MacBook Pro 14” (2021) vs. Surface Laptop Studio

Apple has released the MacBook Pro 14” , a 14.2-inch machine, in late-2021. It is powered by up to a 10-core Apple M1 Max (10C, 32G). The laptop has an integrated graphics option up to Apple M1 Max iGPU (32 GPU Cores, 16 Neural Engine Cores).

On the other hand, we have the 14.4-inch Surface Laptop Studio was introduced by Microsoft around the same time in late-2021. It comes with up to a quad-core Intel Core i7-11370H with a boost clock speed up to 4.80 GHz. It has a dedicated GPU option up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti  with 4GB GDDR6.

The MacBook Pro 14” (2021) has a 14.2-inch display which is quite similar size to the 14.4-inch Surface Laptop Studio. In addition, The MacBook Pro 14” (2021) weighs 3.5 lbs. about 9% lighter than the 3.83 lbs. Surface Laptop Studio. Moreover, measured at 12.31” x 8.71” x 0.61”, the MacBook Pro 14” (2021) is considerably more portable than the Surface Laptop Studio at 12.72” x 8.98” x 0.746”.

Moving over to upgradability, Apple claims that the MacBook Pro 14” (2021) supports up to 64GB Unified memory. However, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users.

For Surface Laptop Studio, it supports up to 32GB 4267 MHz LPDDR4X memory. Like MacBook Pro 14” (2021), it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. Luckily, it has a single removable M.2 SSD slot that users can replace or upgrade when needed.

Here are some notable new features we found on the MacBook Pro 14” (2021).

• All-New MacBook Pro Design - the new design focus on functionality and performance. It has a larger chassis that provides more room for an advanced thermal system that can move 50 percent more air than the previous generation.
• New M1 Pro and M1 Max Chip - The new 14” MacBook Pro features the new M1 Pro, and M1 Max applies a system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture. Both processors feature fast unified memory and increased memory bandwidth up to 400GB/s, 8-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, and with best-in-class performance per watt and industry-leading power efficiency.
• New Liquid Retina XDR with ProMotion Display - featuring mini-LED technology used in iPad Pro, the Liquid Retina XDR display delivers up to 1,000 nits of sustained, full-screen brightness, an incredible 1,600 nits of peak brightness, and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio.
• Better Battery Life - It delivers up to 17 hours of video playback, which is seven additional hours compared to the previous-generation MacBook Pro.

• No Touchbar
• One less Thunderbolt ports

For Surface Laptop Studio, there are also some outstanding new features that we want to point out as well including:

• New Surface Design - Another versatile design that allows switching between laptop mode, stage mode, and studio mode. The new design also packs all of its processing components in the base for a better cooling solution.
• 14.4” 120Hz PixelSense™ Flow Display - It offers a much smoother drawing and browsing experience, Dolby Vision® support, and adjustable brightness from 2 nits up to 500 nits.
• 11th Gen Intel® Tiger Lake H35 Processors - First for Surface uses a powerful 35W TDP processor with integrated Intel Iris Xe G7 graphics and up to 32GB of 4267 MHz LPDDR4x memory.
• NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 Ti or A2000 Graphics - Experience the latest feature set from NVIDIA's 2nd gen RTX architecture for the best gaming experience, and to accelerate your design, animate, and render tasks.
• 2 x Thunderbolt™ 4 - Supports USB 4.0, 40Gbps transfer speed, DisplayPort, Power Delivery, Docking, and external GPU.
• Fully Supports Surface Slim Pen 2 - Surface Laptop Studio supports new tactile signals for natural inking feels and included slim pen storage with built-in wireless charging.
• Quad Omnisonic™ Speakers - First for Surface to include 4 speakers in a laptop that supports Dolby Atmos and Adaptive Equalization to deliver a rich spatial sound and best sound experience for different modes.
• Precision Haptic Touchpad - It's the largest touchpad for Surface that is super responsive and lets you click anywhere with customizable haptic feedback.
• More
  Up to 2TB SDD Supports DirectX 12 Ultimate Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.1 Fast Charging Preloaded with Windows 11

The Surface Laptop Studio also has some downsides that you might want to know, including:

• No SDXC card slot
• No Full-size USB-A port