M1 MacBook Air vs. Surface Book 2: Full specs comparison

We thoroughly analyzed technical specifications for M1 MacBook Air and Surface Book 2 models, including CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

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M1 MacBook Air image

M1 MacBook Air

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Surface Book 2 image

Surface Book 2

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M1 MacBook Air Pros

Reasons that M1 MacBook Air is better than Surface Book 2.

Significantly newer manufacturing

2020 vs. 2017

Much faster CPU performance

Apple M1 (8C, 8G) inside M1 MacBook Air has a 91% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-8650U inside Surface Book 2.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
M1 MacBook Air - Apple M1 (8C, 7G)
7,414
M1 MacBook Air - Apple M1 (8C, 8G)
7,414
Surface Book 2 - Intel Core i7-8650U
3,879
Surface Book 2 - Intel Core i5-8350U
2,982
Surface Book 2 - Intel Core i5-7300U
1,777
About 18% lighter

M1 MacBook Air weighed 2.8 pounds, 18% lighter than the 3.38 pounds Surface Book 2.

WeightM1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
Pound
2.8 lbs.
3.38 lbs.
Kilogram
1.27 kg
1.53 kg

Surface Book 2 Pros

Reasons that Surface Book 2 is better than M1 MacBook Air.

Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 vs. integrated

Upgradable storage

Surface Book 2 comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that you can replace and upgrade in the future.

SlotsM1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
M.2
Onboard
Yes x1

Key Similars

Similar characteristics share between M1 MacBook Air and Surface Book 2.

Supports the same maximum memory size of up to 16GB

Both laptops supports up to 16GB of system memory.

Max system memory size
M1 MacBook Air
16 GB
Surface Book 2
16 GB

Prices

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

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
$627.00
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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
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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
$704.99
See at Amazon
Surface Book 2 Price
Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5"(Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB), silver
 Microsoft Surface Book 2 13.5"(Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB), silver
By Microsoft
$279.95
$599.99 53% OFF
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Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$498.95
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Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Book 2 (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB) - 13.5in (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$321.95
$339.94 5% OFF
See at Amazon

Specs Comparison

Availability

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
Released20202017
Release DateAnnounced on November 10th, 2020
  • Introduced: October 17, 2017
  • Pre-ordered: November 9, 2017
  • Released: November 16, 2017
Pricing
  • $999
    Apple M1 Chip (7 cores GPU) | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
  • $1,249
    Apple M1 Chip (8 cores GPU) | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”: Starting at 1,149$
  • Surface Book 2 15”: Starting at 1,999$
Generations-

Exterior

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
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)
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    12.3” x 9.1” x 0.51”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 13 mm-23 mm).
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    12.3” x 9.14” x 0.59”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 15 mm-23 mm).
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    13.5” x 9.87” x 0.57”-0.90” (343 mm x 251 mm x 15 mm-23 mm).
WeightStarting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg)
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    • Total: 3.38 lbs (1,533 g)
    • Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    • Total: 3.62 lbs (1,642 g)
    • Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g)
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    • Total: 4.20 lbs (1,905 g)
    • Tablet: 1.80 lbs (817 g)
Colors
Gold Space Gray Silver
Platinum
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:
    • Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1.55mm travel.
    • Mechanical friction attaches the Clipboard to the keyboard.
  • Trackpad:
    • Larger size 105 mm x 70 mm, glass.
    • Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gesture.

Display

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
Size13.3 Inches13.5 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
  • 400 nits brightness
  • Supports wide color (P3)
  • True Tone technology
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”
    • Display Resolution: 3000 x 2000 (6M Pixels)
    • Display Density: 267 PPI
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    • Display Resolution: 3240 x 2160 (7M Pixels)
    • Display Density: 260 PPI
  • PixelSense™ Display
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Contrast ratio: 1600:1
  • Inking: designed together with Surface Pen
  • Touch: 10 points multi-touch

Ports

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
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
Surface Book 2 Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
  • 2 x Full-size USB 3.1 Gen 1
  • 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1
    Supports Power Delivery and DisplayPort.
  • 2 x Surface Connect™
    1 in tablet, 1 in keyboard base, both supports charging and docking.
  • 1 x Headset jack
  • 1 x Full-size SDXC card reader
    UHS-II Performance

Internal Specs

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
Processor
  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
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    2 cores, 4 threads, 2.60 → 3.50 GHz, 3MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.70 → 3.60 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W
  3. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U
    4 cores, 8 threads, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W
Integrated Graphics
  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
  1. 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-7300U
    Intel® HD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-8350U
    Intel® UHD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz
  3. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8650U
    Intel® UHD Graphics 620
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Memory
  • 8GB
    unified memory
  • Configurable to 16GB
8GB 16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
Discrete Graphics-
  • Surface Book 2 13.5”
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050
      Pascal Architecture, 2GB GDDR5 128-bit, 1354 → 1493 MHz, 640 CUDA Cores.
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060
      Pascal Architecture, 6GB GDDR5 192-bit, 1404 → 1670 MHz, 1280 CUDA Cores.
Storage
  • 256GB 512GB
    SSD
  • Configurable to 1TB or 2TB
128 GB 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
PCIe SSD

Connectivity

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible
  • Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.
BluetoothBluetooth 5.0 wireless technology
  • Bluetooth Wireless 4.1 technology
More-
  • Surface Book 2 15” Only: Xbox Wireless built-in

Battery

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
Size49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    Total: 69Wh
    Clipboard: 18Wh
    Base: 51Wh
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    Total: 75.3Wh
    Clipboard: 18Wh
    Base: 57.3Wh
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    Total: 90Wh
    Clipboard: 23Wh
    Base: 67Wh
Battery Life
  • Up to 15 hours wireless web
  • Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback
  • Up to 17 hours of video playback
  • Up to 5 hours in tablet mode
Power Supply30W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i5)
    44W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.
  • Surface Book 2 13.5” (Core i7)
    100W power supply with USB-A (5W) charging port.
  • Surface Book 2 15”
    102W power supply with USB-A 7.5W) charging port.

Software

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
OSShipped with macOS Big SurWindows 10 Pro (Creators Update)
Free upgrade to Windows 11
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
Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial

Camera & Audio

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
Camera720p FaceTime HD camera
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video
  • 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video
Audio
  • Stereo speakers
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Three-mic array with directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack
  • Dual microphones
  • Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium
  • Support for Windows Sonic for Headphones
  • Support for Dolby® Atmos for Headphones

Misc

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
Inking-Supports Surface Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Paper feel
0.1mm precision
Sensors
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Proximity sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
Security
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Apple T2 Security Chip
  • HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
In the box
  • MacBook Air
  • 30W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
  • Surface Book 2
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
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.One-year limited hardware warranty
MoreVideo 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)
Supports Surface Dial
Supports both on-screen and off-screen interaction.

Key Features

M1 MacBook AirSurface Book 2
At Glance
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
Released in
2017
3:2 3.2K
13.5”
2160p 60Hz
Weight
3.38 lb
1.53 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-8650U
4C/8T, 1.90 → 4.20 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,106
Single Core
Geekbench 5
3,879
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 620
24 Execution Units, 300 → 1150 MHz
Configurable up to
16GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3
Surface Book 2 Ports
Nvidia GeForce
GTX 1060
6GB GDDR5

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