M1 MacBook Pro 13” vs. MSI GF65 Thin 9SX: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between M1 MacBook Pro 13” and MSI GF65 Thin 9SX specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

M1 MacBook Pro 13” Pros

Reasons that M1 MacBook Pro 13” is better than MSI GF65 Thin 9SX.

Newer manufacturing

2020 vs. 2019

Much faster CPU performance

Apple M1 (8C, 8G) inside M1 MacBook Pro 13” has a 51% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-9750H inside MSI GF65 Thin 9SX.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
M1 MacBook Pro 13” - Apple M1 (8C, 8G)
7,414
MSI GF65 Thin 9SX - Intel Core i7-9750H
4,880
MSI GF65 Thin 9SX - Intel Core i5-9300H
3,308
About 25% lighter

M1 MacBook Pro 13” weighed 3.1 pounds, 25% lighter than the 4.10 pounds MSI GF65 Thin 9SX.

WeightM1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
Pound
3.1 lbs.
4.10 lbs.
Kilogram
1.41 kg
1.86 kg

MSI GF65 Thin 9SX Pros

Reasons that MSI GF65 Thin 9SX is better than M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

Supports larger memory

MSI GF65 Thin 9SX supports a larger memory capacity than the M1 MacBook Pro 13”. It supports up to 64GB versus 16GB of system memory on the M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

Max system memory size
MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
64 GB
M1 MacBook Pro 13”
16 GB
Upgradable memory

MSI GF65 Thin 9SX 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 Pro 13” since it has onboard memory.

MemoryM1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
Slots
Onboard
x2
TypeUnifiedDDR4
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 vs. integrated

Upgradable storage

MSI GF65 Thin 9SX comes with two M.2 slots that you can easily upgrade and install an additional SSD to expand the storage on the device. 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.

SlotsM1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
M.2
Onboard
Yes x2
17% larger display

MSI GF65 Thin 9SX has a 15.6-inch screen size 17% larger than the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

Display size
MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
15.6-inch
M1 MacBook Pro 13”
13.3-inch

Prices

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

M1 MacBook Pro 13” Price
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) Space Gray (Renewed)
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$679.99
$725.56 6% OFF
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
By Apple
$684.95
$728.98 6% OFF
Apple 2020 MacBook Air with M1 Chip 13-inch, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD - Space Gray (Renewed)
Apple 2020 MacBook Air with M1 Chip 13-inch, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD - Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$715.99
MSI GF65 Thin 9SX Price
MSI GF65 Gaming Laptop: 15.6" 144Hz FHD 1080p, Intel Core i7-10750H 6 Core, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB, 512GB NVMe SSD, WiFi 6, Red Keyboard, Win 10, Black (10UE-047)
MSI GF65 Gaming Laptop: 15.6" 144Hz FHD 1080p, Intel Core i7-10750H 6 Core, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB, 512GB NVMe SSD, WiFi 6, Red Keyboard, Win 10, Black (10UE-047)
By MSI
$1,015.00
$1,199.00 15% OFF
MSI GF65 Thin 9SD Gaming Laptop 2021 15.6” FHD 1920 x 1080 Display IPS 120 Hertz Intel Core i5-9300H NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6 16GB DDR4 512GB SSD Backlit Keyboard Windows 11 Home
MSI GF65 Thin 9SD Gaming Laptop 2021 15.6” FHD 1920 x 1080 Display IPS 120 Hertz Intel Core i5-9300H NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6 16GB DDR4 512GB SSD Backlit Keyboard Windows 11 Home
By MSI
$889.00
MSI GF65 Thin 3060 Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD 144Hz Display, Core i5-10500H 6-Core, GeForce RTX 3060 6GB, 16GB RAM 3200MHz, 512GB PCIe SSD, USB-C, WiFi 6, Ethernet, HDMI, Backlit, Win 10
MSI GF65 Thin 3060 Gaming Laptop, 15.6" FHD 144Hz Display, Core i5-10500H 6-Core, GeForce RTX 3060 6GB, 16GB RAM 3200MHz, 512GB PCIe SSD, USB-C, WiFi 6, Ethernet, HDMI, Backlit, Win 10
By MSI
$839.00

Availability

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
Released20202019
Release DateAnnounced on November 10th, 2020-
Pricing
  • $1,299
    Apple M1 Chip | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
  • $1,499
    Apple M1 Chip | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
-
Generations-

Exterior

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
Dimensions11.97” x 8.36” x 0.61” (304.1 mm x 212.4 mm x 15.6 mm)14.13” x 10.0” x 0.85” (359 x 254 x 21.7 mm)
WeightStarting at 3.1 pounds (1.4 kg)4.10 lbs (1.86 kg)
Colors
Space Gray Silver
-
Keyboard and TrackpadBacklit Magic Keyboard with:
  • 65 (U.S.) or 66 (ISO) keys including 4 arrow keys in an inverted‑T arrangement
  • Touch Bar
  • Touch ID sensor
  • 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, Red) (optional).
  • Touchpad
    • Silky smooth touchpad with a multi-touch gesture.

Display

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
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
  • 500 nits brightness
  • Supports wide color (P3)
  • True Tone technology
  • 15.6" FHD (1920x1080), 144Hz, IPS-Level
  • 15.6" FHD (1920x1080), 120Hz, IPS-Level
  • 15.6" FHD (1920x1080), 60Hz, IPS-Level

Ports

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
M1 MacBook Pro 13” Ports
Image Source: Apple
Left (2)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort, Charging
Right (1)
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
  • 2 x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 1
  • 2 x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1
  • 1 x RJ45
  • 1 x HDMI (4K @ 30Hz)
  • 1 x Mic-in/Headphone-out Combo Jack

Internal Specs

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
Processor
  1. Apple M1
    8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W
  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
Integrated Graphics
  1. Apple M1
    Apple M1 iGPU
    8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
  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
Memory
  • 8GB
    4266 MHz LPDDR4X onboard memory
  • Configurable to 16GB
Up to 64GB 2666MHz Dual-channel DDR4 SDRAM
2 x SO-DIMM slots.
Discrete Graphics-
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti
    Video memory: 6GB GDDR6 VRAM.
  • NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060
    Video memory: 6GB GDDR6 VRAM.
Storage
  • 256GB 512GB
    SSD
  • Configurable to 1TB or 2TB
  • 1 x M.2 SSD slot (NVMe PCIe Gen3)
  • 1 x M.2 SSD Combo slot (NVMe PCIe Gen3 / SATA)

Connectivity

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 wireless networking
  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible
802.11 AC Wi-Fi
BluetoothBluetooth 5.0 wireless technologyBluetooth 5.0
Ethernet-Gigabit LAN
Speed: 10/100/1000 Mbps.

Battery

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
Size58.2 Wh lithium‑polymer battery51 Wh (6-cell Li-Ion battery)
Battery Life
  • Up to 17 hours wireless web
  • Up to 20 hours Apple TV app movie playback
Up to 7 hours+ for productivity tasks
Power Supply61W USB‑C Power Adapter180W power adapter

Software

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
OSShipped with macOS Big SurWindows 10 Home
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
Dragaon Center MSI App Player

Camera & Audio

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
Camera720p FaceTime HD cameraFront-facing camera
720p (1280 x 720 HD) camera.
Audio
  • Stereo speakers with high dynamic range
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack
  • Speakers
    • 2 x 2W Speakers
    • Nahimic 3
      Enhance in-game 3D surround sound and make finite control over your music, movies, and conference calls.
    • Hi-Res Audio
      Immerse yourself in lossless music and enjoy the premium sound quality with Hi-Resolution Audio. Experience and listen to audio the way it was intended.
  • Microphone
    • Array Microphones

Misc

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
Sensors
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
-
Security
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Apple T2 Security Chip
-
In the box
  • MacBook Pro 13”
  • 61W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
-
WarrantyYour MacBook Pro comes with 90 days of complimentary technical support and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase AppleCare+ for Mac 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 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)
Cooler Boost 5
Dedicated thermal solutions for both the CPU and GPU with up to 6 heat pipes, work harmoniously by minimizing the heat and maximizing the airflow for smooth gaming performance in such compact chassis.

Key Features

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX
At Glance
Released in Late
2020
16:10 WQXGA
13.3”
1600p 60Hz
Weight
3.1 lb
1.41 kg
Powered By
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 Pro 13” Ports
Released in
2019
16:9 FHD
15.6”
1080p 144Hz
Weight
4.10 lb
1.86 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-9750H
6C/12T, 2.60 → 4.50 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,044
Single Core
Geekbench 5
4,880
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1150 MHz
Upgradable up to
64GB
2666 MHz DDR4
NVIDIA GeForce
RTX 2060
6GB GDDR6

Comparison Summary

M1 MacBook Pro 13” vs. MSI GF65 Thin 9SX

Apple has released the M1 MacBook Pro 13”, a 13.3-inch machine, in late-2020. It is powered by an octa-core Apple M1 (8C, 8G). The laptop has an integrated graphics option up to Apple M1 iGPU (8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz).

On the other hand, we have the 15.6-inch GF65 Thin 9SX was introduced by MSI about a year earlier in 2019. It comes with up to a hexa-core Intel Core i7-9750H with a boost clock speed up to 4.50 GHz. It has a dedicated GPU option up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with 6GB GDDR6.

Geekbench 5 Single Core

M1 MacBook Pro 13”1
Apple M11,705100.00%
MSI GF65 Thin 9SX1
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H94855.60%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H1,04461.23%
01,705

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

M1 MacBook Pro 13”1
Apple M17,414100.00%
MSI GF65 Thin 9SX1
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-9300H3,30844.62%
2
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-9750H4,88065.82%
07,414

The M1 MacBook Pro 13” has a 13.3-inch display which is considerably smaller than the 15.6-inch MSI GF65 Thin 9SX. In addition, The M1 MacBook Pro 13” weighs 3.1 lbs. about 32% lighter than the 4.10 lbs. MSI GF65 Thin 9SX. Moreover, measured at 11.97” x 8.36” x 0.61”, the M1 MacBook Pro 13” is much more portable than the MSI GF65 Thin 9SX at 14.13” x 10.0” x 0.85”.

M1 MacBook Pro 13”MSI GF65 Thin 9SX

Moving over to upgradability, Apple claims that the M1 MacBook Pro 13” supports up to 16GB Unified memory. However, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. It also has soldered storage, and there are no M.2 slots for expansion.

For MSI GF65 Thin 9SX, it supports up to 64GB 2666 MHz DDR4 memory that you can upgrade with two memory module slots on the motherboard. It also has two M.2 slots that users can easily swap or add an extra SSD to get extra space when needed. Besides that, it also comes with a SATA slot where you can install an additional 2.5-inch SATA-based SSD, SSHD, or a hard disk drive.

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