If you google the perfomance tests for these two machines, you'll easily notice that the Surface Laptop offers dramatically faster speed for pretty much anything. So the Surface Laptop is a more affordable machine (depending on your region it's a dramatically more affordable machine, as Macbook Airs don't start at 1199 in Europe, for example) and it's much faster, and has a much better keyboard. Depending on your personal requirements, of course, you either have to choose between a slow, expensive computer that runs MacOS and a fast and inexpensive one running Windows. I suppose most people here will prefer working on a slower computer just for MacOS.
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Apple's MacBook Air vs. Microsoft's Surface Laptop 2
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If you google the perfomance tests for these two machines, you'll easily notice that the Surface Laptop offers dramatically faster speed for pretty much anything. So the Surface Laptop is a more affordable machine (depending on your region it's a dramatically more affordable machine, as Macbook Airs don't start at 1199 in Europe, for example) and it's much faster, and has a much better keyboard. Depending on your personal requirements, of course, you either have to choose between a slow, expensive computer that runs MacOS and a fast and inexpensive one running Windows. I suppose most people here will prefer working on a slower computer just for MacOS.
You can pick up the sweet-spot i5/256GB/8GB config of the Surface Laptop 2 for around $999/£999. Great value for money, especially compared to the rip-off Mac prices.
This sums up the Apple business model quite nicely. They had several points of difference a number of years ago - rock solid hardware and software architecture and pleasing design, whilst the competition had none of those 3. In recent years the competition has answered all 3 of those questions whilst Apple has stagnated without addressing the disparity - so now we get comparisons where the PC is actually the more desirable business machine, but the Apple is 20% more expensive without a touch screen and with half the storage capacity - but it's ok, the touch pad is slightly better.
I was pretty sure i'd been priced out of Macs since my last Macbook purchase and this just cements it really.
I was pretty sure i'd been priced out of Macs since my last Macbook purchase and this just cements it really.
Sad but true. No way im paying 400 more just to use MacOS. Windows came a long way since crappy Vista days ...
It's your typical Millennial comparison review.
All about the looks and the marketing numbers, but no actual hands-on information on the product and how well it actually performs for the consumer.
I'm surprised they didn't talk about the "smoothness" of cardboard box packaging and how great it looks all packed up. Pointless.
True, but that can be the start of a problem.
Many (like me) are hooked up into Apple's Eco-System. Having to use Windows makes me have to loose Final Cut Pro, miss the easy integration with iOS and iCloud features, etc.
But Apple HAS to stay competitive with the "Windows-based" hardware. I don't mind paying a slight premium for my 2017 iMac and 2019 MacBook Air (with 256 GB storage and 16 GB RAM), but... man... this MacBook Air is slow.
Showing others my brand new > € 1800 MacBook Air is quite embarrassing sometimes regarding speed.... HAVING to use macOS is starting to MAKE me buy worse hardware than available on the dark side...
That I will not keep on doing.
Let's not forget resale value either. I recently sold my base model, early 2014 11" Air for over $400 on eBay. You can get a great price for your used Apple gear just by cleaning it up and putting it in the box the way it came.
So why couldn’t Apple include the same quad core chip in the surface laptop in the MacBook Air? 
Surface laptop also has slightly better graphics too.
Surface laptop also has slightly better graphics too.
I returned my MBA for a Surface Laptop 2 in that sexy dark blue. First time in a decade I went with a Windows-based laptop as my primary computer. Still use an iPad Pro for much of my general internet browsing, but the Laptop 2 had some incredible deals for Black Friday and the holiday season.
Micro Center is the best retailer around.
Micro Center is the best retailer around.
The fact that it doesn't have USB-C ruins it, in my view.
Thank god I still have 2.2 years of warranty on my T480s, the competition doesn't look appealing to me right now.
You got to give it to Microsoft! Whether you like the new operating system and hardware or not, you have to admit that five short years ago the company was the laughingstock of the industry, remember the first two versions of surface? Now they are killing it !
Thank you macrumors for an objective review, I enjoyed reading it. I'd like to add that Microsoft is also tackling mid market with surface go (incredible machine for less than $500). Needless to say that they operating system runs on entry level machines as low as $150!
Competition is good folks. We should all be rooting for Microsoft, and google, and Samsung, for Apple's sake
Thank you macrumors for an objective review, I enjoyed reading it. I'd like to add that Microsoft is also tackling mid market with surface go (incredible machine for less than $500). Needless to say that they operating system runs on entry level machines as low as $150!
Competition is good folks. We should all be rooting for Microsoft, and google, and Samsung, for Apple's sake
Would it not make sense to include the software that gets shipped with lifetime updates with each machine?
One of the first things said in the 'review' was that the OS and software are not taken into consideration.
Agreed. The new Samsung S10+ and MS Surface tablets have turned my head, but all my tech is Apple. I’m heavily invested in the ecosystem so I usually end up sticking with the iPhone and iPad.
In terms of design I think Samsung phones look a lot nicer than the iPhone and have done for a few years now.
The 8th gen i5 u series in the surface laptop beats the crap out of the y series in the MacBook in multitasking. It’s not even close!
All this talk about SSD speeds is borderline useless ---- swinging comparisons.
That 'extra' ssd speed nets you virtually nothing in real world experience. The vast boost in SSD's comes from the virtually instaneous access times, which pretty much ALL SSDs give you. The read times even on a 'slower' SSD are already so fast that boosting them by 10x isn't actually very noticable in real world use.
I have several laptops, some with 'super fast' (2000+ MBs read speeds) and others that are just standard SATA ssds (400 MBs read speeds) and the difference in real world activities, boot times, launching applications, loading pictures ... is not noticable. I've NEVER gone back from my work laptop (super fast SSD) to my personal laptop (supposedly 'slow' ssd) and thought 'wow, this thing is dragging'!
Nah, I usually turn off my PC's when I'm finished working, including my Macs. Be careful though a kernel panic might be going your way.
The Microsoft Surface 2 has a physical escape key - this is a unique selling point!!!
Nadella does lots of things right while Tim Cook is all wrong. Just have a look at devOps, support of Docker, cloud services, support of open standards. Apple feels like Microsoft in Vista times ...
Nadella does lots of things right while Tim Cook is all wrong. Just have a look at devOps, support of Docker, cloud services, support of open standards. Apple feels like Microsoft in Vista times ...
An utterly absurd article. You cannot separate the hardware from the software. There are lots of metal boxes with screens and keyboards, but they are utterly useless without the operating system.
I think these days computers are so marginalized with similar parts and design that, as stated, it really comes down to OS and ecosystem preference.
Nobody can honestly say that the Macbook Air is better hardware over the Surface, they both ultimately have the same internals and these days PC makers have dramatically improved their industrial design to stop barfing out thick plastic laptop enclosures and now offer sleek metal enclosures, thanks to Apple's influence. What novelties either platorm offer in terms of touch or facial login or some other cute feature is not a primary decision maker, and arguably the MacBook Air has better "ports" in spite of Apple being user hostile with their ports, but not as much as Microsoft that refuses to include modern ports at all on their newest hardware.
I give the Surface a slight edge in industrial design as they are thinner, even by less then 2 mm. I mean ultimately the PixelBook is also incredible for industrial design at only 10mm thick but still having decent Intel processors, but with its limited software support it's not really a contender against the other two.
These days, use what you love as long as it gets the job done. If people these days are still agonizing about Mac vs PC, realize that many people still have old and largely irrelevant biases about Mac or Windows from decades ago as these days PC/Mac are not even first class citizens by these companies anymore as they push us to want to use tablets and phones as our primary digital interface. And when it comes to OS, that is also an irrelevant decision to agonize about because since Windows 10 Microsoft has hit it on the nail for security and usability.
If you live in Windows apps, use Windows, and vice versa, period. Switching because of bias is a waste of your time and money these days, at least for computers.
Nobody can honestly say that the Macbook Air is better hardware over the Surface, they both ultimately have the same internals and these days PC makers have dramatically improved their industrial design to stop barfing out thick plastic laptop enclosures and now offer sleek metal enclosures, thanks to Apple's influence. What novelties either platorm offer in terms of touch or facial login or some other cute feature is not a primary decision maker, and arguably the MacBook Air has better "ports" in spite of Apple being user hostile with their ports, but not as much as Microsoft that refuses to include modern ports at all on their newest hardware.
I give the Surface a slight edge in industrial design as they are thinner, even by less then 2 mm. I mean ultimately the PixelBook is also incredible for industrial design at only 10mm thick but still having decent Intel processors, but with its limited software support it's not really a contender against the other two.
These days, use what you love as long as it gets the job done. If people these days are still agonizing about Mac vs PC, realize that many people still have old and largely irrelevant biases about Mac or Windows from decades ago as these days PC/Mac are not even first class citizens by these companies anymore as they push us to want to use tablets and phones as our primary digital interface. And when it comes to OS, that is also an irrelevant decision to agonize about because since Windows 10 Microsoft has hit it on the nail for security and usability.
If you live in Windows apps, use Windows, and vice versa, period. Switching because of bias is a waste of your time and money these days, at least for computers.
Right. I used a trackpad on a Surface machine once, it was HORRENDOUS. A big turn off for me with the Surface.