Surface Pro 9 5G vs. M2 MacBook Air: Which is better?

Here is a side by side comparison between Surface Pro 9 5G and M2 MacBook Air specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

Surface Pro 9 5G Pros

Reasons that Surface Pro 9 5G is better than M2 MacBook Air.

Upgradable storage

Surface Pro 9 5G comes with a single removable M.2 SSD slot that you can replace and upgrade in the future.

SlotsSurface Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
M.2
Yes x1
Onboard
About 28% lighter

Surface Pro 9 5G weighed 1.95 pounds, 28% lighter than the 2.7 pounds M2 MacBook Air.

WeightSurface Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
Pound
1.95 lbs.
2.7 lbs.
Kilogram
0.88 kg
1.22 kg
Has two more ports and slots

Surface Pro 9 5G has more ports and slots count than the M2 MacBook Air. It has six versus four amount of ports and slots on the M2 MacBook Air.

PortsSurface Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
headphone jackNoYes
MagSafe 3NoYes
nanoSIM card slotYesNo
SSD slotYesNo
Surface ConnectYesNo
Surface Type CoverYesNo
Thunderbolt 3NoYes x2
Thunderbolt 4Yes x2No
Total64

M2 MacBook Air Pros

Reasons that M2 MacBook Air is better than Surface Pro 9 5G.

Much faster CPU performance

Apple M2 (8C, 10G) inside M2 MacBook Air has a 85% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Microsoft SQ3 inside Surface Pro 9 5G.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
M2 MacBook Air - Apple M2 (8C, 10G)
8,819
M2 MacBook Air - Apple M2 (8C, 8G)
8,819
Surface Pro 9 5G - Microsoft SQ3
4,760
Supports larger memory

M2 MacBook Air supports a larger memory capacity than the Surface Pro 9 5G. It supports up to 24GB versus 16GB of system memory on the Surface Pro 9 5G.

Max system memory size
M2 MacBook Air
24 GB
Surface Pro 9 5G
16 GB
Slightly more versatile connectivity

M2 MacBook Air has better versatile I/O connectivity than the Surface Pro 9 5G. It has two versus one commonly used port and slot on the Surface Pro 9 5G.

PortsSurface Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
headphone jackNoYes
Thunderbolt 3NoYes
Thunderbolt 4YesNo

Prices

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

Microsoft Surface Pro 9 Price
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (2022), 13" 2-in-1 Tablet & Laptop, Thin & Lightweight, Intel 12th Gen i7 Fast Processor for Multi-Tasking, 16GB RAM, 256GB Storage with Windows 11, Graphite Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (2022), 13" 2-in-1 Tablet & Laptop, Thin & Lightweight, Intel 12th Gen i7 Fast Processor for Multi-Tasking, 16GB RAM, 256GB Storage with Windows 11, Graphite Microsoft Copilot
By Microsoft
$1,099.00
$1,599.99 31% OFF
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 Tablet - 13" - Core i7 12th Gen i7-1265U Deca-core (10 Core) - 16 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Graphite
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 Tablet - 13" - Core i7 12th Gen i7-1265U Deca-core (10 Core) - 16 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Graphite
By Microsoft
$1,059.78
$1,134.78 7% OFF
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (2022), 13" 2-in-1 Tablet & Laptop, Thin & Lightweight, Intel 12th Gen i5 Fast Processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB Storage with Windows 11, Copilot, Graphite (Renewed)
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (2022), 13" 2-in-1 Tablet & Laptop, Thin & Lightweight, Intel 12th Gen i5 Fast Processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB Storage with Windows 11, Copilot, Graphite (Renewed)
By Microsoft
$690.99
$749.99 8% OFF
M2 MacBook Air Price
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
$864.00
2023 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M2 chip (15.3-inch , 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Midnight (Renewed)
2023 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M2 chip (15.3-inch , 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) (QWERTY English) Midnight (Renewed)
By Apple
$939.00
$994.97 6% OFF
2022 Apple MacBook Air Laptop with Apple M2 chip (13.6-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) Midnight (Renewed)
2022 Apple MacBook Air Laptop with Apple M2 chip (13.6-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) Midnight (Renewed)
By Apple
$839.00

Availability

Surface Pro 9 5GM2 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 $2,999.99
  • $1,199
    M2 (8C, 8G) | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD
  • $1,499
    M2 (8C, 10G) | 8GB RAM | 512GB SSD
Applicable Models
  • Surface Pro 9 with 5G
  • Surface Pro 9 SQ® 3
  • MacBook Air (2022)
  • 2022 MacBook Air
  • MacBook Air with M2 chip
Generations

Exterior

Surface Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
Dimensions11.3” x 8.2” x 0.37” (287 mm x 208 mm x 9.3 mm)11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 in (304.1 x 215 x 11.3 mm)
Weight1.95 lb (883 g)Starting at 2.7 pounds (1.24 kg)
Colors
Platinum
Midnight Starlight Space Gray Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Not included.
  • Compatible with 
    Surface Pro Signature Keyboard Surface Pro X Keyboard
  • Type Cover Features:
    • Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys
    • Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12)
    • 4 directional keys; Windows, Brightness and Media Controls Keys;
    • LED backlighting
  • Trackpad:
    • Precision glass trackpad.
    • Trackpad size: 4 x 2 inches (101.6 mm x 50.8 mm)
    • Supports a five-finger multitouch gesture.
  • Surface Slim Pen Storage
    • Magnetic dock
    • Automatically wireless charge Surface Slim Pen
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 Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
Size13 Inches13.6 Inches
Info
  • 13” PixelSense™ Flow Display
  • Resolution: 2880 x 1920
    5.53M Pixels.
  • Density: 267 PPI
  • Color profile: sRGB and Vivid
  • Dynamic refresh rate: up to 120Hz
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Contrast ratio: 1200:1
  • Touch: 10-point multi-touch
  • Brightness: 450 nits maximum (typical), 5 nits minimum
  • Gorilla® Glass 5
  • Adaptive Color
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 Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
Left (2)
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 4
    40 Gpbs, USB 4.0 (40 Gbps), DisplayPort, Power Delivery
Right (1)
  • 1 x Surface Connect
    Charging, Docking
Bottom (1)
  • 1 x Surface Type Cover
Under Kickstand (2)
  • 1 x nanoSIM card slot
  • 1 x SSD slot
    M.2 2230 NVMe slot
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 Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
Processor
  1. Microsoft® SQ3™ with Neural Processing Unit
    8 cores, 8 threads, 3.00 GHz, 8MB Cache, 7W
  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. Microsoft® SQ3™ with Neural Processing Unit
    Microsoft® SQ3™ Adreno™ 8cx Gen 3 GPU
    N/A,
  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
4266 MHz LPDDR4X RAM
8GB 16GB 24GB
unified memory.
Storage
128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB
Removable SSD.
  • 256GB 512GB
    SSD
  • Configurable to 1TB or 2TB
Fans Number--
Cooling Info-Passive

Connectivity

Surface Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6E: 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
Wireless WAN
  • Location: GPS, Glonass, Galileo, and Beidou Support
  • NanoSIM and eSIM support
  • Supports 5G
-

Battery

Surface Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
Size
  • 47.7 Wh
    Nominal battery capacity.
  • 46.5 Wh
    Minimum battery capacity.
52.6 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery LifeUp to 19 hours of typical device usage
  • Up to 15 hours of wireless web
  • Up to 18 hours of Apple TV app movie playback
Power Supply
  • 39W power supply
  • Supports Fast Charge (0-60% 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 Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
OSConsumer models
  • Windows 11 Home on ARM
Business models
  • Windows 11 Pro on ARM
Shipped with macOS Monterey
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 Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
Camera
  • Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing)
  • 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p Skype HD video
  • 10.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p full HD and 4K video
1080p FaceTime HD camera.
Advanced image signal processor with computational video.
Audio
  • Dual far-field Studio Mics
  • 2W stereo speakers
  • 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 Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
Inking
  • Designed for Surface Slim Pen 2
  • Supports Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP)
    4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel 0.1mm precision magnetic storage
  • Supports Tactile signals with Surface Slim Pen 2
  • The integrated storage and wireless charging for Surface Slim Pen 2 with Surface Pro Signature Keyboard
-
Sensors
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Gyroscope
  • Magnetometer
  • Ambient Color Sensor (brightness and color)
  • Touch ID sensor
  • Ambient light sensor
Security
  • Enhanced security with Microsoft Pluton
  • 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 Pro 9 SQ3 with 5G
  • Power supply
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety and warranty documents
  • SIM Card access tool
  • MacBook Air
  • 30W or 35W USB‑C Power Adapter
  • USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m)
Warranty1-year limited hardware warrantyOne-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 Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air
At Glance
Released in Late
2022
3:2 2.8K
13”
1920p 60~120Hz
Weight
1.95 lb
0.88 kg
Powered By
Microsoft SQ3
8C/8T, 3.00 GHz
Geekbench 5
978
Single Core
Geekbench 5
4,760
Multi-Core
With integrated
Microsoft® SQ3™ Adreno™ 8cx Gen 3 GPU
N/A
Configurable up to
16GB
4266 MHz LPDDR4X
Starting at
$1,299.99
i5, 8GB, 128GB, Win 11 Home for ARM
Up to
19 hours
Battery life for typical device usage.
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

Comparison Summary

Surface Pro 9 5G vs. M2 MacBook Air

Microsoft has released the Surface Pro 9 5G, a 13-inch machine, in late-2022. It is powered by an octa-core Microsoft SQ3. The laptop has an integrated graphics option up to Microsoft® SQ3™ Adreno™ 8cx Gen 3 GPU (N/A).

On the other hand, we have the 13.6-inch M2 MacBook Air was introduced by Apple around the same year in mid-2022. It comes with up to an octa-core Apple M2 (8C, 10G) with a boost clock speed up to 3.48 GHz. It has an integrated graphics option up to Apple M2 iGPU (10 GPU Cores, 16 Neural Engine Cores).

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Surface Pro 9 5G1
Microsoft® SQ3™ with Neural Processing Unit97850.59%
M2 MacBook Air1
Apple M2 (8C, 8G)1,933100.00%
2
Apple M2 (8C, 10G)1,933100.00%
01,933

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Surface Pro 9 5G1
Microsoft® SQ3™ with Neural Processing Unit4,76053.97%
M2 MacBook Air1
Apple M2 (8C, 8G)8,819100.00%
2
Apple M2 (8C, 10G)8,819100.00%
08,819

The Surface Pro 9 5G has a 13-inch display which is slightly smaller than the 13.6-inch M2 MacBook Air. In addition, The Surface Pro 9 5G weighs 1.95 lbs. about 38% lighter than the 2.7 lbs. M2 MacBook Air. Moreover, measured at 11.3” x 8.2” x 0.37”, the Surface Pro 9 5G is considerably more portable than the M2 MacBook Air at 11.97” x 8.46” x 0.44”.

Surface Pro 9 5GM2 MacBook Air

There are a toal number of 6 ports and slots available on Surface Pro 9 5G. That includes a Thunderbolt 4 port, a Surface Connect, a Surface Type Cover, a nanoSIM card slot, and an SSD slot. With that said, it has two ports and slots more than the M2 MacBook Air that has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a MagSafe 3, and a headphone jack.

Moving over to upgradability, Microsoft claims that the Surface Pro 9 5G supports up to 16GB 4266 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 M2 MacBook Air, it supports up to 24GB Unified memory. Like Surface Pro 9 5G, 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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