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Surface Pro 9 vs. M1 MacBook Air: Full specs comparison

The following is a comprehensive comparison of the Surface Pro 9 and M1 MacBook Air specifications, including details on CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Pro 9 See at Amazon See at Microsoft	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it M1 MacBook Air See at Amazon

Surface Pro 9 Pros

Reasons that Surface Pro 9 is better than M1 MacBook Air.

2022 vs. 2020

Surface Pro 9 supports a larger memory capacity than the M1 MacBook Air. It supports up to 32GB versus 16GB of system memory on the M1 MacBook Air.

Max system memory size

Surface Pro 9

32 GB

M1 MacBook Air

16 GB

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

Slots	Surface Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
M.2	Yes x1	Onboard

Surface Pro 9 weighed 1.94 pounds, 31% lighter than the 2.8 pounds M1 MacBook Air.

Weight	Surface Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
Pound	1.94 lbs.	2.8 lbs.
Kilogram	0.88 kg	1.27 kg

Surface Pro 9 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 Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
headphone jack	No	Yes
SSD slot	Yes	No
Surface Connect	Yes	No
Surface Type Cover port	Yes	No
Thunderbolt 3	No	Yes x2
Thunderbolt 4	Yes x2	No
Total	5	3

M1 MacBook Air Pros

Reasons that M1 MacBook Air is better than Surface Pro 9.

Apple M1 (8C, 8G) inside M1 MacBook Air has a 17% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i7-1265U inside Surface Pro 9.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score

M1 MacBook Air - Apple M1 (8C, 7G)

7,414

M1 MacBook Air - Apple M1 (8C, 8G)

7,414

Surface Pro 9 - Intel Core i7-1255U

6,415

Surface Pro 9 - Intel Core i7-1265U

6,336

Surface Pro 9 - Intel Core i5-1235U

5,715

Surface Pro 9 - Intel Core i5-1245U

5,700

M1 MacBook Air has better versatile I/O connectivity than the Surface Pro 9. It has two versus one commonly used port and slot on the Surface Pro 9.

Ports	Surface Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
headphone jack	No	Yes
Thunderbolt 3	No	Yes
Thunderbolt 4	Yes	No

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 By Microsoft $1,173.14 $1,599.99 27% OFF	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 9 13" Touch-Screen Intel Core i5-16GB Memory - 256GB SSD Platinum By Microsoft $960.99 $1,299.00 26% OFF	See at Amazon
	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 $699.99 $749.99 7% OFF	See at Amazon
M1 MacBook Air Price
	Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed) By Apple $610.64 $647.86 6% OFF	See at Amazon
	Apple 2020 MacBook Air Laptop M1 Chip, 13” Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Space Gray By Apple $708.39 $999.00 29% OFF	See at Amazon
	Late 2020 Apple MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip (13.3 inch, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) Space Gray (Renewed) By Apple $704.68	See at Amazon

Availability	Surface Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
Released	2022	2020
Release Date	Introduced: October 12, 2022 Pre-ordered: October 12, 2022 Released: October 25, 2022	Announced on November 10th, 2020
Pricing	Starting at $999.99	$999 Apple M1 Chip (7 cores GPU) \| 8GB RAM \| 256GB SSD $1,249 Apple M1 Chip (8 cores GPU) \| 8GB RAM \| 512GB SSD
Generations	2022 Surface Pro 9 5G 2022 Surface Pro 9 2021 Surface Pro 8 2021 Surface Pro 7 Plus 2019 Surface Pro 7 2018 Surface Pro 6 2017 Surface Pro 5 2015 Surface Pro 4 2014 Surface Pro 3 2013 Surface Pro 2 2012 Surface Pro 1	2022 M2 MacBook Air 2020 M1 MacBook Air 2020 Intel MacBook Air MacBook Air 13” 2019 MacBook Air 13” 2018 MacBook Air 13” 2017 MacBook Air 13” 2015 MacBook Air 13” 2014 MacBook Air 13” 2013

Exterior	Surface Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
Dimensions	11.3” x 8.2” x 0.37” (287 mm x 208 mm x 9.3 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	1.94 lb (879 g)	Starting at 2.8 pounds (1.29 kg)
Colors	Sapphire Forest Platinum Graphite	Gold 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 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 Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
Size	13 Inches	13.3 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), 2 nits minimum Gorilla® Glass 5 Adaptive Color Auto Color Management supported Dolby Vision IQ™ 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 400 nits brightness Supports wide color (P3) True Tone technology

Ports	Surface Pro 9	M1 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 port Under Kickstand (1) 1 x SSD slot M.2 2230 NVMe slot	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 Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
Processor	12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1235U 10 cores, 12 threads, 1.30 → 4.40 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1255U 10 cores, 12 threads, 1.70 → 4.70 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1245U 10 cores, 12 threads, 1.60 → 4.40 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1265U 10 cores, 12 threads, 1.80 → 4.80 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 15W	Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores) 8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W Apple M1 8 cores, 8 threads, 3.20 GHz, 10W
Integrated Graphics	12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1235U Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 80 Execution Units, → 1200 MHz 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1255U Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 96 Execution Units, → 1250 MHz 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1245U Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 80 Execution Units, → 1200 MHz 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1265U Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics 96 Execution Units, → 1250 MHz	Apple M1 (7 GPU Cores) Apple M1 iGPU 7 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz Apple M1 Apple M1 iGPU 8 Graphics Cores, 1280 MHz
Memory	8GB 16GB 32GB 5200 MHz LPDDR5 RAM	8GB unified memory Configurable to 16GB
Storage	128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB Removable SSD.	256GB 512GB SSD Configurable to 1TB or 2TB
Fans Number	1	-

Connectivity	Surface Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
Wi-Fi	Wi-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
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 5.1 technology	Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology

Battery	Surface Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
Size	47.7 Wh Nominal battery capacity. 46.5 Wh Minimum battery capacity.	49.9 Wh lithium‑polymer battery
Battery Life	Up to 15.5 hours of typical device usage	Up to 15 hours wireless web Up to 18 hours 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

Software

Surface Pro 9

M1 MacBook Air

Consumer models

Windows 11 Home

Business models

Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 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 Pro 9	M1 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	720p FaceTime HD camera
Audio	Dual far-field Studio Mics 2W stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos®	Stereo speakers Wide stereo sound Support for Dolby Atmos playback Three-mic array with directional beamforming 3.5 mm headphone jack

Misc	Surface Pro 9	M1 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	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 Pro 9 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	MacBook Air 30W USB‑C Power Adapter USB-C Charge Cable (2 m)
Warranty	1-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	-	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 Pro 9	M1 MacBook Air
At Glance	Released in Late 2022 3:2 2.8K 13” 1920p 60~120Hz Weight 1.94 lb 0.88 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 $999.99 i5, 8GB, 128GB, Win 11 Home	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 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