Apple has, for a while now, held the top spot in the premium notebook segment on the back of their MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air. However, Microsoft now has seemingly launched their claim for the top spot with the release of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3. In this article we will be taking a look at the Surface Book 3 and the MacBook Air and drawing a comparison to determine which is the better Premium Notebook.
Apple MacBook Air
Apple refreshed the highly-popular MacBook Air late last year and finally brought a design update. With that they also increased the price. While in the US the base variant starts at $1099 (Rs 78,000 approx), in India you can get it for Rs 99,900. For that price you get the 13.3-inch LED-backlit IPS display with 2560×1600 resolution with higher models costing more up to Rs 1,50,000. It,however, comes with just the one processor option i.e. the 8th-gen Intel Core i5 which is a 1.6GHz dual-core CPU. You can get 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of SSD storage option which is priced at around Rs 1,19,900.The other notable features of this laptop include Apple’s True Tone Retina display, an integrated Touch ID sensor, two Thunderbolt 3.0 ports and stereo speakers. Not-to-mention the incredible user-friendliness of the MacBook Air. It weighs just over 1 Kg and with the 13.3-inch screen and highly sensitive and versatile trackpad, the MacBook Air is perfectly agile and sleek and you can easily hold it in one hand and work with the other. This makes the MacBook Air one of the most popular laptops in the market
Surface Laptop 3
The Surface Laptop 3 is a premium notebook from Microsoft that is clearly targeted at competing with the MacBook. The Surface Laptop 3 comes in two variants that themselves come with a wide range of configurations. The range starts at around Rs 72,000 for the 13.5-inch variant in a Platinum finish (Fabric) with 10th-gen Intel Core i5-1035G7 CPU, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The highest configuration you can opt for is the 10th-gen Core i7 with 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage in a Black (Metal) finish for about Rs 1,70,500. You also get a 13.5-inch PixelSense touchscreen display with 2256×1504 resolution.
As for the 15-inch variant, the base model starts at approximately Rs 86,000 with a special AMD Ryzen 5 3580U mobile CPU with Radeon Vega 9 Graphics Microsoft Surface Edition, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in a Platinum (Metal) finish. The top variant goes to up to about Rs 1,99,000 for the AMD Ryzen 7 3780U mobile CPU with Radeon RX Vega 11 Graphics Microsoft Surface Edition, 32GB RAM and 1TB storage variant in Black (Metal). Notably, there is no Intel model listed as of yet.
The new Surface Laptop now comes with a USB Type-C port and a standard USB-A port along with a headphone jack. There is also the Surface Connect port which will now offer fast charging, where Microsoft promises 0-80 percent charge under an hour. Other notable features include Windows Hello sign-in, Dolby audio support, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.0.
While the Surface Laptop can cost up to twice the price of the MacBook Air, especially for the top end version, it is clearly the better laptop in terms of performance. So, if your work entails any form of graphics designing or video or audio editing, then the Surface Laptop 3 is the perfect Laptop for you. However, if your work doesn’t require extremely heavy software, then the MacBook Air is probably the better laptop for you and you will certainly enjoy the user friendliness that is the Key aspect of the Mac.
