Intel MacBook Air vs. MSI Modern 15 (A11X): Full specs comparison

The following is a comprehensive comparison of the Intel MacBook Air and MSI Modern 15 (A11X) specifications, including details on CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

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Intel MacBook Air image

Intel MacBook Air

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MSI Modern 15 (A11X) image

MSI Modern 15 (A11X)

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Intel MacBook Air Pros

Reasons that Intel MacBook Air is better than MSI Modern 15 (A11X).

Supports faster memory

Intel MacBook Air supports a faster memory speed than the MSI Modern 15 (A11X). It supports up to 3733MHz versus 3200MHz of system memory on the MSI Modern 15 (A11X).

Memory type and speed
Intel MacBook Air - LPDDR4X
3,733 MHz
MSI Modern 15 (A11X) - DDR4
3,200 MHz
About 21% lighter

Intel MacBook Air weighed 2.8 pounds, 21% lighter than the 3.53 pounds MSI Modern 15 (A11X).

WeightIntel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
Pound
2.8 lbs.
3.53 lbs.
Kilogram
1.27 kg
1.60 kg

MSI Modern 15 (A11X) Pros

Reasons that MSI Modern 15 (A11X) is better than Intel MacBook Air.

Significantly faster CPU performance

Intel Core i7-1165G7 inside MSI Modern 15 (A11X) has a 48% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-1060NG7 inside Intel MacBook Air.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
MSI Modern 15 (A11X) - Intel Core i7-1165G7
4,487
MSI Modern 15 (A11X) - Intel Core i5-1135G7
3,980
Intel MacBook Air - Intel Core i7-1060NG7
3,018
Intel MacBook Air - Intel Core i5-1030NG7
2,818
Intel MacBook Air - Intel Core i3-1000NG4
1,942
Supports larger memory

MSI Modern 15 (A11X) supports a larger memory capacity than the Intel MacBook Air. It supports up to 64GB versus 16GB of system memory on the Intel MacBook Air.

Max system memory size
MSI Modern 15 (A11X)
64 GB
Intel MacBook Air
16 GB
Upgradable memory

MSI Modern 15 (A11X) 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 Intel MacBook Air since it has onboard memory.

MemoryIntel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
Slots
Onboard
x2
TypeLPDDR4XDDR4
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to NVIDIA GeForce MX450 2GB GDDR6 vs. integrated

17% larger display

MSI Modern 15 (A11X) has a 15.6-inch screen size 17% larger than the 13.3-inch Intel MacBook Air.

Display size
MSI Modern 15 (A11X)
15.6-inch
Intel MacBook Air
13.3-inch

Prices

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

Intel MacBook Air 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
$379.00
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2017 Apple Macbook Air with 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Silver (Renewed)
 2017 Apple Macbook Air with 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Silver (Renewed)
By Apple
$234.00
$249.00 6% OFF
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Early 2020 Apple MacBook Air with 1.1GHz Intel Core i3 (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Gold (Renewed)
 Early 2020 Apple MacBook Air with 1.1GHz Intel Core i3 (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Gold (Renewed)
By Apple
$444.95
$469.99 5% OFF
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MSI Modern 15 (A11X) Price
MSI Modern 15 Laptop: Ryzen 7 7730U, UMA AMD Radeon Graphics, 15.6" FHD, 16GB DDR4, 1TB NVMe SSD, 180-Degree Lay-Flat, Type C, Win 11 Pro: Classic Black B7M-223US
 MSI Modern 15 Laptop: Ryzen 7 7730U, UMA AMD Radeon Graphics, 15.6" FHD, 16GB DDR4, 1TB NVMe SSD, 180-Degree Lay-Flat, Type C, Win 11 Pro: Classic Black B7M-223US
By MSI
$799.99
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MSI Modern 15 Laptop: Intel Core i3-1215U, UHD Graphics, 15.6" FHD, 8GB DDR4, 512GB NVMe SSD, 180-Degree Lay-Flat, Type C, Win 11 Home: Classic Black B12M-433US
 MSI Modern 15 Laptop: Intel Core i3-1215U, UHD Graphics, 15.6" FHD, 8GB DDR4, 512GB NVMe SSD, 180-Degree Lay-Flat, Type C, Win 11 Home: Classic Black B12M-433US
By MSI
$379.99
$519.00 27% OFF
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MSI Modern 15 Laptop: Ryzen 5 7530U, UMA AMD Radeon Graphics, 15.6" FHD, 16GB DDR4, 1TB NVMe SSD, 180-Degree Lay-Flat, Type C, Win 11 Home: Classic Black B7M-224US
 MSI Modern 15 Laptop: Ryzen 5 7530U, UMA AMD Radeon Graphics, 15.6" FHD, 16GB DDR4, 1TB NVMe SSD, 180-Degree Lay-Flat, Type C, Win 11 Home: Classic Black B7M-224US
By MSI
$549.99
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Specs Comparison

Availability

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
Released20202020
Release Date
  • Announced on March 18th, 2020
  • Available on March 18th, 2020
-
Pricing
  • $999 - Intel Core i3 | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
  • $1,299 - Intel Core i5 | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
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Generations-

Exterior

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
Dimensions
  • 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)
14.05” x 9.20” x 0.67” (356.8 x 233.75 x 16.9 mm)
WeightStarting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg)3.53 lbs (1.6 kg)
Colors
Gold Space Gray Silver
Urban Silver Carbon Gray
Keyboard and TrackpadBacklit 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
  • Keyboard
    • Backlight Keyboard (Single-Color, White)
    • 1.5mm key travel
  • Touchpad
    • Precision touchpad support multitouch gestures and intuitive response.

Display

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
Size13.3 Inches15.6 Inches
InfoRetina 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
  • True Tone technology
15.6" FHD (1920x1080), IPS-Level, Wide View Angle, Thin Bezel.

Ports

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
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)
  • 1 x USB Type-C with Thunderbolt™ 4.
    Supports USB 4, DisplayPort, and Power Delivery charging.
  • 2 x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2
  • 1 x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1
  • 1 x MicroSD Card Reader
  • 1 x HDMI (4K @ 60Hz)
  • 1 x Mic-in/Headphone-out Combo Jack
  • 1 x DC-in

Internal Specs

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
Processor
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-1000NG4
    2 cores, 4 threads, 1.10 → 3.20 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 9W
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1030NG7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.10 → 3.50 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 10W
  3. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1060NG7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.20 → 3.80 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 10W
  1. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1135G7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.40 → 4.20 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 28W
  2. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7
    4 cores, 8 threads, 2.80 → 4.70 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 28W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-1000NG4
    Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
    48 Execution Units, 300 → 900 MHz
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1030NG7
    Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
    64 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz
  3. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1060NG7
    Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
    64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  1. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1135G7
    Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
    80 Execution Units, 400 → 1300 MHz
  2. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7
    Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
    96 Execution Units, 400 → 1300 MHz
Memory
8GB
Configurable to 16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X onboard memory
  • Up to DDR4-3200 Memory Type
  • 2 Slots Number of SO-DIMM Slot
  • Max 64GB Max Capacity
Discrete Graphics-
MSI Modern 15 A11SB
  • NVIDIA® Geforce® MX450
    Video memory: 2GB GDDR6 VRAM.
MSI Modern 15 A11M
  • No discrete graphics
Storage
256GB 512GB
Configurable to 1TB and 2TB SSD
  • 1 x M.2 SSD slot (NVMe PCIe Gen3)
  • 1 x M.2 SSD slot (NVMe PCIe Gen4)

Connectivity

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ac Wi‑Fi wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible
802.11 AX Wi-Fi 6
BluetoothBluetooth 5.0 wireless technologyBluetooth 5.1

Battery

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
Size49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery52 Wh (3-cell Li-Polymer battery)
Battery Life
  • Up to 11 hours wireless web
  • Up to 12 hours Apple TV app movie playback
  • Up to 30 days of standby time
-
Power Supply30W USB‑C Power Adapter
MSI Modern 15 A11M
MSI Modern 15 A11SB

Software

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
OSShipped with macOS Catalina
  • Windows 10 Home
  • Windows 10 Pro
Built-in Apps
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
  • MSI Center for Business & Productivity

Camera & Audio

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
Camera720p FaceTime HD cameraFront-facing camera
720p (1280 x 720 HD) top mounted camera.
Audio
  • Stereo speakers
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Three-mic array with directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack
  • 2 x 2W Speaker
  • Nahimic 3
  • High-Resolution Audio ready

Misc

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
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)
-
WarrantyYour 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.1-year Limited Warranty (Include 1 Year Global)
MoreVideo Support
  • Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:
    • One external 6K display with 6016-by-3384 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors, or
    • One external 5K display with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors, or
    • Up to two external 4K displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors
  • 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

Intel MacBook AirMSI Modern 15 (A11X)
At Glance
Released in Early
2020
16:10 QHD+
13.3”
1600p 60Hz
Weight
2.8 lb
1.27 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-1060NG7
4C/8T, 1.20 → 3.80 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,119
Single Core
Geekbench 5
3,018
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
3733 MHz LPDDR4X
Released in
2020
16:9 FHD
15.6”
1080p 60Hz
Weight
3.53 lb
1.60 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-1165G7
4C/8T, 2.80 → 4.70 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,374
Single Core
Geekbench 5
4,487
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
96 Execution Units, 400 → 1300 MHz
Upgradable up to
64GB
3200 MHz DDR4
NVIDIA GeForce
MX450
2GB GDDR6

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