Brightness
372 cd/m²
401 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
4 cd/m²
4 cd/m²
Reflections
8.9
6.2
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Glossy
Glossy
Total Reflections
1.73%
5.9%
Indirect Reflections
0.16%
0.572%
Calculated Direct Reflections
1.57%
5.33%
Black Uniformity
7.4
7.5
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
1.071%
1.022%
Horizontal Viewing Angle
6.8
6.4
Horizontal Viewing Angle Video
Horizontal Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Left
25°
26°
Color Washout From Right
28°
29°
Horizontal Hue Picture
Color Shift From Left
40°
24°
Color Shift From Right
46°
31°
Horizontal Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Left
28°
33°
Brightness Loss From Right
31°
31°
Black Level Raise From Left
60°
60°
Black Level Raise From Right
60°
60°
Gamma Shift From Left
29°
19°
Gamma Shift From Right
32°
28°
Vertical Viewing Angle
6.8
6.1
Vertical Viewing Angle Video
Vertical Chroma Picture
Color Washout From Below
25°
25°
Color Washout From Above
25°
22°
Vertical Hue Picture
Color Shift From Below
37°
24°
Color Shift From Above
41°
25°
Vertical Lightness Picture
Brightness Loss From Below
27°
28°
Brightness Loss From Above
28°
24°
Black Level Raise From Below
45°
45°
Black Level Raise From Above
45°
45°
Gamma Shift From Below
37°
22°
Gamma Shift From Above
35°
19°
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
9.7
9.9
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
1.75
1.53
Avg. Gamma
2.2
2.18
Avg. Color dE
1.21
0.72
Avg. Color Temperature
6,883.6 K
6,613 K
Color Gamut
9.4
8.3
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
99.96%
99.6%
sRGB uv
99.84%
99.08%
Adobe RGB xy
88.07%
74.38%
Adobe RGB uv
92.88%
85.14%
Gamut HDR
DCI P3 xy
99.57%
74.16%
DCI P3 uv
99.15%
79.51%
Rec. 2020 xy
72.25%
53.22%
Rec. 2020 uv
73.92%
57.96%
Flicker
10
10
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
Yes
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
No Flicker
Flicker Active Below
0%
0%
Interface
Keyboard
7.6
8.1
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
7.5
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
63 gf
64 gf
Actuation Force
37 gf
38 gf
Pre-Travel
0.76 mm
0.92 mm
Total Travel
0.85 mm
1.42 mm
Touchpad
8.8
8.7
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
9.0
9.0
Size
14.9 in² (96.0 cm²)
13.7 in² (88.6 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
8.9
6.9
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
79 dB SPL
70 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
4.5 dB
5.5 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
1.6
1.4
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
247 Hz
250 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
20 kHz
14 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
1.9 dB
3.2 dB
Webcam & Microphone
8.2
8.7
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
8.5
9.0
Resolution
720p
720p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
No
Yes
Connectivity
Ports
4.0
4.5
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
0
1
USB-C Ports
2
1
Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt 3
No
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
Surface Connect
Security Lock
No
No
Wireless Communication
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
Bluetooth
5.0
5.0
Configuration
CPU
Brand
Apple
AMD
Model
M1
Ryzen 5 3580U
Core Count
8
4
Thread Count
8
8
GPU
Brand
Apple
AMD
Model
M1
Radeon Vega 9 Graphics
Dedicated/Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
VRAM Size
N/A
N/A
RAM
Capacity
8 GB
8 GB
Modules
2 (Soldered)
2 (Soldered)
Type
LP-DDR4X
DDR4
Speed
4,266 MHz
2,400 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
256 GB
128 GB
Usable Capacity
218 GB
74 GB
Drive 1
SDRGJHI4
SK Hynix HFM128GDGTNG-87A0A
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)
8.8
4.9
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
1,721 points
478 points
CPU Multi-Thread
7,437 points
3,073 points
GPU Compute
19,359 points
11,953 points
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
9.1
6.9
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
1,497 points
945 points
Multi-Thread
6,855 points
3,905 points
Blender (3D Rendering)
6.2
4.4
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
7.3 min
9.4 min
GPU Render Time
N/A
11.2 min
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
N/A
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
6.1
3.9
Basemark Image
Overall Score
26,868
9,566
Storage Drive Performance
9.3
8.2
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
2,580.5 MB/s
409.3 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
2,487.4 MB/s
1,156.1 MB/s
Random Write Speed
51.5 MB/s
49.9 MB/s
Random Read Speed
60.5 MB/s
31.6 MB/s
Battery
8.8
6.1
Capacity
50 Wh
46 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
13.3 hrs
6.6 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
6.6 hrs
5.8 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
2.6 hrs
2.7 hrs
Charge Time
3.1 hrs
2.3 hrs
Borderlands 3
2.4
1.4
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
15 fps
9 fps
1% Low
6 fps
4 fps
0.1% Low
3 fps
2 fps
1% Low Delta
86 ms
140 ms
0.1% Low Delta
302 ms
334 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
32 fps
48 fps
Civilization VI
5.6
3.7
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
32 fps
19 fps
1% Low
23 fps
10 fps
0.1% Low
21 fps
6 fps
1% Low Delta
12 ms
50 ms
0.1% Low Delta
17 ms
117 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
71 fps
76 fps
Avg. Turn Time
11.63 s
9.21 s
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
7.7
5.5
CS:GO graph
Avg. FPS
65 fps
52 fps
1% Low
N/A
26 fps
0.1% Low
N/A
20 fps
1% Low Delta
N/A
19 ms
0.1% Low Delta
N/A
31 ms
Avg. FPS On Low
94 fps
99 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
2.0
1.9
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
13 fps
12 fps
1% Low
9 fps
3 fps
0.1% Low
5 fps
1 fps
1% Low Delta
31 ms
313 ms
0.1% Low Delta
135 ms
928 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
26 fps
23 fps
Thermals And Noise
8.3
7.3
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
28 °C (82 °F)
32 °C (89 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
47 °C (117 °F)
45 °C (113 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
N/A
25.0 dBA
Fan Noise Under Load
N/A
46.0 dBA
Power & Fan Control App
No
No
Performance Over Time
7.5
6.3
Performance Over Time Graph
Performance Over Time Image
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
N/A
66 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
13% loss
10% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
N/A
61 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
3% loss
12% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
macOS
Windows 10
Additional Software
None
Yes
Extra Features
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen
No
No
Secondary Display
No
No
Biometrics
Fingerprint Sensor
Face Recognition
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Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 (2019)
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Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) vs Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15 (2019): Main Discussion
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