ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) vs. MacBook Air 13” 2018: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) and MacBook Air 13” 2018 specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) Pros

Reasons that ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) is better than MacBook Air 13” 2018.

Newer manufacturing

2019 vs. 2018

Much faster CPU performance

Intel Core i9-9880H inside ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) has a 319% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i5-8210Y inside MacBook Air 13” 2018.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) - Intel Core i9-9880H
6,100
ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) - Intel Core i7-9750H
4,880
ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) - Intel Core i5-9300H
3,308
MacBook Air 13” 2018 - Intel Core i5-8210Y
1,455
Supports larger memory

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) supports a larger memory capacity than the MacBook Air 13” 2018. It supports up to 32GB versus 16GB of system memory on the MacBook Air 13” 2018.

Max system memory size
ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)
32 GB
MacBook Air 13” 2018
16 GB
Supports faster memory

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) supports a faster memory speed than the MacBook Air 13” 2018. It supports up to 2666MHz versus 2133MHz of system memory on the MacBook Air 13” 2018.

Memory type and speed
ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) - DDR4
2,666 MHz
MacBook Air 13” 2018 - LPDDR3
2,133 MHz
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 8GB GDDR6 vs. integrated

17% larger display

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) has a 15.6-inch screen size 17% larger than the 13.3-inch MacBook Air 13” 2018.

Display size
ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)
15.6-inch
MacBook Air 13” 2018
13.3-inch

MacBook Air 13” 2018 Pros

Reasons that MacBook Air 13” 2018 is better than ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch).

About 52% lighter

MacBook Air 13” 2018 weighed 2.75 pounds, 52% lighter than the 5.66 pounds ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch).

WeightROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
Pound
5.66 lbs.
2.75 lbs.
Kilogram
2.57 kg
1.25 kg

Prices

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

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) Price
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16 (2024) Gaming Laptop, 16” Nebula HDR 16:10 QHD 240Hz/3ms, 1100 nits, Mini LED Display, GeForce RTX 4080, Intel Core i9-14900HX, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Pro, G634JZR-XS96
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16 (2024) Gaming Laptop, 16” Nebula HDR 16:10 QHD 240Hz/3ms, 1100 nits, Mini LED Display, GeForce RTX 4080, Intel Core i9-14900HX, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD, Windows 11 Pro, G634JZR-XS96
By ASUS
$2,899.00
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024) Gaming Laptop, 18” Nebula HDR 16:10 QHD 240Hz/3ms, GeForce RTX™ 4090, Intel® Core™ i9-14900HX, 32GB DDR5-5600, 2TB PCIe SSD, Wi-Fi 6E, Windows 11 Pro, G834JYR-XS97
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 (2024) Gaming Laptop, 18” Nebula HDR 16:10 QHD 240Hz/3ms, GeForce RTX™ 4090, Intel® Core™ i9-14900HX, 32GB DDR5-5600, 2TB PCIe SSD, Wi-Fi 6E, Windows 11 Pro, G834JYR-XS97
By ASUS
$3,898.99
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D G733PYV-XH97 - AMD Ryzen 9-7945HX / up to 5.4 GHz - Win 11 Pro - GeForce RTX 4090-32 GB RAM - 2 TB SSD Off Black
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 X3D G733PYV-XH97 - AMD Ryzen 9-7945HX / up to 5.4 GHz - Win 11 Pro - GeForce RTX 4090-32 GB RAM - 2 TB SSD Off Black
By ASUS
$3,699.00
MacBook Air 13” 2018 Price
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch Retina display, 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 128GB) - Space Gray (Renewed)
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch Retina display, 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 128GB) - Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$370.28
2018 Apple MacBook Air with 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
2018 Apple MacBook Air with 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
By Apple
$378.99
Apple 13in MacBook Air (2017 Newest Version) 1.8GHz Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD (Renewed)
Apple 13in MacBook Air (2017 Newest Version) 1.8GHz Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD (Renewed)
By Apple
$239.00
$255.00 6% OFF

Availability

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
Released20192018
Release Date-
  • Available on October 30, 2018
Pricing-
  • $1,199
    Intel Core i5 8210Y | 8GB RAM | 128GB SSD
  • $1,399
    Intel Core i5 8210Y | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
Generations-

Exterior

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
Dimensions14.17” x 10.82” x 0.98” (360 x 275 x 24.9 mm)11.97” x 8.36” x 0.16 - 0.61” (304.1 mm x  212.4 mm x 4.1 – 15.6 mm)
Weight5.66 lbs (2.57 kg)Starting at 2.75 pounds (1.25 kg)
Colors
Midnight Black
Gold Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Backlit chiclet keyboard
  • N-key rollover
  • Per-Key RGB
  • 4 Zone RGB
  • Aura Sync
  • Hotkeys (Volume down, volume up, mute, HyperFan, Armoury Crate)
Backlit Magic Keyboard with:
  • 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) individual LED-backlit keys, including 12 function keys and 4 arrow keys
  • 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 Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
Size15.6 Inches13.3 Inches
Info
  • 15.6-inch Full HD (1920x1080) IPS-level panel, 240Hz, 3ms, 100% sRGB
  • 15.6-inch Full HD (1920x1080) IPS-level panel, 144Hz, 3ms, 100% sRGB
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

Ports

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) Ports
Image Source: ASUS
  • 1 X USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C
    support DisplayPort™
  • 3 x USB3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
  • 1 x HDMI
    (HDMI 2.0b support 4K HDR), HDCP SPEC 2.2
  • 1 x 3.5mm Audio Jack/ 1 x Audio Jack Mic-in (Combo Jack)
  • 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack
  • 1 x Keystone
Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB‑C) ports with support for:
  • Charging
  • DisplayPort
  • Thunderbolt (up to 40Gb/s)
  • USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)

Internal Specs

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
Processor
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.40 → 4.10 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 45W
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    6 cores, 12 threads, 2.60 → 4.50 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 45W
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  1. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8210Y
    2 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 3.60 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 7W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1050 MHz
  2. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
  3. 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
  1. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8210Y
    Intel® UHD Graphics 617
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
MemoryUp to 32GB DDR4 2666MHz SDRAM
8GB
Configurable to 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory
Discrete Graphics
ROG Strix SCAR III G531GU
  • NVIDIA® GeForce GTX™ 1660 Ti
    6GB GDDR6 VRAM.
ROG Strix SCAR III G531GV
  • NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060
    6GB GDDR6 VRAM.
ROG Strix SCAR III G531GW
  • NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2070
    8GB GDDR6 VRAM.
Support for Thunderbolt 3–enabled external graphics processors (eGPUs)
Storage
  • 128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB
    M.2 NVMe PCIE 3.0 SSD
  • 1TB
    SSHD
128GB 256GB
Configurable to 512GB or 1TB SSD

Connectivity

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
Wi-FiIntel® 802.11ac (2x2) Gigabit Wi-Fi support Rangeboost technology
  • 802.11ac Wi‑Fi wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible
BluetoothBluetooth 5.0Bluetooth 4.2 wireless technology
Ethernet Gigabit LAN
Speed: 10/100/1000 Mbps.
-

Battery

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
Size-50.3 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life-
  • Up to 12 hours wireless web
  • Up to 13 hours Apple TV app video playback
  • Up to 30 days of standby time
Power Supply
  • 230W power adapter
  • 280W power adapter
    With Intel Core i9 models only.
30W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
OS
  • Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 10 Pro
Shipped with macOS Mojave
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 Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
CameraNo Built-in camera.720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio
  • 4W*2 speakers with Smart AMP technology
  • Array Microphone
  • Stereo speakers
  • Three microphones
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
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 5120-by-2880 resolution at up to 60Hz
    • Up to two external displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at up to 60Hz
  • Thunderbolt 3 digital video output
    • Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
    • VGA, HDMI, and Thunderbolt 2 output using adapters (sold separately)

Key Features

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018
At Glance
Released in
2019
16:9 FHD
15.6”
1080p 240Hz
Weight
5.66 lb
2.57 kg
Up to
Intel Core i9-9880H
8C/16T, 2.30 → 4.80 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,066
Single Core
Geekbench 5
6,100
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
Up to
32GB
2666 MHz DDR4
ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) Ports
Nvidia GeForce
RTX 2070
8GB GDDR6
Released in Late
2018
16:10 WQXGA
13.3”
1600p 60Hz
Weight
2.75 lb
1.25 kg
Powered By
Intel Core i5-8210Y
2C/4T, 1.60 → 3.60 GHz
Geekbench 5
728
Single Core
Geekbench 5
1,455
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 617
24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
Up to
16GB
2133 MHz LPDDR3

Comparison Summary

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) vs. MacBook Air 13” 2018

ASUS has released the ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch), a 15.6-inch machine, in 2019. It is powered by up to an octa-core Intel Core i9-9880H with a boost clock speed up to 4.80 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 with 8GB GDDR6.

On the other hand, we have the 13.3-inch MacBook Air 13” 2018 was introduced by Apple about a year earlier in late-2018. It comes with a dual-core Intel Core i5-8210Y with a boost clock speed up to 3.60 GHz. It has an integrated graphics option up to Intel® UHD Graphics 617 (24 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz).

Geekbench 5 Single Core

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)1
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H94888.93%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H1,04497.94%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H1,066100.00%
MacBook Air 13” 20181
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8210Y72868.29%
01,066

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)1
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H3,30854.23%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H4,88080.00%
3
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-9880H6,100100.00%
MacBook Air 13” 20181
8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8210Y1,45523.85%
06,100

The ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) has a 15.6-inch display which is considerably larger than the 13.3-inch MacBook Air 13” 2018. In addition, the ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) weighs 5.66 lbs. about 105% heavier than the 2.75 lbs. MacBook Air 13” 2018. Moreover, measured at 14.17” x 10.82” x 0.98”, the ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) is much bulkier than the MacBook Air 13” 2018 at 11.97” x 8.36” x 0.61”.

ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch)MacBook Air 13” 2018

Moving over to upgradability, ASUS claims that the ROG Strix SCAR III (15 inch) supports up to 32GB 2666 MHz DDR4 memory. It also comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that users can replace and upgrade in the future. On top of that, it also has a single SATA slot that users can use to install a 2.5-inch SATA SSD, SSHD, or a hard disk drive to add even more storage.

For MacBook Air 13” 2018, it supports up to 16GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 memory.

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