Surface Laptop 5 15” vs. M2 MacBook Air: Full specs comparison

We thoroughly analyzed technical specifications for Surface Laptop 5 15” and M2 MacBook Air models, including CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

Surface Laptop 5 15” Pros

Reasons that Surface Laptop 5 15” is better than M2 MacBook Air.

Supports larger memory

Surface Laptop 5 15” supports a larger memory capacity than the M2 MacBook Air. It supports up to 32GB versus 24GB of system memory on the M2 MacBook Air.

Max system memory size
Surface Laptop 5 15”
32 GB
M2 MacBook Air
24 GB
Upgradable storage

Surface Laptop 5 15” comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that you can replace and upgrade in the future.

SlotsSurface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
M.2
Yes x1
Onboard
Slightly more versatile connectivity

Surface Laptop 5 15” has better versatile I/O connectivity than the M2 MacBook Air. It has three versus two commonly used ports and slots on the M2 MacBook Air.

PortsSurface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
headphone jackYesYes
Thunderbolt 3NoYes
Thunderbolt 4YesNo
USB-AYesNo

M2 MacBook Air Pros

Reasons that M2 MacBook Air is better than Surface Laptop 5 15”.

Significantly faster CPU performance

Apple M2 (8C, 10G) inside M2 MacBook Air has a 39% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-1265U inside Surface Laptop 5 15”.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
M2 MacBook Air - Apple M2 (8C, 10G)
8,819
M2 MacBook Air - Apple M2 (8C, 8G)
8,819
Surface Laptop 5 15” - Intel Core i7-1255U
6,415
Surface Laptop 5 15” - Intel Core i7-1265U
6,336
About 22% lighter

M2 MacBook Air weighed 2.7 pounds, 22% lighter than the 3.44 pounds Surface Laptop 5 15”.

WeightSurface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Pound
3.44 lbs.
2.7 lbs.
Kilogram
1.56 kg
1.22 kg

Prices

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

Surface Laptop 5 15” Price
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (2022), 15" Touch Screen, Thin & Lightweight, Long Battery Life, Fast Intel i7 Processor for Multi-Tasking, 16GB RAM, 512GB Storage with Windows 11, Platinum
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (2022), 15" Touch Screen, Thin & Lightweight, Long Battery Life, Fast Intel i7 Processor for Multi-Tasking, 16GB RAM, 512GB Storage with Windows 11, Platinum
By Microsoft
$1,299.99
$1,799.99 28% OFF
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (2022), 15" Touch Screen, Thin & Lightweight, Long Battery Life, Fast Intel i7 Processor for Multi-Tasking, 8GB RAM, 512GB Storage with Windows 11, Platinum
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (2022), 15" Touch Screen, Thin & Lightweight, Long Battery Life, Fast Intel i7 Processor for Multi-Tasking, 8GB RAM, 512GB Storage with Windows 11, Platinum
By Microsoft
$1,452.72
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 15" Touchscreen Notebook - 2496 x 1664 - Intel Core i7 12th Gen i7-1265U - Intel Evo Platform - 16 GB Total RAM - 512 GB SSD - Platinum
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 15" Touchscreen Notebook - 2496 x 1664 - Intel Core i7 12th Gen i7-1265U - Intel Evo Platform - 16 GB Total RAM - 512 GB SSD - Platinum
By Microsoft
$1,099.99
$1,597.99 31% OFF
M2 MacBook Air Price
Apple 2022 MacBook Air Laptop with M2 chip: 13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, 1080p FaceTime HD Camera. Works with iPhone and iPad; Silver
Apple 2022 MacBook Air Laptop with M2 chip: 13.6-inch Liquid Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, 1080p FaceTime HD Camera. Works with iPhone and iPad; Silver
By Apple
$849.00
$999.00 15% OFF
Apple 2022 MacBook Air M2 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Midnight (Renewed Premium)
Apple 2022 MacBook Air M2 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Midnight (Renewed Premium)
By Apple
$839.97
Apple 2023 MacBook Air Laptop with M2 chip: 15.3-inch Liquid Retina Display, 8GB Unified Memory, 256GB SSD Storage, 1080p FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Midnight
Apple 2023 MacBook Air Laptop with M2 chip: 15.3-inch Liquid Retina Display, 8GB Unified Memory, 256GB SSD Storage, 1080p FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Midnight
By Apple
$1,159.93
$1,299.00 11% OFF

Availability

Surface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Released20222022
Release Date
  • Introduced: October 12, 2022
  • Pre-ordered: October 12, 2022
  • Released: October 25, 2022
Announced on June 6, 2022 (WWDC 2022)
PricingStarting at $1,299.99
  • $1,199
    M2 (8C, 8G) | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
  • $1,499
    M2 (8C, 10G) | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
Applicable Models-
  • MacBook Air (2022)
  • 2022 MacBook Air
  • MacBook Air with M2 chip
Generations

Exterior

Surface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Size Comparison
Surface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Dimensions13.4” x 9.6” x 0.58” (340 mm x 244 mm x 14.7 mm)11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 in (304.1 x 215 x 11.3 mm)
Weight
  • Metal
    3.44 lbs (1.56 kg)
Starting at 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg)
Colors
  • Metal
    Matte Black Platinum
Midnight Starlight Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Keyboard:
    • Full-size backlit keyboard with a soft-touch feel and full 1.3mm travel.
    • Large palm rest with premium Alcantara® material for maximized typing comfort.
  • Trackpad:
    • Larger size 115 mm x 76.66 mm, glass.
    • Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gestures.
Backlit Magic Keyboard with:
  • 78 (U.S.) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys and 4 arrow keys in an inverted-T arrangement
  • Touch ID
  • 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 Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Size13.5 Inches13.6 Inches
Info
  • 15” PixelSense™ Display
  • Resolution: 2496 x 1664
  • Density: 201 PPI
  • Color profile: sRGB and Vivid
  • Individually color-calibrated display
  • Refresh rate: 60Hz
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Contrast ratio: 1300:1
  • Touch: 10-point multi-touch
  • Brightness: 400 nits maximum (typical). 5 nits minimum
  • Dolby Vision IQ™ support
  • Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5
Liquid Retina display
  • 13.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology.
  • 2560-by-1664 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch with support for 1 billion colors
  • 500 nits brightness
  • Wide color (P3)
  • True Tone technology

Ports

Surface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Left (3)
  • 1 x Thunderbolt 4
    40 Gpbs, USB 4.0 (40 Gbps), Power Delivery, DisplayPort
  • 1 x USB-A
    USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps)
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
Right (1)
  • 1 x Surface Connect
    Charging, Docking
M2 MacBook Air Ports
Image Source: Apple
Left (3)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, USB 4.0 (40 Gbps), Charging, DisplayPort
  • 1 x MagSafe 3
    Magnetic charging port
Right (1)
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone

Internal Specs

Surface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Processor
  1. 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1255U
    10 cores, 12 threads, 1.70 → 4.70 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W
  2. 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1265U
    10 cores, 12 threads, 1.80 → 4.80 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W
  1. Apple M2 (8C, 8G)
    8 cores, 8 threads, 2.42 → 3.48 GHz,
  2. Apple M2 (8C, 10G)
    8 cores, 8 threads, 2.42 → 3.48 GHz,
Integrated Graphics
  1. 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1255U
    Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
    96 Execution Units, → 1250 MHz
  2. 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1265U
    Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
    96 Execution Units, → 1250 MHz
  1. Apple M2 (8C, 8G)
    Apple M2 iGPU
    8 GPU Cores, 16 Neural Engine Cores,
  2. Apple M2 (8C, 10G)
    Apple M2 iGPU
    10 GPU Cores, 16 Neural Engine Cores,
Memory
8GB 16GB 32GB
5200 MHz LPDDR5 RAM
8GB 16GB 24GB
unified memory.
Storage
256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
Removable M.2 NVMe SSD
  • 256GB 512GB
    SSD
  • Configurable to 1TB or 2TB
Fans Number1-
Cooling Info-Passive

Connectivity

Surface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Wi-FiWi-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
BluetoothBluetooth Wireless 5.1 technologyBluetooth 5.0 wireless technology

Battery

Surface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Size
  • 47.4 Wh
    Nominal battery capacity.
  • 45.8 Wh
    Minimum battery capacity.
52.6 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery LifeUp to 17 hours of typical device usage
  • Up to 15 hours of wireless web
  • Up to 18 hours of Apple TV app movie playback
Power Supply
  • 60W power supply with USB-A (5W) (65W total)
  • Supports Fast Charge (0-80% in about one hour)
  • 30W USB‑C Power Adapter
    (included with M2 with 8-core GPU.
  • 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter
    included with M2 with 10-core GPU and 512GB storage, configurable with M2 with 8-core GPU.

Software

Surface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
OSConsumer models
  • Windows 11 Home
Business models
  • Windows 11 Pro
Shipped with macOS Monterey
Built-in AppsConsumer models
  • Preloaded Microsoft 365 Apps
  • Microsoft 365 Family 30-day trial
  • Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 30-day trial
Business models
  • Preloaded Microsoft 365 Apps
  • Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, or Microsoft 365 Apps 30-day 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 Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Camera
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 720p HD front-facing video camera
1080p FaceTime HD camera.
Advanced image signal processor with computational video.
Audio
  • Dual far-field Studio Mics
  • OmniSonic stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos®
  • Four-speaker sound system
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Spatial Audio when playing music or video with Dolby Atmos on built-in speakers
  • Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking when using AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max
  • Three-mic array with directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones

Misc

Surface Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
Inking
  • Designed for Surface Pen 
  • Supports Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP)
    4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel 0.1mm precision
-
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
Security
  • TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise-grade security and BitLocker support
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
  • Windows 11 Secured-core PC
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Apple T2 Security Chip
In the box
  • Surface Laptop 5 15”
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
  • MacBook Air
  • 30W or 35W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)
Warranty
  • 1-year limited hardware warranty
One-year limited warranty.
More-Video Support
  • Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion 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 Laptop 5 15”M2 MacBook Air
At Glance
Released in Late
2022
3:2 2.5K
13.5”
1664p 60Hz
Weight
3.44 lb
1.56 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-1265U
10C/12T, 1.80 → 4.80 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,336
Single Core
Geekbench 5
6,336
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
96 Execution Units, → 1250 MHz
Configurable up to
32GB
5200 MHz LPDDR5
Starting at
$1,299.99
i7, 8GB, 256GB
Released in Mid
2022
16:10 QHD
13.6”
1664p 60Hz
Weight
2.7 lb
1.22 kg
Up to
Apple M2 (8C, 10G)
8C/8T, 2.42 → 3.48 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,933
Single Core
Geekbench 5
8,819
Multi-Core
With integrated
Apple M2 iGPU
10 GPU Cores, 16 Neural Engine Cores
Configurable up to
24GB
Unified Memory
M2 MacBook Air Ports
Starting at
$1,199
M2 (8 GPU), 8GB, 256GB SSD
New
MagSafe 3
Charging port
Supports
Fast Charging
50% in 30 mins with 65W charger
New
1080p Webcam
New
Four Speakers
Sound System
Up to
18 Hours
Battery Life
Built-in
Touch ID
Dual
USB-C
USB4 & Thunderbolt 3
Wi-Fi 6
Bluetooth 5.0

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