ROG Mothership GZ700 vs. M1 MacBook Air: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between ROG Mothership GZ700 and M1 MacBook Air specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

ROG Mothership GZ700 Pros

Reasons that ROG Mothership GZ700 is better than M1 MacBook Air.

Supports larger memory

ROG Mothership GZ700 supports a larger memory capacity than the M1 MacBook Air. It supports up to 64GB versus 16GB of system memory on the M1 MacBook Air.

Max system memory size
ROG Mothership GZ700
64 GB
M1 MacBook Air
16 GB
Upgradable memory

ROG Mothership GZ700 comes with two SODIMM slots that allow you to replace or upgrade when needed. On the flip side, you can't upgrade RAM on the M1 MacBook Air since it has onboard memory.

MemoryROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
Slots
x2
Onboard
TypeDDR4Unified
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 8GB GDDR6 up to 200W vs. integrated

Upgradable storage

ROG Mothership GZ700 comes with three M.2 slots that you can easily upgrade and install additional SSDs to expand the storage on the device.

SlotsROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
M.2
Yes x3
Onboard
30% larger display

ROG Mothership GZ700 has a 17.3-inch screen size 30% larger than the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Air.

Display size
ROG Mothership GZ700
17.3-inch
M1 MacBook Air
13.3-inch

M1 MacBook Air Pros

Reasons that M1 MacBook Air is better than ROG Mothership GZ700.

Newer manufacturing

2020 vs. 2019

Slightly faster CPU performance

Apple M1 (8C, 8G) inside M1 MacBook Air has a 13% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i9-9980HK inside ROG Mothership GZ700.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
M1 MacBook Air - Apple M1 (8C, 7G)
7,414
M1 MacBook Air - Apple M1 (8C, 8G)
7,414
ROG Mothership GZ700 - Intel Core i9-9980HK
6,504
About 74% lighter

M1 MacBook Air weighed 2.8 pounds, 74% lighter than the 10.58 pounds ROG Mothership GZ700.

WeightROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
Pound
10.58 lbs.
2.8 lbs.
Kilogram
4.80 kg
1.27 kg

Prices

Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.

ROG Mothership GZ700 Price
Puccy 2 Pack Touch Pad Film Protector, compatible with ASUS ROG Mothership GZ700 / gz700gx 17.3" TPU TouchPad Trackpad Guard ( Not Tempered Glass Screen Protectors ) new version
Puccy 2 Pack Touch Pad Film Protector, compatible with ASUS ROG Mothership GZ700 / gz700gx 17.3" TPU TouchPad Trackpad Guard ( Not Tempered Glass Screen Protectors ) new version
By Puccy
$12.98
Puccy Tempered Glass Screen Protector Film, compatible with ASUS ROG Mothership GZ700 / gz700gx 17.3" (Active Area Cover Only) Protective Protectors Guard
Puccy Tempered Glass Screen Protector Film, compatible with ASUS ROG Mothership GZ700 / gz700gx 17.3" (Active Area Cover Only) Protective Protectors Guard
By Puccy
$40.98
Vaxson 2-Pack Protector Film, compatible with ASUS ROG Mothership GZ700 / gz700gx 17.3" Trackpad Touchpad TPU Sticker Skin [ Not Screen Protectors ]
Vaxson 2-Pack Protector Film, compatible with ASUS ROG Mothership GZ700 / gz700gx 17.3" Trackpad Touchpad TPU Sticker Skin [ Not Screen Protectors ]
By Vaxson
$12.99
M1 MacBook Air Price
Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed)
Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$648.14
Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed)
Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$609.99
Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed)
Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$779.99

Availability

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
Released20192020
Release Date-Announced on November 10th, 2020
Pricing-
  • $999
    Apple M1 Chip (7 cores GPU) | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
  • $1,249
    Apple M1 Chip (8 cores GPU) | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
Generations-

Exterior

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
Dimensions16.4” x 12.5” x 1.17” (410 X 320 X 29.9 mm)
  • Width: 11.97 inches (30.41 cm)
  • Depth: 8.36 inches (21.24 cm)
  • Height: 0.16–0.63 inch (0.41–1.61 cm)
Weight10.58 lbs (4.8 kg)Starting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg)
Colors
Midnight Black
Gold Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • The detachable keyboard stays wired or goes wireless
  • Backlit Chiclet Keyboard
  • N-key rollover
  • Per key RGB
  • Aura Sync
  • 2.5mm travel distance
  • 0.3mm keycap curve
Backlit Magic Keyboard with:
  • 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys in an inverted-T arrangement
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and pressure-sensing capabilities; enables Force clicks, accelerators, pressure-sensitive drawing, and Multi-Touch gestures

Display

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
Size17.3 Inches13.3 Inches
Info
  • 17.3-inch 4K UHD (3840 x 2160), IPS-level panel, 60Hz, 25ms, 100% Adobe RGB, G-SYNC®
  • 17.3-inch Full HD (1920x1080) IPS-level panel, 144Hz, 3ms, 100% sRGB, G-SYNC®
Retina display
  • 13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2560-by-1600 native resolution at 227 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors
  • Supported scaled resolutions:
    • 1680 by 1050
    • 1440 by 900
    • 1024 by 640
  • 16:10 aspect ratio
  • 400 nits brightness
  • Supports wide color (P3)
  • True Tone technology

Ports

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C / Thunderbolt 3
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C with DisplayPort™ 1.4
  • 3 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type A / USB charger +
  • 1 x HDMI 2.0
  • 1 x 3.5mm headphone and microphone combo jack
  • 1 x 3.5mm microphone jack
  • 1 x RJ-45 jack
  • 1 x SD card reader
  • 1 x Kensington lock
M1 MacBook Air Ports
Image Source: Apple
Left (2)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, USB 4.0 (40 Gbps), Charging, DisplayPort
Right (1)
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone

Internal Specs

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
Processor
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  1. Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores)
    8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W
  2. Apple M1
    8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
  1. Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores)
    Apple M1 iGPU
    7 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
  2. Apple M1
    Apple M1 iGPU
    8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
MemoryUp to 64GB Dual Channel 2666MHz DDR4 SDRAM
2 x SODIMM slots.
  • 8GB
    unified memory
  • Configurable to 16GB
Discrete GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2080
(Boost Clock: 1880MHz, 200W), 8GB GDDR6 VRAM.
-
Storage3 x M.2 NVMe PCIE 3.0 x4 512GB SSD
Supports RAID-0
  • 256GB 512GB
    SSD
  • Configurable to 1TB or 2TB

Connectivity

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
Wi-FiIntel ® Wi-Fi 6 with Gig+ performance (802.11ax)
  • 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible
BluetoothBluetooth 5.0Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology
Ethernet Gigabit LAN
Speed: 10/100/1000 Mbps.
-

Battery

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
Size-49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life-
  • Up to 15 hours wireless web
  • Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback
Power Supply2 x 280W power adapters30W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
OS
  • Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 10 Pro
Shipped with macOS Big Sur
Built-in Apps
Armoury Crate GameFirst VI GameVisual Sonic Studio III Aura Creator
Photos iMovie GarageBand Pages Numbers Keynote Siri Safari Mail FaceTime Messages Maps News Stocks Home Voice Memos Notes Calendar Contacts Reminders Photo Booth Preview Music Podcasts TV Books App Store Time Machine Find My QuickTime Player

Camera & Audio

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
CameraFront-facing camera
720p (1280 x 720 HD) camera.
720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio
  • 4x4W speakers with Smart AMP technology
  • Array Microphone
  • Stereo speakers
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Three-mic array with directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
Sensors-
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
Security-
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Apple T2 Security Chip
In the box-
  • MacBook Air
  • 30W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
Warranty-Your MacBook Air comes with 90 days of complimentary technical support and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase AppleCare+ to extend your coverage to three years from your AppleCare+ purchase date and add up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other repairable damage, plus applicable tax.
More-Video Support
  • Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:
    • One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz
  • Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
    • Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
    • VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output supported using adapters (sold separately)

Key Features

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air
At Glance
Released in
2019
16:9 4K
17.3”
2160p 60Hz
Weight
10.58 lb
4.80 kg
Powered By
Intel Core i9-9980HK
8C/16T, 2.40 → 5.00 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,114
Single Core
Geekbench 5
6,504
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
Upgradable up to
64GB
2666 MHz DDR4
Nvidia GeForce
RTX 2080
8GB GDDR6 up to 200W
Released in Late
2020
16:10 QHD
13.3”
1600p 60Hz
Weight
2.8 lb
1.27 kg
Up to
Apple M1 (8C, 8G)
8C/8T, 3.20 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,705
Single Core
Geekbench 5
7,414
Multi-Core
With integrated
Apple M1 iGPU
8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
Unified Memory
M1 MacBook Air Ports
Starting at
$999
M1 (7 GPU Cores), 8GB, 256GB SSD
Up to
18 Hours
Battery Life
Built-in
Touch ID
With T2 Chip
Dual
USB-C
USB4 & Thunderbolt 3
Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth 5.0

Comparison Summary

ROG Mothership GZ700 vs. M1 MacBook Air

ASUS has released the ROG Mothership GZ700, a 17.3-inch machine, in 2019. It is powered by an octa-core Intel Core i9-9980HK with a boost clock speed up to 5.00 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 with 8GB GDDR6 up to 200W.

On the other hand, we have the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Air was introduced by Apple about a year later in late-2020. It comes with up to an octa-core Apple M1 (8C, 8G). It has an integrated graphics option up to Apple M1 iGPU (8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz).

Geekbench 5 Single Core

ROG Mothership GZ7001
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK1,11465.34%
M1 MacBook Air1
Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores)1,705100.00%
2
Apple M11,705100.00%
01,705

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

ROG Mothership GZ7001
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK6,50487.73%
M1 MacBook Air1
Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores)7,414100.00%
2
Apple M17,414100.00%
07,414

The ROG Mothership GZ700 has a 17.3-inch display which is considerably larger than the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Air. In addition, the ROG Mothership GZ700 weighs 10.58 lbs. about 277% heavier than the 2.8 lbs. M1 MacBook Air. Moreover, measured at 16.14” x 12.5” x 1.17”, the ROG Mothership GZ700 is much bulkier than the M1 MacBook Air at 11.97” x 8.36” x 0.63”.

ROG Mothership GZ700M1 MacBook Air

Moving over to upgradability, ASUS claims that the ROG Mothership GZ700 supports up to 64GB 2666 MHz DDR4 memory that you can upgrade with two memory module slots on the motherboard. It also comes with three M.2 slots that users can easily upgrade and install additional SSDs to expand the storage on the device.

For M1 MacBook Air, it supports up to 16GB Unified memory. Unlike ROG Mothership GZ700, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. Furthermore, it also has an integrated storage module and has no M.2 slots for replacement.

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