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

We have comprehensively analyzed the technical specifications for the Surface Go 2 and M1 MacBook Air models. Our report includes intricate details such as the CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

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Surface Go 2 image

Surface Go 2

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M1 MacBook Air image

M1 MacBook Air

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Surface Go 2 Pros

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

About 58% lighter

Surface Go 2 weighed 1.2 pounds, 58% lighter than the 2.8 pounds M1 MacBook Air.

WeightSurface Go 2M1 MacBook Air
Pound
1.2 lbs.
2.8 lbs.
Kilogram
0.54 kg
1.27 kg
Has two more ports and slots

Surface Go 2 has more ports and slots count than the M1 MacBook Air. It has five versus three amount of ports and slots on the M1 MacBook Air.

PortsSurface Go 2M1 MacBook Air
headphone jackYesYes
microSD card slotYesNo
Surface ConnectYesNo
Surface Go Type Cover ConnectorYesNo
Thunderbolt 3NoYes x2
USB-CYesNo
Total53
Slightly more versatile connectivity

Surface Go 2 has better versatile I/O connectivity than the M1 MacBook Air. It has three versus two commonly used ports and slots on the M1 MacBook Air.

PortsSurface Go 2M1 MacBook Air
headphone jackYesYes
microSD card slotYesNo
Thunderbolt 3NoYes
USB-CYesNo

M1 MacBook Air Pros

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

Much faster CPU performance

Apple M1 (8C, 8G) inside M1 MacBook Air has a 464% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core M3-8100Y inside Surface Go 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 Go 2 - Intel Core M3-8100Y
1,313
Surface Go 2 - Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y
922
Supports larger memory

M1 MacBook Air supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Go 2. It supports up to 16GB versus 8GB of system memory on the Surface Go 2.

Max system memory size
M1 MacBook Air
16 GB
Surface Go 2
8 GB
26% larger display

M1 MacBook Air has a 13.3-inch screen size 26% larger than the 10.5-inch Surface Go 2.

Display size
M1 MacBook Air
13.3-inch
Surface Go 2
10.5-inch

Prices

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

Surface Go 2 Price
Microsoft Surface Go 2-10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - WiFi - Platinum (Latest Model) (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Go 2-10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - WiFi - Platinum (Latest Model) (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$268.00
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New Microsoft Surface Go 2 - 10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium - 4GB Memory - 64GB - Wifi - Platinum (Latest Model)
 New Microsoft Surface Go 2 - 10.5" Touch-Screen - Intel Pentium - 4GB Memory - 64GB - Wifi - Platinum (Latest Model)
By Microsoft
$246.74
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Microsoft Surface Go 2 10.5 inches Touch-Screen Intel Pentium 4GB RAM, 64gb STV-00001 (Renewed)
 Microsoft Surface Go 2 10.5 inches Touch-Screen Intel Pentium 4GB RAM, 64gb STV-00001 (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$167.00
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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
$629.00
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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
$707.39
See at Amazon
Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed)
 Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$610.00
See at Amazon

Specs Comparison

Availability

Surface Go 2M1 MacBook Air
Released20202020
Release Date
  • Introduced: May 6, 2020
  • Pre-ordered: May 6, 2020
  • Released: May 12, 2020
Announced on November 10th, 2020
PricingSurface Go 2 for Consumer
  • $399 - Intel Pentium | 4 GB | 64 GB | WiFi
  • $549 - Intel Pentium | 8 GB | 128 GB | WiFi
  • $629 - Intel Core M3 | 8 GB | 128 GB | WiFi
  • $729 - Intel Core M3 | 8 GB | 128 GB | LTE
Surface Go 2 for Commercial
  • $449 - Intel Pentium | 4 GB | 64 GB | WiFi
  • $599 - Intel Pentium | 8 GB | 128 GB | WiFi
  • $679 - Intel Core M3 | 8 GB | 128 GB | WiFi
  • $779 - Intel Core M3 | 8 GB | 128 GB | LTE
  • $999
    Apple M1 Chip (7 cores GPU) | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
  • $1,249
    Apple M1 Chip (8 cores GPU) | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
Generations

Exterior

Surface Go 2M1 MacBook Air
Dimensions9.65” x 6.9” x 0.33” (245 mm x 175  mm x 8.3 mm)
Width: 9.65” (245 mm)
Height: 6.9” (175 mm)
Thickness: 0.33” (8.3 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 Go 2: 1.2 lbs (544 g)
  • Surface Go 2 with LTE: 1.22 lbs. (553 g)
  • Surface Go 2 Keyboard: 0.55 lbs (249 g)
Starting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg)
Colors
Platinum
Gold Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Surface Go Type Cover
    • Not included
  • Keyboard:
    • Full-size mechanical backlit keyset with 1 mm of key travel.
  • Trackpad:
    • Precision glass trackpad.
    • Trackpad size: 101 mm x 56 mm
    • Supports a 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 Go 2M1 MacBook Air
Size10.5 Inches13.3 Inches
Info
  • Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.45M Pixels)
  • Density: 220 PPI
  • PixelSense™ Display
  • Contrast ratio: 1500:1
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Inking: designed together with Surface Pen
  • Touch: 10 points multi-touch
  • Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
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 Go 2M1 MacBook Air
Surface Go 2 Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
Right (3)
  • 1 x USB-C
    USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), DisplayPort, Power Delivery
  • 1 x Surface Connect
    Charging, Docking
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
Bottom (1)
  • 1 x Surface Go Type Cover Connector
Under Kickstand (1)
  • 1 x microSD card slot
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

Internal Specs

Surface Go 2M1 MacBook Air
Processor
  1. 8th Gen Intel® Pentium® Gold 4425Y
    2 cores, 4 threads, 1.70 GHz, 2MB, 6W
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ M3-8100Y
    2 cores, 4 threads, 1.10 → 3.40 GHz, 4MB SmartCache, 5W
  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
Integrated Graphics
  1. 8th Gen Intel® Pentium® Gold 4425Y
    Intel® UHD Graphics 615
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 850 MHz
  2. 8th Gen Intel® Core™ M3-8100Y
    Intel® UHD Graphics 615
    24 Execution Units, 300 → 900 MHz
  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
Memory
4GB 8GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM
  • 8GB
    unified memory
  • Configurable to 16GB
Storage
  • 64GB
    eMMC
  • 128GB 256GB
    SSD
  • 256GB 512GB
    SSD
  • Configurable to 1TB or 2TB

Connectivity

Surface Go 2M1 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
MoreOptional LTE
  • Nano SIM Tray
  • 4G LTE Advanced (22 Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66)
  • GPS/GLONASS: Standalone and Assiste
  • GNSS, accuracy up to 3 meters
-

Battery

Surface Go 2M1 MacBook Air
Size26.81 Wh49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life
  • WiFi: Up to 10 hours of typical device usage
  • LTE Advanced: Up to 10 hours of typical device usage
  • Up to 15 hours wireless web
  • Up to 18 hours Apple TV app movie playback
Power Supply
  • 24W proprietary Surface Connect power supply
30W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software

Surface Go 2M1 MacBook Air
OS
  • For Consumer: Windows 10 Home in S-mode
  • For Commercial: Windows 10 Pro
Free upgrade to Windows 11		Shipped with macOS Big Sur
Built-in Apps
  • For Consumer
    Microsoft 365 Family one month trial
  • For Commercial
    1 month trial for new Microsoft Office 365 customers
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 Go 2M1 MacBook Air
Camera
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video
  • 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p full HD video
720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio
  • Dual Studio Mics
  • 2W stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio™
  • Stereo speakers
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Three-mic array with directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc

Surface Go 2M1 MacBook Air
InkingSupports Surface Pen
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Paper feel
magnetic storage
-
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
  • NFC
  • 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 Go 2
  • 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
  • Mechanical features: Signature unibody magnesium design with hidden perimeter venting
  • Kickstand with a full-friction multiposition hinge to 165 degrees
  • Magnetic attach for keyboard fold stability
  • Physical buttons: volumes, power
  • Casing: Magnesium
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 Go 2M1 MacBook Air
At Glance
Released in Mid
2020
3:2 FHD+
10.5”
1280p 60Hz
Weight
1.2 lb
0.54 kg
Up to
Intel Core M3-8100Y
2C/4T, 1.10 → 3.40 GHz
Geekbench 5
660
Single Core
Geekbench 5
1,313
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 615
24 Execution Units, 300 → 900 MHz
Configurable up to
8GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3
Surface Go 2 Ports
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

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