Which one is superior: the M4 MacBook Air or the Windows Surface Laptop 7? I spent a good amount of time with both, and despite each having similar specs and pricing, I feel my experience drew me to a clear winner. After performing some personal tests, I feel the productivity and gaming options push the MacBook ahead of the Surface. Though the Surface is great with battery efficiency, the ARM-based Snapdragon X may leave some individuals lacking the tools they need to stay productive. Let’s explore.
Back-to-Back: Windows Surface Laptop 7 and M4 MacBook Air
The M4 MacBook Air was released last March 2025, and many within the Apple community have given it praise for being a “budget-friendly” device. To avoid any more potential bias, I will note that the MacBook Air is my personal work laptop and one that I had planned on buying since its announcement.
On the flipside, Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 7 was released in June 2024 and has received generally favorable reviews. With a focus on artificial intelligence, many can see the Surface 7 as a response to Apple’s MacBook Air, and based on the stats, it’s rather easy to see why.
| MacBook Air M4 | Surface Laptop 7 | |
| Starting Price | $999/$1,199/$1,399 | $999/$1,299/$1,399 |
| RAM | 16GB/24GB/32GB unified memory | 16GB/32GB/64GB |
| CPU | Apple M4 10-Core | Snapdragon X Plus/Elite |
| GPU | 8- or 10-core | Qualcomm Adreno |
| Display | 13.6- or 15.3-inch 60 hz LED with IPS technology. | 13.8- or 15-inch 120hz touchscreen (15-inch has LCD) |
| Storage | 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB | 256GB/512GB/1TB |
| Battery Life | 18 hours video streaming / 15 hours wireless web | 20/22 hours video streaming / 15 hours wireless web |
| Color Options | Midnight, Starlight, Silver and Sky Blue | Dune, Sapphire, Platinum, and Black |
Looking at them side-by-side, the similarities are extremely noticeable. On paper, both seem to offer the same specs, with some varying differences. Both models also offer different “tiers” depending on your needs, giving consumers a variety of options to pair them with a perfect match.
But how do they perform?
Taking My First Look
Trying out both laptops for the first time was a wonderful experience. Having both of them side-by-side, the similarities only continue. However, upon first impressions, there are a couple of things that are worth noting. For starters, the Surface 7 does include an additional USB-A port, which is one port extra over the Air. An additional aspect that the Surface 7 has over the MacBook Air is the inclusion of a touch screen, which may be a boon for some consumers.
Looking at the displays of both, it’s hard not to notice the 120hz display of the Surface 7 over the 60hz of the MacBook Air, providing a brighter experience overall. However, one aspect of the Air over the Surface is that setting up the device was a bit easier, as I didn’t need to wait for several updates with the Mac.
In terms of “feel”, I wouldn’t necessarily give one preference over the other, save perhaps for my bias toward Apple products. Both keyboards and trackpads felt smooth and responsive, and overall I was impressed with the builds of each. For me, it’s still all about the look of an Apple device, though I did have a good feeling having the Surface 7 in my hands.
It is worth noting that both come with AI tools: Apple’s Apple Intelligence versus CoPilot+ on Windows. With Microsoft pushing for AI on the Surface 7, and Apple pushing its Intelligence in general, I’ll leave it up to the audience to determine if they think the inclusion of artificial intelligence is good or bad. Personally, I’ll be taking the “if you can’t say anything nice. . .” approach.
Head-to-Head: The Positives of Both
As I’ve touted before numerous times, the MacBook Air is perfect for any student or professional with a light to mid-heavy workload. Whether it’s drafting images in Canvas or Photoshop, or multitasking during a ZOOM meeting you’d rather not be a part of, the M4 MacBook Air has a lot going for it concerning your productivity needs.
Something both devices excel at is battery life. As I’ve written about with the Mac, so long as you’re not constantly pushing the CPU to its limits, it’s not that difficult to get a good amount of life out of the device. For the Surface 7, I also found the battery is going to keep yours running all day.
Just like the Air, this is largely going to depend on how you push the CPU. However, it is worth noting that the Surface Laptop 7 relies on active cooling with a fan over the passive cooling found within the Air.
You’re pretty likely to get all-day use out of either device, though I suspect that both companies are padding their numbers a bit by utilizing “ideal situations”. Nonetheless, both are going to do well at providing all-day battery life, though the positives of the battery efficiency within the Surface 7 are also some of its negatives.
What Could Use Work
While both machines excel at battery life and overall functionality, neither provides a 100 percent flawless experience. However, one does get a bit closer than the other.
Concerning the Mac first, one issue I found after my exposure to the machine is the aforementioned cooling system. For the vast majority of users, this isn’t going to be an issue. On the other hand, those expecting the MacBook Air to be a high-end gaming rig or video editing powerhouse may want to think again. While the Air has no problem running Resident Evil 4 for example, gaming purists may balk at not being able to run higher graphic settings.
Looking at the Surface Laptop 7, one of the largest drawbacks currently is the ARM-based Snapdragon. While ARM-based tech is more battery efficient than its x86 brethren, anything sporting the chipset is likely going to have some issues running anything x86-based. Personally, I noticed this problem when opening Adobe Photoshop, though some may have even more problems if their favorite apps rely entirely on x86. While the Surface 7 does have an x86 emulation layer (Prism), you may experience different levels of success depending on the application.
Until more applications and programs begin adapting to ARM, I feel that this is a considerable drawback for the Surface 7 over the MacBook Air. Additionally, the Qualcomm Adreno GPU leaves little for those who have an interest in gaming. This doesn’t mean there are zero advantages to the Surface 7, but some may view these issues as major drawbacks.
The Final Word: MacBook Air or Surface Laptop 7?
At the end of the day, I think there’s one major factor for users to determine which they want more: Are you a macOS user or a Windows 11 user? Let’s face it, you more than likely have a favorite OS, lest you be entirely new to the world of personal computing. If you are that new, then you should definitely go with my favorite, which is macOS.
Jokes aside, with the price point being nearly identical for each, I feel it largely is a matter of which operating system you prefer more. However, keep in mind the potential cooling issues of the MacBook Air and the x86 issues within the Surface Laptop 7, as I feel these can be potentially major drawbacks for users depending on their needs.
In the end, I think you’ll be happy with either one so long as you understand what you’re getting and do a bit of research on each device. Consider your needs: what do you plan on using the device for? When it comes to gaming and productivity, I think the MacBook Air pushes further ahead than the Surface 7. Unless you’re waiting for an incredible deal, I think the Air is going to be your best bet.