2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 vs. M1 MacBook Air: Full specs comparison

We have comprehensively analyzed the technical specifications for the 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 and M1 MacBook Air models. Our report includes intricate details such as the CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Pros

Reasons that 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 is better than M1 MacBook Air.

Supports larger memory

The 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 supports a larger memory capacity than the M1 MacBook Air. It supports up to 32GB versus 16GB of system memory on the M1 MacBook Air.

Max system memory size
2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15
32 GB
M1 MacBook Air
16 GB
Upgradable memory

The 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 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.

Memory2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
Slots
x2
Onboard
TypeDDR4Unified
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6 vs. integrated

Upgradable storage

The 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 comes with two M.2 slots that you can easily upgrade and install an additional SSD to expand the storage on the device.

Slots2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
M.2
Yes x2
Onboard
17% larger display

The 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 has a 15.6-inch screen size 17% larger than the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Air.

Display size
2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15
15.6-inch
M1 MacBook Air
13.3-inch
Has six more ports and slots

The 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 has more ports and slots count than the M1 MacBook Air. It has nine versus three amount of ports and slots on the M1 MacBook Air.

Ports2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
HDMIYesNo
headphone jackYesYes
lock slotYesNo
power portYesNo
RJ-45YesNo
Thunderbolt 3NoYes x2
USB-AYes x3No
USB-CYesNo
Total93
More versatile connectivity

The 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 has better versatile I/O connectivity than the M1 MacBook Air. It has six versus two commonly used ports and slots on the M1 MacBook Air.

Ports2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
headphone jackYesYes
HDMIYesNo
power portYesNo
RJ-45YesNo
Thunderbolt 3NoYes
USB-AYesNo
USB-CYesNo

M1 MacBook Air Pros

Reasons that M1 MacBook Air is better than 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15.

About 45% lighter

M1 MacBook Air weighed 2.8 pounds, 45% lighter than the 5.07 pounds 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15.

Weight2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
Pound
5.07 lbs.
2.8 lbs.
Kilogram
2.30 kg
1.27 kg

Key Similars

Similar characteristics share between 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 and M1 MacBook Air.

Similar CPU performance

Both laptops has a similar multi-core CPU performance score.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
M1 MacBook Air - Apple M1 (8C, 7G)
7,414
M1 MacBook Air - Apple M1 (8C, 8G)
7,414
2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 - AMD Ryzen 7-5800H
7,098

Prices

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

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Price
ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2023) Gaming Laptop, 15.6” FHD 144Hz Display, GeForce RTX 4070, AMD Ryzen 7 7940HS, 16GB DDR5, 1TB PCIe SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Windows 11, FA507XI-EH94(Mecha Gray)
ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2023) Gaming Laptop, 15.6” FHD 144Hz Display, GeForce RTX 4070, AMD Ryzen 7 7940HS, 16GB DDR5, 1TB PCIe SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Windows 11, FA507XI-EH94(Mecha Gray)
By ASUS
$1,299.99
$1,699.99 24% OFF
ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2024) Gaming Laptop, 15.6” FHD 144Hz Display, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050, AMD Ryzen™ 5 7535HS, 8GB DDR5, 512GB PCIe® Gen4 NVMe™ SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Windows 11, FA506NC-ES51
ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (2024) Gaming Laptop, 15.6” FHD 144Hz Display, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050, AMD Ryzen™ 5 7535HS, 8GB DDR5, 512GB PCIe® Gen4 NVMe™ SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Windows 11, FA506NC-ES51
By ASUS
$749.54
$799.99 6% OFF
ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz FHD IPS-Type, AMD Ryzen 5 4600H, GeForce GTX 1650, 8GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe SSD, Gigabit Wi-Fi 5, Windows 10 Home, FA506IH-AS53
ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz FHD IPS-Type, AMD Ryzen 5 4600H, GeForce GTX 1650, 8GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe SSD, Gigabit Wi-Fi 5, Windows 10 Home, FA506IH-AS53
By ASUS
$795.00
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
$609.00
$647.88 6% OFF
Apple 2020 MacBook Air Laptop M1 Chip, 13” Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Space Gray
Apple 2020 MacBook Air Laptop M1 Chip, 13” Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Space Gray
By Apple
$708.39
$999.00 29% OFF
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
$699.00
$737.00 5% OFF

Availability

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
Released20212020
Release DateAnnounced on January 13, 2021 (CES 2021)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

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
Dimensions14.13 x 10.08 x 0.90 - 0.96 inches (359 x 256 x 22.8 ~ 24.5 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)
Weight5.07 lbs (2.30 Kg)Starting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg)
Colors
Graphite Black Eclipse Gray
Gold Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Chiclet keyboard with isolated Numpad key.
  • RGB backlight with ASUS AURA RGB with four modes:
    Static Breathing Color Cycle Strobing
  • Overstrike technology can withstand over 20 million presses.
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

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
Size15.6 Inches13.3 Inches
Info
  • 15.6” FHD 60Hz
    1920 x 1080 16:9 anti-glare sRGB:62.50% Adobe:47.34% 60Hz IPS-level Adaptive-Sync
  • 15.6” FHD 144Hz
    1920 x 1080 16:9 anti-glare sRGB:62.50% Adobe:47.34% 144Hz IPS-level Adaptive-Sync
  • 15.6” FHD 240Hz
    1920 x 1080 16:9 anti-glare sRGB:100.00% Adobe:75.35% 240Hz IPS-level Adaptive-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

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Ports
Image Source: ASUS
Left (7)
  • 1 x USB-C
    USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort 1.4
  • 2 x USB-A
    USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1 x HDMI
    v2.0b
  • 1 x RJ-45
    1 Gbps
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
  • 1 x power port
Right (2)
  • 1 x USB-A
    USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1 x lock slot
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

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
Processor
  1. AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 3.20 → 4.40 GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 16MB L3 Cache, 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. AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H
    AMD Radeon™ Graphics
    8 Graphics Cores, 2000 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
Memory
8GB 16GB 32GB
Dual Channel DDR4 3200MHz SDRAM
2 x SO-DIMM sockets for expansion.
  • 8GB
    unified memory
  • Configurable to 16GB
Discrete Graphics
  • NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060
    6GB GDDR6, Dynamic Boost up to 1630 MHz at 90W (95W with Dynamic Boost)
  • NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070
    8GB GDDR6, Dynamic Boost up to 1510 MHz at 90W (95W with Dynamic Boost)
-
Storage
512GB 1TB
M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 3.0 SSD
2 x M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® Slots
  • 256GB 512GB
    SSD
  • Configurable to 1TB or 2TB

Connectivity

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
Wi-FiIntegrated Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 ax (2x2))
  • 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible
BluetoothBluetooth 5.2Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology
EthernetGigabit LAN
Speed: 10/100/1000 Mbps.
-

Battery

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
Size90 Wh
4-cell lithium-polymer battery
49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life
  • Up to 13.5 hours of web browsing
  • Up to 14.5 hours of video playback
  • Up to 15 hours wireless web
  • Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback
Power Supply200W power adaptor
Plug type :ø6.0 (mm) 20V/10A, supports fast charging 50% in 30 minutes.
30W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
OS
  • Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 10 Pro
Shipped with macOS Big Sur
Built-in Apps
Armoury Crate
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

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
CameraFront-facing camera
Top-mount front camera, 0.92 Megapixels (1280 x 720 HD).
720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio
  • Speakers
    • Two speakers with four cut-outs
    • 2 x 2W speakers
    • DTS:X™ Ultra technology
      Delivers high-fidelity 7.1-channel virtual surround sound for theater-quality audio with stereo headsets.
  • Microphone
    • Built-in array microphone
    • Advanced Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation.
  • Stereo speakers
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Three-mic array with directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
Sensors-
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
Security
  • Kensington lock
  • FTPM (Firmware-based Trusted Platform Module)
  • 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

2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15M1 MacBook Air
At Glance
Released in Early
2021
16:9
15.6”
1080p 240Hz
Weight
5.07 lb
2.30 kg
Powered By
AMD Ryzen 7-5800H
8C/16T, 3.20 → 4.40 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,334
Single Core
Geekbench 5
7,098
Multi-Core
With integrated
AMD Radeon™ Graphics
8 Graphics Cores, 2000 MHz
Upgradable up to
32GB
3200 MHz DDR4
2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Ports
Nvidia GeForce
RTX 3070
8GB GDDR6
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

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