All of Microsoft’s MacBook Air-beating benchmarks

Microsoft Surface Laptop outperforms MacBook Air M3 in several benchmarks.

: Microsoft showcased its new Surface Laptop surpassing the MacBook Air M3 in performance and battery life through various benchmarks. The tests included Cinebench and Geekbench scores, with a significant lead in multitasking and AI capabilities thanks to the Snapdragon X Elite processor. These demonstrations highlight the Surface Laptop's superior processing power and efficiency in real-world tasks like video encoding and AI performance.

Microsoft is set to challenge Apple's dominance in the laptop market with the unveiling of its Surface Laptop, which has shown promising results against the MacBook Air M3 in various benchmarks. During a detailed session at Microsoft's headquarters, the new Surface Laptop was tested against the MacBook Air using a series of performance benchmarks including Cinebench 2024 and Geekbench 6, where it achieved superior scores in multitasking scenarios. Microsoft also demonstrated the laptop's prowess in real-world tasks like 4K video encoding, where it outpaced the MacBook Air, and highlighted its advanced AI capabilities using the Snapdragon X Elite's NPU which excelled in AI-related benchmarks.

Microsoft's claims extend beyond just raw performance; they also cover aspects of battery life and efficiency which are crucial for user experience. In tests simulating web browsing and video playback, the Surface Laptop lasted significantly longer than the MacBook Air, achieving up to 20 hours of video playback, and outperforming previous Surface models as well. These tests were designed to showcase the efficiency improvements brought by the Snapdragon processor, emphasizing both performance gain and battery longevity relative to its Apple counterpart.

Benchmark Highlights:

  1. Performance: The new Microsoft Surface Laptop scored 980 in Cinebench 2024 multi-threaded and 14,000 in Geekbench 6 multi-threaded, compared to 650 and 12,000 for the MacBook Air M3. In the HandBrake ToS video processing test, the Surface Laptop also completed faster than the MacBook Air.

  2. Battery: The new Surface Laptop demonstrated continuous web browsing for 16 hours 56 minutes and video playback for over 20 hours, surpassing the MacBook Air's 15 hours 25 minutes and 17 hours 45 minutes respectively. Microsoft claims that the new Surface Laptop offers "20% better battery life than the latest 15-inch MacBook Air."

  3. AI and NPU Performance: The Surface Laptop scored 1,745 on the Procyon AI benchmark, while the MacBook Air scored 889. The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite in the Surface Laptop offers 45 TOPS of AI performance, significantly higher than Apple's M3's 18 TOPS.

The Surface Laptop not only aims to outperform in terms of hardware capabilities but also positions itself as a more efficient machine for professional use, leveraging Qualcomm's powerful AI acceleration. These capabilities suggest that Microsoft's new range of Copilot Plus PCs, equipped with the Snapdragon X Elite, could reshape expectations for what professional laptops can achieve. The promising preliminary results may translate into considerable gains in productivity and multimedia handling, challenging the MacBook Air's position in the market.

Microsoft SurfaceMacBook AirSnapdragon X Elite