Microsoft has introduced new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices that it claims can directly compete with (and surpass) Apple's MacBook Air. However, while its performance is certainly impressive, there is one notable caveat that suggests the comparison with the MacBook Air is not entirely accurate.
Yesterday, Microsoft hosted a special show for its new laptops, which come equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips based on the Arm architecture. This is the same architecture that Apple's latest M3 chips are based on and is known for its ability to combine blistering performance with ice-cold efficiency.
In tests seen by The Verge, Microsoft's laptops, called PC Copilot+, outperformed the MacBook Air M3 in a series of benchmark tests that measured chip performance. Also in terms of battery life, Microsoft apparently came out on top, achieving just under 17 hours in a web browsing test and more than 20 hours of video playback.
Microsoft also tested the MacBook Air in these areas, recording 15 hours and 25 minutes on the former and 17 hours and 45 minutes on the latter, putting Microsoft's device comfortably ahead.
The arm advantage
So is this the end of the MacBook Air's reign? Well, not entirely. As Ars Technica noted, Microsoft says its new laptops come with fans, something the MacBook Air doesn't have.
That means Microsoft has a clear advantage in terms of cooling, which will always help a chip gain additional performance. The MacBook Air can achieve its remarkable performance while remaining completely silent, and while the Surface's performance is undoubtedly incredibly impressive, equipping it with a set of fans means it's always likely to outperform Apple's fanless laptops.
Perhaps a more apt comparison is with Intel-based Microsoft Surface laptops prior to the latest Snapdragon X Elite models. The Verge notes that the 2022 Intel-based Surface Laptop 5 offered eight hours and 38 minutes in a web browsing battery test, just half of what the latest Surface can offer now.
If you now have an Intel-based Surface laptop and are thinking about upgrading to the Snapdragon model, you'll probably notice a considerable improvement in performance and battery life. Microsoft also says it has radically improved app support for its Arm-based chips, with a new emulator called Prism that Microsoft says is as good as Apple's Rosetta 2 for running non-native apps.
The new Surface Laptop starts at $1,000 for a 13-inch model with a Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16GB of memory, 256GB of storage, and an IPS LCD screen. Meanwhile, the Surface Pro starts at $1,049 for an LCD display or $1,549 for an OLED display. Its base model offers 16 GB of memory and 256 GB or 512 GB of storage, depending on the screen option chosen.
