Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) vs Apple MacBook Air 15 (M4, 2025)
Which Laptop Is Better?
Products
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024)
Apple MacBook Air 15 (M4, 2025)
Tested using Methodology v0.9
Updated Nov 27, 2025 02:04 PM
SEE PRICE
BestBuy.com
Tested using Methodology v0.8.3
Updated Nov 25, 2025 01:48 PM
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Size
15"
Operating System
Windows 11
Size
15.3"
Operating System
macOS
Our Verdict
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024)
Apple MacBook Air 15 (M4, 2025)
The Apple MacBook Air 15 (M4, 2025) and the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) are premium ultraportables offering class-leading user experiences. They both come with excellent haptic touchpads and bright displays. The typing experience isn't as good on the Air (it has very short key travel combined with a rigid deck that can feel harsh), while the speakers aren't quite as good on the Surface. Regarding performance, both are solid and are capable of performing some intensive tasks. App compatibility is much better on the Air; the Snapdragon SoC still faces compatibility issues on Windows, so you should ensure all your apps are compatible before buying one. However, the Surface is the better offering if you prioritize battery life. It lasts almost 18 hours on a single charge for general productivity tasks (while the Air is good for about 12).
Variants
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZYT-00026) (Black - Snapdragon X Elite/16GB/1TB)
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZHH-00026) (Black - Snapdragon X Elite/16GB/512GB)
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZHQ-00026) (Black - Snapdragon X Elite/16GB/512GB)
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZHI-00001) (Black - Snapdragon X Elite/32GB/1TB)
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZYT-00001) (Platinum - Snapdragon X Elite/16GB/1TB)
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZYU-00001) (Platinum - Snapdragon X Elite/16GB/1TB)
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZHG-00001) (Platinum - Snapdragon X Elite/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZHQ-00001) (Platinum - Snapdragon X Elite/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZHP-00001) (Platinum - Snapdragon X Elite/16GB/256GB)
- Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (ZHH-00001) (Platinum - Snapdragon X Elite/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MW1L3LL/A) (Midnight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MW1M3LL/A) (Midnight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MC6L4LL/A) (Midnight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/24GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MW1G3LL/A) (Silver - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MW1H3LL/A) (Silver - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MC6J4LL/A) (Silver - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/24GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MC7A4LL/A) (Sky Blue - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MC7C4LL/A) (Sky Blue - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MC7D4LL/A) (Sky Blue - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/24GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MW1J3LL/A) (Starlight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/256GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MW1K3LL/A) (Starlight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/16GB/512GB)
- MacBook Air 15 (MC6K4LL/A) (Starlight - M4 (10-core CPU/10-core GPU)/24GB/512GB)
Main Differences for
School
School
Threshold
School
8.7
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°
135°
Stability
Good
Good
One Finger Lift
Yes
Yes
Portability
8.3
8.7
Dimensions Photo
Size
15"
15.3"
Thickness
0.7" (1.8 cm)
0.6" (1.4 cm)
Width
13.0" (33.1 cm)
13.4" (34.0 cm)
Depth
9.4" (24.0 cm)
9.3" (23.7 cm)
Volume
87.3 in³ (1,429.9 cm³)
68.8 in³ (1,128.1 cm³)
Weight
3.6 lbs (1.6 kg)
3.3 lbs (1.5 kg)
Charger Size
7.1 in³ (116.0 cm³)
4.2 in³ (68.6 cm³)
Charger Weight
0.7 lbs (0.3 kg)
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
Serviceability
5.8
3.5
Internals Photo
Ease Of Access
7.5
6.0
RAM Slots
0
0
Storage Slots
1
0
Replaceable Battery
Yes
Yes
Replaceable Wireless Adapter
No
No
In The Box
In The Box Photo
Display
Screen Specs
Display Photo
Resolution
2496 x 1664
2880 x 1864
Aspect Ratio
3:2
16:10
Pixel Density
200 PPI
224 PPI
Panel Type
IPS
IPS
Touch Screen
Yes
No
Screen-To-Body Ratio
88%
87%
Refresh Rate
8.7
5.9
Motion Blur
Refresh Rate
120 Hz
60 Hz
Variable Refresh Rate
Dynamic Refresh Rate
No
Contrast
7.5
7.4
Contrast Photo
Native Contrast
1,404 : 1
1,348 : 1
Brightness
9.1
8.4
Maximum Brightness
601 cd/m²
448 cd/m²
Minimum Brightness
3 cd/m²
2 cd/m²
Reflections
6.3
9.0
Reflections Photo Off
Reflections Photo Max
Screen Finish
Glossy
Glossy
Total Reflections
5.79%
1.61%
Indirect Reflections
0.53%
0.29%
Calculated Direct Reflections
5.26%
1.31%
Black Uniformity
8.0
7.7
Black Uniformity Photo
Uniformity (Std. Dev.)
0.864%
0.924%
Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
8.7
9.9
White Balance Screencap
Gamma Curve Screencap
Color Screencap
Avg. White Balance dE
2.81
1.51
Avg. Gamma
2.14
2.23
Avg. Color dE
1.58
0.95
Avg. Color Temperature
6,411.9 K
6,755 K
Color Gamut
8.3
9.4
Gamut SDR
sRGB xy
98.35%
99.99%
sRGB uv
98.9%
99.98%
Adobe RGB xy
72.95%
87.86%
Adobe RGB uv
84.98%
93.21%
Gamut HDR
DCI-P3 xy
73.15%
99.47%
DCI-P3 uv
79.9%
99.5%
Rec. 2020 xy
52.48%
72.17%
Rec. 2020 uv
58.23%
73.79%
Flicker
10
9.0
Flicker Graph
Flicker-Free
Yes
No
Flicker Frequency
No Flicker
> 1000Hz
Flicker Active Below
0%
100%
Interface
Keyboard
8.5
8.0
Keyboard Photo
Typing Quality
8.5
8.0
Numpad
No
No
Backlighting
Adjustable
Adjustable
Key Switch Actuation Graph
Operating Force
64 gf
61 gf
Actuation Force
31 gf
37 gf
Pre-Travel
0.96 mm
0.80 mm
Total Travel
1.37 mm
0.90 mm
Touchpad
8.8
9.6
Touchpad Photo
Tracking Quality
9.0
9.5
Size
14.9 in² (96.0 cm²)
21.4 in² (138.0 cm²)
Material
Glass
Glass
Dedicated Buttons
No
No
Speakers
8.7
8.6
Frequency Response Plot
Max Volume
82 dB SPL
77 dB SPL
Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
5.0 dB
4.4 dB
Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB)
-1.4
1.8
Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.)
334 Hz
138 Hz
Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.)
16 kHz
16 kHz
Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol.
0.7 dB
1.7 dB
Webcam & Microphone
8.7
8.7
Webcam Video Sample
Video Quality
9.0
9.0
Resolution
1080p
1080p
Position
Top Center
Top Center
Privacy Cover
No
No
Face Unlock
Yes
No
Connectivity
Ports
6.5
5.0
Ports Photo
USB-A Ports
1
0
USB-C Ports
2
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
MicroSD UHS 2
No
Ethernet
No
No
Proprietary Port
Surface Connect
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
Qualcomm
Apple
Model
Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100
M4
Core Count
12
10
Thread Count
12
10
GPU
Brand
Qualcomm
Apple
Model
Adreno GPU X1E80100
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
1 (Soldered)
Unknown
Type
LP-DDR5x
LP-DDR5x
Speed
8,448 MHz
7,500 MHz
Storage
Advertised Capacity
512 GB
256 GB
Usable Capacity
452 GB
211 GB
Drive 1
WD SDDPTQD-512G-1124
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)
9.5
Geekbench Image
CPU Single-Thread
2,638 points
CPU Multi-Thread
12,987 points
GPU Compute
40,460 points
CPU/RAM Performance
7.8
Cinebench 2024 - Single Core
126 points
Cinebench 2024 - Multi Core
939 points
Geekbench 6 - Single Core
2,778
Geekbench 6 - Multi Core
14,239
Blender - CPU (Avg)
90 samples/min
PassMark PT - CPU Mark
26,637
PassMark PT - Memory Mark
4,301
PassMark PT - Memory Mark (Android)
N/A
Mozilla Kraken
398 ms
Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
9.9
Cinebench R23 Photo
Single-Thread
2,175 points
Multi-Thread
12,004 points
Low Tier Graphics
7.4
Geekbench 6 - GPU Compute
27,488
Basemark Web 3.0
1,746
PassMark PT - 2D Mark
424
PassMark PT - 2D Mark (Android)
N/A
PassMark PT - 3D Mark
3,519
PassMark PT - 3D Mark (Android)
N/A
Novabench 5 - GPU
164.0
mprep - Stress My GPU
23,046
Blender (3D Rendering)
9.2
Blender Image
CPU Render Time
3.0 min
GPU Render Time
0.5 min
GPU Render Time (Optix)
N/A
High Tier Graphics
4.5
3DMark - Steel Nomad (DX12)
499
3DMark - Steel Nomad (Vulkan/Metal)
447
Basemark GPU (DX12)
30,820
Basemark GPU (Vulkan/Metal)
N/A
GFXBench - High Level Test (Vulkan/Metal)
3,637 Frames
Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
7.5
Basemark Image
Overall Score
46,774
Professional 3D (GPU Accelerated)
0.0
Blender - GPU (Avg)
N/A
Cinebench 2024 - GPU
N/A
CPU-Intensive Game Performance
4.3
Civilization VII - AI
N/A
Civilization VII - Graphics (Avg)
N/A
Civilization VII - Graphics (1% Low)
N/A
Total War: Warhammer III (Avg)
14.5 fps
Baldur's Gate 3 (Avg)
21.9 fps
Baldur's Gate 3 (1% Low)
14.0 fps
Previous Methodology Score
4.0
Previous Methodology Score Converted
3.5
GPU-Intensive Game Performance
2.5
Cyberpunk 2077 (Avg)
12.3 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (Min)
9.9 fps
Assassin's Creed Shadows (Avg)
N/A
Assassin's Creed Shadows (1% Low)
N/A
GTA V (Avg)
26.4 fps
GTA V (1% Low)
17.8 fps
Black Myth: Wukong (Avg)
5 fps
Black Myth: Wukong (5% Low)
5 fps
Resident Evil 4 (Avg)
12.1 fps
Resident Evil 4 (1% Low)
9.7 fps
Previous Methodology Score
3.4
Previous Methodology Score Converted
1.3
Borderlands 3
4.2
Borderlands 3 Graph
Avg. FPS
30 fps
1% Low
15 fps
0.1% Low
8 fps
1% Low Delta
32 ms
0.1% Low Delta
94 ms
Avg. FPS On Very Low
51 fps
Ray Tracing Performance
0.0
Cyberpunk 2077 (Avg)
N/A
Cyberpunk 2077 (Min)
N/A
Assassin's Creed Shadows (Avg)
N/A
Assassin's Creed Shadows (1% Low)
N/A
Black Myth: Wukong (Avg)
N/A
Black Myth: Wukong (5% Low)
N/A
Civilization VI
6.4
Civilization VI Graph
Avg. FPS
43 fps
1% Low
29 fps
0.1% Low
26 fps
1% Low Delta
11 ms
0.1% Low Delta
15 ms
Avg. FPS On Minimum
80 fps
Avg. Turn Time
6.97 s
Storage Drive Performance
9.0
9.3
Storage Performance Image
Sequential Write Speed
1,363.6 MB/s
2,802.5 MB/s
Sequential Read Speed
2,680.7 MB/s
3,192.6 MB/s
Random Write Speed
78.0 MB/s
46.5 MB/s
Random Read Speed
39.6 MB/s
62.3 MB/s
Battery
9.7
8.8
Capacity
66 Wh
67 Wh
Battery Life (Web Browsing)
17.0 hrs
11.6 hrs
Battery Life (Video Playback)
16.4 hrs
12.9 hrs
Battery Life (Gaming)
3.5 hrs
3.2 hrs
Charge Time
2.1 hrs
3.0 hrs
Counter-Strike 2
0.0
CS2 Graph
Avg. FPS
N/A
1% Low
N/A
0.1% Low
N/A
1% Low Delta
N/A
0.1% Low Delta
N/A
Avg. FPS On Low
N/A
Thermals And Noise
7.4
8.2
Keyboard Temps Picture
Keyboard Temp While Idle
29 °C (84 °F)
25 °C (77 °F)
Keyboard Temp Under Load
49 °C (121 °F)
49 °C (120 °F)
Fan Noise While Idle
25.0 dBA
N/A
Fan Noise Under Load
39.5 dBA
N/A
Power & Fan Control App
No
No
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
5.3
SOTTR Graph
Avg. FPS
39 fps
1% Low
24 fps
0.1% Low
15 fps
1% Low Delta
16 ms
0.1% Low Delta
41 ms
Avg. FPS On Lowest
63 fps
Performance Over Time
0.0
7.3
Performance Over Time Graph
CPU Temp (Cinebench)
N/A
87 °C
CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench)
N/A
4% loss
GPU Temp (Heaven)
N/A
84 °C
GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven)
N/A
13% loss
Additional Features And Software
Software
Operating System
Windows 11
macOS
Additional Software
None
None
Extra Features
Biometrics
Face Recognition
Fingerprint Sensor
RGB Illumination
No
No
Touch Pen Support
No Stylus Support
No Stylus Support
Secondary Display
No
No
To access
and
Become an Insider
unlimited full product reviews,
product prices
other exclusive site features
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024)
Apple MacBook Air 15 (M4, 2025)
Comments
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) vs Apple MacBook Air 15 (M4, 2025): Main Discussion
What do you think of these products? Let us know below.
Looking for a personalized buying advice from the RTINGS.com experts? Insiders have direct access to buying advice on our insider forum.