Surface Go 3 vs. M1 MacBook Air
Here is a side by side comparison between Surface Go 3 and M1 MacBook Air specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.
Key Differences
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Microsoft has released the Surface Go 3, a 10.5-inch machine, in late-2021. It is powered by up to a dual-core Intel Core i3-10100Y with a boost clock speed up to 3.90 GHz. The laptop has an integrated graphics option up to Intel® UHD Graphics 615 (24 Execution Units, 300 → 1000 MHz).
On the other hand, we have the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Air was introduced by Apple about a year earlier in late-2020. It comes with up to an octa-core Apple M1 (8C, 8G). It has an integrated graphics option up to Apple M1 iGPU (8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz).
Surface Go 3 Pros
Reasons that Surface Go 3 is better than M1 MacBook Air.
Newer manufacturing
2021 vs. 2020
About 58% lighter
Surface Go 3 weighed 1.2 pounds, 58% lighter than the 2.8 pounds M1 MacBook Air.
| Weight | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
|---|---|---|
| Pound | 1.2 lbs. | 2.8 lbs. |
| Kilogram | 0.54 kg | 1.27 kg |
Has two more ports and slots
Surface Go 3 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.
| Ports | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
|---|---|---|
| headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| microSD card slot | Yes | No |
| Surface Connect | Yes | No |
| Surface Go Type Cover Connector | Yes | No |
| Thunderbolt 3 | No | Yes x2 |
| USB-C | Yes | No |
| Total | 5 | 3 |
Slightly more versatile connectivity
Surface Go 3 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.
| Ports | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
|---|---|---|
| headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| microSD card slot | Yes | No |
| Thunderbolt 3 | No | Yes |
| USB-C | Yes | No |
M1 MacBook Air Pros
Reasons that M1 MacBook Air is better than Surface Go 3.
Much faster CPU performance
Apple M1 (8C, 8G) inside M1 MacBook Air has a 372% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i3-10100Y inside Surface Go 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 Go 3 - Intel Core i3-10100Y
1,570
Surface Go 3 - Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y
1,510
Supports larger memory
M1 MacBook Air supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Go 3. It supports up to 16GB versus 8GB of system memory on the Surface Go 3.
Max system memory size
M1 MacBook Air
16 GB
Surface Go 3
8 GB
26% larger display
M1 MacBook Air has a 13.3-inch screen size 26% larger than the 10.5-inch Surface Go 3.
Display size
M1 MacBook Air
13.3-inch
Surface Go 3
10.5-inch
Key Features | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| At Glance |  |  |
Availability | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| Released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Release Date |
| Announced on November 10th, 2020 |
| Pricing |
|
|
| Generations |
| |
| Stores |
Exterior | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| Size Comparison | Surface Go 3M1 MacBook Air | |
| Dimensions | 9.65” 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)
|
|
| Weight |
| Starting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg) |
| Colors | Platinum | Gold Space Gray Silver |
| Keyboard and Trackpad |
| Backlit Magic Keyboard with:
|
Display | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| Size | 10.5 Inches | 13.3 Inches |
| Info |
| Retina display
|
Ports | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
 Right (3)
Bottom (1)
Under Kickstand (1)
|  Left (2)
Right (1)
|
Internal Specs | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| Processor |
|
|
Geekbench 5 Single CoreGeekbench 5 Multi Core | ||
| Integrated Graphics |
|
|
| Memory | 4GB 8GB
1866 MHz LPDDR3 RAM |
|
| Storage |
|
|
Connectivity | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible. |
|
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology | Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology |
| More | LTE version coming soon. | - |
Battery | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| Size |
| 49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery |
| Battery Life | Up to 11 hours of typical device usage |
|
| Power Supply | 24W proprietary Surface Connect power supply | 30W USB‑C Power Adapter |
Software | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| OS | Windows 11 Home in S-mode | Shipped with macOS Big Sur |
| 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 |
Camera & Audio | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| Camera |
| 720p FaceTime HD camera |
| Audio |
|
|
Misc | Surface Go 3 | M1 MacBook Air |
| Inking | Supports Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP)
4096 levels of pressure
Tilt sensing
Best in class latency
Paper feel
magnetic storage
| - |
| Sensors |
|
|
| Security |
|
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| In the box |
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|
| 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 |
| Video Support
|
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Microsoft Surface Family
Here are all Microsoft Surface devices we’ve covered on our site:
Surface
Surface Book
Surface Laptop
Surface Laptop Go
Surface Laptop SE
Surface Laptop Studio
Surface Pro
Surface Pro X
Apple Family
Here are all Apple devices we’ve covered on our site:
11” MacBook Air
12” MacBook
13” MacBook Air
13” MacBook Pro
14” MacBook Pro
15” MacBook Pro
16” MacBook Pro
Mac Desktop
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