Surface Laptop Studio vs. M1 MacBook Pro 13”: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between Surface Laptop Studio and M1 MacBook Pro 13” specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Surface Laptop Studio Pros

Reasons that Surface Laptop Studio is better than M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

Newer manufacturing

2021 vs. 2020

Supports larger memory

Surface Laptop Studio supports a larger memory capacity than the M1 MacBook Pro 13”. It supports up to 32GB versus 16GB of system memory on the M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

Max system memory size
Surface Laptop Studio
32 GB
M1 MacBook Pro 13”
16 GB
Supports discrete graphics

Configurable up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti  4GB GDDR6 vs. integrated

Upgradable storage

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

SlotsSurface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
M.2
Yes x1
Onboard
8% larger display

Surface Laptop Studio has a 14.4-inch screen size 8% larger than the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

Display size
Surface Laptop Studio
14.4-inch
M1 MacBook Pro 13”
13.3-inch
Has one more port and slot

Surface Laptop Studio has more ports and slots count than the M1 MacBook Pro 13”. It has four versus three amount of ports and slots on the M1 MacBook Pro 13”.

PortsSurface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
headphone jackYesYes
Surface Connect+YesNo
Thunderbolt 3NoYes x2
Thunderbolt 4Yes x2No
Total43

M1 MacBook Pro 13” Pros

Reasons that M1 MacBook Pro 13” is better than Surface Laptop Studio.

Much faster CPU performance

Apple M1 (8C, 8G) inside M1 MacBook Pro 13” has a 52% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-11370H inside Surface Laptop Studio.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
M1 MacBook Pro 13” - Apple M1 (8C, 8G)
7,414
Surface Laptop Studio - Intel Core i7-11370H
4,864
Surface Laptop Studio - Intel Core i5-11300H
4,441
About 20% lighter

M1 MacBook Pro 13” weighed 3.1 pounds, 20% lighter than the 3.83 pounds Surface Laptop Studio.

WeightSurface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
Pound
3.83 lbs.
3.1 lbs.
Kilogram
1.74 kg
1.41 kg

Prices

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

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio Price
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio - 14.4" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i7 - 32GB Memory - 1TB SSD - Platinum
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio - 14.4" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i7 - 32GB Memory - 1TB SSD - Platinum
By Microsoft
$1,744.93
$2,699.99 35% OFF
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, 14.4" Touchscreen Display - Intel Core H35 i7-11370H, 16GB RAM 512GB SSD NVIDIA GFORCE RTX 3050 Ti, Windows 11 Home, Platinum - A8Z-00001 (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, 14.4" Touchscreen Display - Intel Core H35 i7-11370H, 16GB RAM 512GB SSD NVIDIA GFORCE RTX 3050 Ti, Windows 11 Home, Platinum - A8Z-00001 (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$994.99
$1,099.00 9% OFF
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio - 14.4" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i5 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD - Platinum
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio - 14.4" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i5 - 16GB Memory - 256GB SSD - Platinum
By Microsoft
$1,116.03
$1,599.99 30% OFF
M1 MacBook Pro 13” Price
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) Space Gray (Renewed)
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$689.64
$725.51 5% OFF
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
2020 Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) - Silver (Renewed)
By Apple
$684.95
$729.00 6% OFF
Apple 2020 MacBook Air with M1 Chip 13-inch, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD - Space Gray (Renewed)
Apple 2020 MacBook Air with M1 Chip 13-inch, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD - Space Gray (Renewed)
By Apple
$725.18

Availability

Surface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
Released20212020
Release Date
  • Introduced: September 22, 2021
  • Pre-ordered: September 22, 2021
  • Released: October 5, 2021
Announced on November 10th, 2020
Pricing
  • $1,599.99
    i5-11300H 16GB 256GB Intel Iris Xe
  • $1,799.99
    i5-11300H 16GB 512GB Intel Iris Xe
  • $2,099.99
    i7-11370H 16GB 256GB RTX 3050 Ti
  • $2,699.99
    i7-11370H 16GB 1TB RTX 3050 Ti
  • $3,099.99
    i7-11370H 32GB 2TB RTX 3050 Ti
  • $1,299
    Apple M1 Chip | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
  • $1,499
    Apple M1 Chip | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
Generations-

Exterior

Surface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
Dimensions12.72” x 8.98” x 0.746” (323.28 mm x 228.32 mm x 18.94 mm)11.97” x 8.36” x 0.61” (304.1 mm x 212.4 mm x 15.6 mm)
Weight
  • 3.83 lb (1,742.9 grams)
    Intel Core i5 models.
  • 4.00 lb (1,820.2 grams)
    Intel Core i7 models.
Starting at 3.1 pounds (1.4 kg)
Colors
Platinum
Casing: Magnesium and Aluminum
Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Keyboard:
    • Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys
    • Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12)
    • Windows key and dedicated buttons for media controls, screen brightness
    • Backlight.
  • Precision Haptic touchpad:
    • Largest surface touchpad to date.
    • Supports up to Five-finger multitouch gestures.
Backlit Magic Keyboard with:
  • 65 (U.S.) or 66 (ISO) keys including 4 arrow keys in an inverted‑T arrangement
  • Touch Bar
  • Touch ID sensor
  • 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 StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
Size14.4 Inches13.3 Inches
Info
  • 14.4” PixelSense™ Flow Display
  • Resolution: 2400 x 1600 (201 PPI)
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Contrast ratio: 1500:1
  • Refresh rate: 120Hz
    60Hz default.
  • Inking: GPU Ink Acceleration
  • Touch: 10 points multi-touch
  • Dolby Vision® support
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
  • 500 nits brightness
  • Supports wide color (P3)
  • True Tone technology

Ports

Surface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
Surface Laptop Studio Ports
Image Source: Microsoft
Left (2)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 4
    40 Gpbs, USB 4.0 (40 Gbps), DisplayPort, Power Delivery
Right (2)
  • 1 x Surface Connect+
    Magnet Charging, Surface Dock
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone
M1 MacBook Pro 13” Ports
Image Source: Apple
Left (2)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3
    40 Gpbs, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), DisplayPort, Charging
Right (1)
  • 1 x headphone jack
    Headphone/Microphone

Internal Specs

Surface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
Processor
  1. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11300H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 3.10 → 4.40 GHz, 8MB SmartCache, 35W
  2. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11370H
    4 cores, 8 threads, 3.30 → 4.80 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 35W
  1. Apple M1
    8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W
Integrated Graphics
  1. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11300H
    Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
    80 Execution Units, 400 → 1300 MHz
  2. 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11370H
    Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
    96 Execution Units, 400 → 1350 MHz
  1. Apple M1
    Apple M1 iGPU
    8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
Memory
16GB 32GB
4267 MHz LPDDR4X RAM
  • 8GB
    4266 MHz LPDDR4X onboard memory
  • Configurable to 16GB
Discrete Graphics
  • Optional NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 Ti  with 4GB GDDR6
    For Consumer.
  • Optional NVIDIA® RTX™ A2000 with 4GB GDDR6
    For Business.
-
Storage
256GB 512GB 1TB 2TB
Removable M.2 NVMe SSD
  • 256GB 512GB
    SSD
  • Configurable to 1TB or 2TB

Connectivity

Surface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
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 StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
Size
  • 58.0 Wh
    Nominal battery capacity.
  • 56.3 Wh
    Minimum battery capacity.
58.2 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life
  • Up to 19 hours of typical device usage
    Intel Core i5 models.
  • Up to 18 hours of typical device usage
    Intel Core i7 models.
  • Up to 17 hours wireless web
  • Up to 20 hours Apple TV app movie playback
Power Supply
  • 60W power supply
    Intel Core i5 models.
  • 95W power supply
    Intel Core i7 models.
61W USB‑C Power Adapter

Software

Surface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
OS
  • For Consumer: Windows 11 Home
  • For Commercial: Windows 11 Pro
Shipped with macOS Big Sur
Built-in Apps
  • Preloaded Microsoft 365 Apps
  • Microsoft 365 Family 30-day trial
  • Preloaded Xbox app
  • Xbox Game Pass Ultimate one month 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 StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
Camera
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 1080p resolution front-facing camera
720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio
  • Dual far-field Studio Mics
  • Quad Omnisonic™ speakers with Dolby Atmos®
  • Stereo speakers with high dynamic range
  • Wide stereo sound
  • Support for Dolby Atmos playback
  • Studio-quality three-mic array with directional beamforming
  • 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc

Surface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
Inking
  • Supports Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP)
    4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel 0.1mm precision
  • Supports Tactile signals with Surface Slim Pen 2
-
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
Security
  • Hardware TPM 2.0 chip for enterprise security and BitLocker support
  • Enterprise-grade protection with Windows Hello face sign-in
  • Windows enhanced hardware security
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Apple T2 Security Chip
In the box
  • Surface Laptop Studio
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
  • MacBook Pro 13”
  • 61W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
Warranty
  • One-year limited hardware warranty
  • Surface for Business customers: Includes Advanced Exchange, an expedited replacement service, at no additional cost
Your MacBook Pro comes with 90 days of complimentary technical support and a one-year limited warranty. Purchase AppleCare+ for Mac 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.
MoreSupports Surface Dial
Supports off-screen interaction only.
Hinge
Dynamic Woven Hinge made of woven fabric with embedded cables that can bend 180 degrees.
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 Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”
At Glance
Released in Late
2021
3:2 2.4K
14.4”
2400p 60~120Hz
Weight
3.83 lb
1.74 kg
Up to
Intel Core i7-11370H
4C/8T, 3.30 → 4.80 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,397
Single Core
Geekbench 5
4,864
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
96 Execution Units, 400 → 1350 MHz
Configurable up to
32GB
4267 MHz LPDDR4X
Surface Laptop Studio Ports
NVIDIA GeForce
RTX 3050 Ti 
4GB GDDR6
Released in Late
2020
16:10 WQXGA
13.3”
1600p 60Hz
Weight
3.1 lb
1.41 kg
Powered By
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 Pro 13” Ports

Comparison Summary

Surface Laptop Studio vs. M1 MacBook Pro 13”

Microsoft has released the Surface Laptop Studio, a 14.4-inch machine, in late-2021. It is powered by up to a quad-core Intel Core i7-11370H with a boost clock speed up to 4.80 GHz. The laptop has a dedicated GPU option up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti  with 4GB GDDR6.

On the other hand, we have the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Pro 13” was introduced by Apple about a year earlier in late-2020. It comes with an octa-core Apple M1 (8C, 8G). It has an integrated graphics option up to Apple M1 iGPU (8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz).

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Surface Laptop Studio1
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11300H1,28675.43%
2
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11370H1,39781.94%
M1 MacBook Pro 13”1
Apple M11,705100.00%
01,705

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Surface Laptop Studio1
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11300H4,44159.90%
2
11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11370H4,86465.61%
M1 MacBook Pro 13”1
Apple M17,414100.00%
07,414

The Surface Laptop Studio has a 14.4-inch display which is slightly larger than the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Pro 13”. In addition, the Surface Laptop Studio weighs 3.83 lbs. about 23% heavier than the 3.1 lbs. M1 MacBook Pro 13”. Moreover, measured at 12.72” x 8.98” x 0.746”, the Surface Laptop Studio is much bulkier than the M1 MacBook Pro 13” at 11.97” x 8.36” x 0.61”.

Surface Laptop StudioM1 MacBook Pro 13”

There are a toal number of 4 ports and slots available on Surface Laptop Studio. That includes a Thunderbolt 4 port, a Surface Connect+, and a headphone jack. With that said, it has a port or slot more than the M1 MacBook Pro 13” that has only two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a headphone jack.

Moving over to upgradability, Microsoft claims that the Surface Laptop Studio supports up to 32GB 4267 MHz LPDDR4X memory. However, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. Fortunately, it comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that users can replace and upgrade in the future.

For M1 MacBook Pro 13”, it supports up to 16GB Unified memory. Like Surface Laptop Studio, it has an onboard memory module that is not upgradable by the users. Furthermore, it also has an integrated storage module and has no M.2 slots for replacement.

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