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Surface Book 3 vs. M1 MacBook Air: Full specs comparison

We thoroughly analyzed technical specifications for Surface Book 3 and M1 MacBook Air models, including CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Book 3 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it M1 MacBook Air See at Amazon

Surface Book 3 Pros

Reasons that Surface Book 3 is better than M1 MacBook Air.

Surface Book 3 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

Surface Book 3

32 GB

M1 MacBook Air

16 GB

Configurable up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 6GB GDDR6 with Max-Q vs. integrated

M1 MacBook Air Pros

Reasons that M1 MacBook Air is better than Surface Book 3.

Apple M1 (8C, 8G) inside M1 MacBook Air has a 99% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-1065G7 inside Surface Book 3.

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 3 - Intel Core i7-1065G7

3,722

Surface Book 3 - Intel Core i5-1035G7

3,691

M1 MacBook Air weighed 2.8 pounds, 18% lighter than the 3.38 pounds Surface Book 3.

Weight	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
Pound	3.38 lbs.	2.8 lbs.
Kilogram	1.53 kg	1.27 kg

Prices

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

Surface Book 3 Price
	Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum By Microsoft $1,049.92	See at Amazon
	New Microsoft Surface Book 3 - 13.5" Touch-Screen - 10th Gen Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Platinum By Microsoft $499.00 $590.00 15% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Book 3 (SMW-00001) \| 15in (3240 x 2160) Touch-Screen \| Intel Core i7 Processor \| 32GB RAM \| 1TB SSD Storage \| Windows 10 Pro \| GeForce GTX 1660 GPU (Renewed) By Microsoft $1,398.80 $1,799.99 22% OFF	See at Amazon
M1 MacBook Air Price
	Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed) By Apple $610.64 $647.86 6% OFF	See at Amazon
	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	See at Amazon
	Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed) By Apple $704.68	See at Amazon

Availability	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
Released	2020	2020
Release Date	Introduced: May 6, 2020 Pre-ordered: May 6, 2020 Released: May 12, 2020	Announced on November 10th, 2020
Pricing	For Consumer Surface Book 3 13.5” $1,600 - i5 \| 8GB \| 256GB \| Iris Plus $2,000 - i7 \| 16GB \| 256GB \| GTX 1650 $2,500 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| GTX 1650 $2,700 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| GTX 1650 Surface Book 3 15” $2,300 - i7 \| 16GB \| 256GB \| GTX 1660 Ti $2,800 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| GTX 1660 Ti $3,000 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| GTX 1660 Ti $3,400 - i7 \| 32GB \| 2TB \| GTX 1660 Ti For Commercial Surface Book 3 13.5” $1,700 - i5 \| 8GB \| 256GB \| Iris Plus $2,100 - i7 \| 16GB \| 256GB \| GTX 1650 $2,600 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| GTX 1650 $2,800 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| GTX 1650 Surface Book 3 15” $2,400 - i7 \| 16GB \| 256GB \| GTX 1660 Ti $2,900 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| GTX 1660 Ti $3,100 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| GTX 1660 Ti $3,500 - i7 \| 32GB \| 2TB \| GTX 1660 Ti $3,500 - i7 \| 32GB \| 512GB \| RTX 3000 $3,700 - i7 \| 32GB \| 1TB \| RTX 3000	$999 Apple M1 Chip (7 cores GPU) \| 8GB RAM \| 256GB SSD $1,249 Apple M1 Chip (8 cores GPU) \| 8GB RAM \| 512GB SSD
Generations	-	2022 M2 MacBook Air 2020 M1 MacBook Air 2020 Intel MacBook Air MacBook Air 13” 2019 MacBook Air 13” 2018 MacBook Air 13” 2017 MacBook Air 13” 2015 MacBook Air 13” 2014 MacBook Air 13” 2013

Exterior	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
Dimensions	Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i5) 12.3” x 9.14” x 0.51”-0.90” (312 mm x 232 mm x 13 mm-23 mm) Surface Book 3 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 3 15” 13.5” x 9.87” x 0.568-0.90” (343 mm x 251 mm x 15 mm-23 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)
Weight	Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i5) Total: 3.38 lbs (1,534 g) Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g) Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i7) Total: 3.62 lbs (1,642 g) Tablet: 1.59 lbs (719 g) Surface Book 3 15” Total: 4.20 lbs (1,905 g) Tablet: 1.80 lbs (817 g)	Starting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg)
Colors	Platinum	Gold Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad	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.	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	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
Size	13.5 Inches	13.3 Inches
Info	Surface Book 3 13.5” Display Resolution: 3000 x 2000 (6M Pixels) Display Density: 267 PPI Surface Book 3 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	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	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
Image Source: Microsoft 2 x Full-size USB 3.1 Gen 2 1 x USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2 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	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	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
Processor	10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G7 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.20 → 3.70 GHz, 6MB SmartCache, 15W 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 4 cores, 8 threads, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 15W	Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores) 8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W Apple M1 8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W
Integrated Graphics	10th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1035G7 Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 64 Execution Units, 300 → 1050 MHz 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz	Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores) Apple M1 iGPU 7 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz Apple M1 Apple M1 iGPU 8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
Memory	Surface Book 3 13.5” 8GB 16GB 32GB 3733 MHz LPDDR4x Surface Book 3 15” 16GB 32GB 3733 MHz LPDDR4x	8GB unified memory Configurable to 16GB
Discrete Graphics	Surface Book 3 13.5” NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 with Max-Q Turning Architecture, 4GB GDDR5, 128-bit, 1020 → 1245 MHz, 1024 CUDA Cores. Surface Book 3 15” NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti with Max-Q Turning Architecture, 6GB GDDR6, 192-bit, 1245 → 1425 MHz, 1536 CUDA Cores. NVIDIA® Quadro® RTX™ 3000 with Max-Q Turning Architecture, 6GB GDDR6, 192-bit, 765 → 1305 MHz, 1920 CUDA Cores, 240 Tensor Cores, 30 RT Cores, Real-time ray tracing, AI hardware acceleration, ODE, QNF,	-
Storage	256 GB 512 GB 1 TB 2TB PCIe SSD	256GB 512GB SSD Configurable to 1TB or 2TB

Connectivity	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible.	802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 wireless networking IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compatible
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology	Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology
More	Surface Book 3 15” Only: Xbox Wireless built-in	-

Battery	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
Size	Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i5) Total: 69Wh Clipboard: 18Wh Base: 51Wh Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i7) Total: 75.3Wh Clipboard: 18Wh Base: 57.3Wh Surface Book 3 15” Total: 90Wh Clipboard: 23Wh Base: 67Wh	49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life	Surface Book 3 13.5” Up to 15.5 hours of typical device usage Surface Book 3 15” Up to 17.5 hours of typical device usage	Up to 15 hours wireless web Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback
Power Supply	Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i5) 65W Surface Power Supply with USB-A (5W) charging port. Surface Book 3 13.5” (Core i7) 102W Surface Power Supply with USB-A (7W) charging port. Surface Book 3 15” 127W Surface Power Supply with USB-A (7W) charging port.	30W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
OS	For Consumer: Windows 10 Home 64-bit For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit Free upgrade to Windows 11	Shipped with macOS Big Sur
Built-in Apps	Microsoft Office 365 30-days trial	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	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
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	720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio	Dual far-field Studio Mics Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos® Support for Windows Sonic for Headphones Support for Dolby® Atmos for Headphones	Stereo speakers Wide stereo sound Support for Dolby Atmos playback Three-mic array with directional beamforming 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel 0.1mm precision	-
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer	Touch ID sensor Ambient light sensor
Security	HW TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in	Touch ID sensor Apple T2 Security Chip
In the box	Surface Book 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	MacBook Air 30W USB‑C Power Adapter USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
Warranty	One-year limited hardware 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	Supports Surface Dial Supports both on-screen and off-screen interaction.	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	Surface Book 3	M1 MacBook Air
At Glance	Released in 2020 3:2 3.2K 13.5” 2160p 60Hz Weight 3.38 lb 1.53 kg Up to Intel Core i7-1065G7 4C/8T, 1.30 → 3.90 GHz Geekbench 5 1,088 Single Core Geekbench 5 3,722 Multi-Core With integrated Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 64 Execution Units, 300 → 1100 MHz Configurable up to 32GB 3733 MHz LPDDR4X Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 6GB GDDR6 with Max-Q	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 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