I always see people online claiming the MacBook Air is the best deal in laptop computing, and I can't help but scoff at such claims. There are way better laptops out there for the money, especially during Amazon Prime Day, which currently has the (in my opinion) better Surface Laptop 7 on sale for just $899, but only for less than 24 hours as the last day of Amazon Prime Day sales comes to a close.
To compare, the MacBook Air on sale is $1,049. That's $150 more expensive for a laptop that's worse in several noticable ways. Compared to the Surface Laptop 7, the MacBook Air has a way worse screen and biometrics, and doesn't even support touch. The Surface Laptop 7 is hands-down the better choice, espe
The best laptop. Period.
In my Surface Laptop 7 review from last year, I called it the best laptop, period. I stand by that claim, so much so I'm actually still using one as my daily driver a whole year later. That means something when I have hundreds of laptops come in to review a year, and I still keep coming back to the Surface Laptop 7.
And compared to the MacBook Air, it's just no competition. For $150 less, you're getting a better 120Hz touchscreen display that's also bigger than what you get on the MacBook Air. It's a great panel, one that makes the MacBook Air's display seem antiquated. Plus, it also doesn't have an ugly notch embedded at the top center of the screen.
The Surface Laptop 7 also has the best keyboard and trackpad in the business. I think they're better than the MacBook Air's, but that's a subjective opinion. What I can say is the Surface Laptop 7's keyboard is tactile and quiet and is so satisfying to type on. The trackpad is the same, being haptic meaning it uses motors underneath the pad to simulate the sensation of a click, just like the MacBook Air.
We're also getting more ports on the Surface Laptop 7, one USB-A and two USB-C, as well as a 3.5mm audio jack and proprietary magnetic charge port. The MacBook Air doesn't have any USB-A ports.
When it comes to RAM and storage, the Surface Laptop 7 has the MacBook Air beat too. While both come with the same 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD storage, the Surface Laptop 7 actually has upgradable storage, meaning you can splash out on a 1TB SSD from Amazon somewhere down the line and easily upgrade your storage. You can't do that on the MacBook Air.
The only area where the MacBook Air has the Surface Laptop 7 beat is in performance, mainly because of the Apple M4 chip being so darn good. Now, that doesn't make the Snapdragon X Plus in the Surface Laptop 7 bad, it just means the MacBook Air might be a bit faster at rendering videos.
In real world usage, these two laptops perform exactly the same. They multitask well, handle productivity-based workflows like a champ, deal with web browsing, email, and media consumption with no sweat, and even edit photos and light video. You won't be disappointed with the performance on Surface Laptop 7.
That remains true in the battery department too. In fact, I believe the Surface Laptop 7 is capable of beating the MacBook Air in synthetic battery benchmark tests, but that doesn't matter ultimately. Both of these laptops will get you through a working day with no battery anxiety.
In regard to biometrics, the MacBook Air has a fingerprint reader, whereas the Surface Laptop 7 has the superior face unlock, just like an iPhone!
So, when it comes down to it, these laptops are almost exactly the same, right down to their design and feel in hand. But the Surface Laptop 7 has a much better display, more ports, and better biometrics, all for $150 less. I know what laptop I'm buying in the last 24 hours of Prime Day!
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