Head to head: Apple MacBook Air vs. Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 for Business

At a time when 2-in-1 tablets are coming of age in business, ultraslim laptops with traditional clamshell designs are staging a comeback with sales gains in an otherwise flat market, according to IDC. These systems deliver top performance in a thin, light, and sophisticated package.

Once luxury items meant for inhabitants of the C-suite (and often called “executive laptops” for that reason), today’s ultraslim notebooks can be a cheaper alternative to high-end detachable tablets. The 12.9-in. iPad Pro tablet, for instance, starts at $1,000, but after you add a stylus, keyboard case and adapters, the up-front cost can soar to nearly $1,500.

At about $1,200, ultraslim laptops are more powerful, sport bigger screens, and have a better assortment of apps than the typical tablet. If you’re deploying hundreds or thousands of computers throughout an organization, the price advantage of getting clamshell laptops can add up quickly.

I set up a shoot-out between the latest generation of thin and light executive notebooks from Apple and Microsoft. While the $1,200 Apple MacBook Air is smaller and more traditional, Microsoft’s $1,300 Surface Laptop 2 for Business points to the future with a touchscreen and all-out performance.

Each weighs a bit less than 3 lbs., is powered by an 8^th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, and has a 13-in. screen. While both displays show UHD resolution, the Laptop 2’s is touch-sensitive and offers an optional stylus for sketching, drawing and doodling, making it the more user-friendly of the two.

I tested, measured and benchmarked their performance in the office, and they became my temporary travel mates on the road. In a series of business trips, they were my constant companions, allowing me to write emails, go through spreadsheets, develop new products, research competitors, and stay in touch with my fellow workers.

Which came out on top when the digital dust had settled? Here are the results.

Apple MacBook Air

As Apple’s iconic MacBook Air enters its 8^th generation, it squeezes more computer into a smaller package than ever before but seems behind the times with a non-touch display.

Available in gold, silver, and space gray, the A1932 model I looked at combines a 13.3-in. Retina screen with an 8^th-gen Core i5 processor, 128GB of storage, and 8GB of RAM for $1,200. Raising its storage capacity to 256GB adds $200, while a top-end model with 16GB RAM and 1.5TB of storage goes for $2,600. Too rich for your corporate blood? A slightly heavier previous-generation Air system sells for $1,000.

As expected, the center of attention is the new Air’s 13.3-in. Retina screen. Although it’s slightly smaller than the Laptop 2’s 13.5-inch display, its 2560 x 1600-pixel resolution means it can show 17% more detail.

Apple

While both systems show excellent images and stutter-free 4K video, the Air’s display is richer, with more saturated colors that make image editing a pleasure. On the other hand, its output of 197 candelas per square meter don’t match the Laptop 2’s 364 cd/m² of brightness. More to the point, it lacks the Laptop 2’s supple touchscreen.

At 2.7 lbs., the Air is a lightweight whose heft rises to 3.1 lbs. with its AC adapter. The system measures 12.0 x 8.4 in., with a wedge-shaped profile that rises from 0.2 in. thick in front to 0.6 in. thick in back. Slightly lighter and smaller than the Laptop 2, the Air sports rounded edges that seem like a throwback next to the Laptop 2’s more straight-edged design.

The Air is travel-friendly, easily fitting on the average airline tray table and slipping into a notebook bag with lots of room to spare for papers, magazines and the accoutrement of travel.

The Air breaks with its past by including two high-speed USB-C ports for data and power; they can double as Thunderbolt 3 ports. On the downside, you’ll need adapters for using an external monitor, connecting to a wired network or working with USB 3 accessories, like an older flash storage drive. There is, however, a headphone jack.

Like the Laptop 2, the Air passed all my compatibility tests. It worked with an external monitor, USB hub, flash memory drive, and wired LAN (with a USB adapter) as well as a Bluetooth mouse and speakers. Both systems feature current 802.11ac Wi-Fi, but the Air has newer Bluetooth 4.2 technology that is more miserly on battery use. Neither, however, offers a mobile data card for instant online connections away from Wi-Fi.

The Air’s new butterfly keyboard is backlit and emphasizes thinness. Its 17.2mm keys are smaller than the Laptop 2’s 19.4mm keys and have a depth of only 0.6mm versus the Laptop 2’s generous 1.5mm. It adds up to typing that requires a gentler touch than just banging away (my preferred style).

Apple

Its 4.7 x 3.2-in. trackpad is noticeably larger than the Laptop 2’s 4.1 x 2.8-in. touchpad. I found it to be overly sensitive out of the box, registering several unintentional taps, but it took less than a minute to adjust its sensitivity in System Preferences. Those who are used to right-clicking for context-sensitive information will need to learn to use macOS’ two-finger tap or Control-tap gesture. The trackpad supports Apple’s much-touted Force Touch features, but only with Apple software such as Safari, Finder and Mail. I force-clicked to find the details of a flight I was booking and change the name of a file in Finder, but it hardly seemed like a computing breakthrough.

The system’s user-facing 720p webcam is above the screen next to three microphones that combine for good audio in video and voice conferences. With speakers pointing up on either side of the keyboard, the Air delivers full and rich audio for a variety of musical styles, from operatic to bluegrass. It’s not as good for spoken-word material, though, where the Laptop 2 took the lead.

The Air’s Intel Core i5 8210Y dual-core processor runs from 1.6GHz to 3.6GHz, a wider speed range but with half as many computational cores as the Laptop 2’s Core i5 quad-core processor.

As expected, the Air started out strong during benchmarking, with a 4,374 on the GeekBench 4 single-core CPU tests, 25% higher than the Laptop 2’s score of 3,264. This lead vanished in the multi-core tests, where the Air scored 7,890, 6% below the Laptop 2’s 8,363. By far the biggest difference was in GeekBench 4’s Compute suite, where the Air’s 20,930 score couldn’t come close the Laptop 2’s 32,625, a 56% performance gap.

Known for delivering excellent battery life, the Air’s 4,400 milliamp-hour cells didn’t disappoint; in my tests the Air streamed video over Wi-Fi for 9 hours and 35 minutes. That said, the Laptop 2’s larger battery ran for 8 minutes 50 seconds, meaning either could work through a flight from Miami to Seattle with battery life to spare.

Equipped with the excellent macOS 10.14.2 software, the Air can quickly take and edit screenshots. Built-in apps include everything from the Pages, Numbers, and Keynote trio of productivity apps to iTunes, FaceTime and Siri. For those who rely on Microsoft Office software for business, Mac versions are available for Office 2019 and Office 365.

Rather than the Laptop 2’s Trusted Platform Module (TPM), the Air’s T2 Security Chip builds a protective security fence around the system. The Air can not only encrypt data in real time, but prevent the system from starting with altered firmware. It also has a Touch ID fingerprint scanner for verifying a user’s identity. Cleverly built into the system’s on/off switch, all you do is place your finger on it to quickly start or wake the machine up.

Over my month of using the Air daily, it never let me down for writing, web research, emailing, giving presentations, or the occasional late-night binge-watch of “The Magicians.” I got used to its shallow draft keys and the lack of a right mouse-click, but must admit I kept forgetting that the screen lacked touch control and found myself frustratingly tapping and swiping its surface to no avail.

Overall, the latest version of the iconic Air is a helpful travel companion on business trips — short and long. It may not be the fastest system around or have a touchscreen, but this well-designed system doesn’t disappoint.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 for Business

While the MacBook Air’s lineage goes back a decade, Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 2 for Business has a newer, sleeker design and more up-to-date features. From its touchscreen to its top performance and impressive battery life, it’s a laptop that business travelers will appreciate.

The consumer version of the Surface Laptop 2 starts at $1,000 and comes with Windows 10 Home, which is not recommended for business use. The business version includes Windows 10 Pro and starts at $1,300 for a model with a 13.5-in. touchscreen, an 8^th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. The model I looked at bumped the storage space up to 256GB — twice the Air’s capacity — for an extra $100. Configurations range up to a top-shelf $2,750 version with 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage space and a Core i7 processor.

Microsoft

A big bonus is Microsoft’s $99 Surface Pen stylus. Adding it to the Laptop 2 model I tested brings the cost to $1,400.

The Laptop 2’s 13.5-in. display is larger than the Air’s 13.3-in. screen, but with 2256 x 1504-pixel resolution it shows less detail than the Air’s 2560 x 1600-pixel imaging. Still, the Laptop 2’s display rendered precise images and played stutter-free 4K videos. On the other hand, the system’s colors looked a little washed out compared to the Air’s screen.

The Laptop 2’s display pumped out 364 candelas per square meter of brightness, far ahead of the Air’s 197 cd/m². In fact, the Laptop 2 set to two-thirds brightness overpowered the Air at full brightness. 

The big difference is the Laptop 2’s touchscreen. I used it every day to open and close apps, move windows around and sketch ideas. It really came into its own with Microsoft’s Surface Pen, which provides 4,096 levels of touch sensitivity with an interaction that feels like a pen on paper.

Happily, the screen is stable for taps and stylus work, but the system provides no place to store the stylus. The Laptop 2’s power cord is held in place magnetically; if you unplug that, you can stick the pen magnetically to the side of the laptop — but then you’re stuck on battery power.

Weighing in at 2.8 lbs., the Laptop 2 is less than an ounce heavier than the Air system. Add in the power adapter and the travel package rises to 3.2 lbs., an ounce heavier than the Air and its AC adapter. The Laptop 2’s AC adapter can do something the Air’s can’t: charge a phone, headset, or other USB accessory with its USB power port.

With straight, crisp lines, the Laptop 2 looks sleeker than the Air with its rounded design. It’s available in black, platinum, burgundy and cobalt blue. At 12.1 x 8.7 in., the Laptop 2 is 0.3 in. wider than the Air and is a slightly tighter fit on an airline tray table. The Laptop 2 is 0.4 in. thick in the front and 0.6 in. in the rear and easily fits into a notebook bag with a stack of file folders and magazines.

Like the Air, the Laptop 2 has a 720p webcam but has two microphones to the Air’s three. Its audio quality was excellent for video and voice conferences, but the Laptop 2’s speakers are buried below the keyboard, making music sound hollow. It excelled at spoken-word audio, like the BBC World Service radio and podcasts, though.

The ports on the Laptop 2 skew toward the old-fashioned, with a Mini DisplayPort, a USB 3.0 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and Microsoft’s proprietary Surface Connect port for charging and docking. Notably absent is a USB-C port. This setup sacrifices the next generation of USB-C accessories for compatibility with today’s and yesterday’s devices. The Laptop 2 worked with all six of the devices I threw at it, from a Bluetooth mouse and speaker to an external monitor, USB hub, flash memory drive, and a wired LAN (via a USB adapter).

The system can also connect via 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1, which is a half-step behind the Air’s support for Bluetooth 4.2. As a result, the Laptop 2 might run through its battery slightly faster when using a wireless speaker or headset. Like the Air, the Laptop 2 lacks an optional mobile data card.

Microsoft

The Laptop 2’s 19.4mm keys are comfortable and responsive, with a generous 1.5mm of depth. They are backlit for night work, and the entire keyboard deck is covered with soft Alcantara microfiber material, making it as inviting as can be. Its 4.1 x 2.8-in. touchpad is sensitive to left- and right-clicks but is 30% smaller than the Air’s trackpad.

The laptop’s quad-core Intel Core i5-8250U processor runs between 1.6GHz and 3.4GHz. By comparison with the Air’s Core i5 8210Y chip, it trades an extra pair of computational cores for a slower top speed.

The Laptop 2 was bested by the Air in single-core operations, scoring 3,264 on the GeekBench 4 single-core CPU tests, compared to the Air’s score of 4,374. It redeemed itself with an 8,363 score on the multi-core CPU tests, outperforming the Air’s 7,890 score. In the final Compute tests, which mimic everyday use of the computer, the Laptop 2 scored 32,625, more than one-third faster than the Air’s 20,930.

Even with this much power, the Laptop 2 held its own in battery life testing. Its 5,400mAh battery played YouTube videos over Wi-Fi for 8 hours and 50 minutes — not as good as the Air’s 9 minutes 35 seconds, but more than enough for most flights.

The current version of Windows 10 Pro is made for business with whole-disk encryption, the ability to load legacy software, and access to Azure Active Directory server content. As far as security goes, the Laptop 2 does without a fingerprint scanner, but its Trusted Platform Module (TPM) can ease authentication without compromising security. The system does support Windows Hello facial-recognition sign-in, but it often took me three tries to get Windows Hello to recognize my face.

Whether in the office or on the road, the Laptop 2 was always ready to help me get through my workday. It responded quickly to taps and swipes, and I really appreciated its bright display. Its combination of comfortable keyboard, touchscreen, and top-shelf performance put it in a class by itself. 

Choosing an executive notebook

My month with the MacBook Air and Surface Laptop 2 for Business shows that you don’t have to break the bank to get a powerful, durable laptop that won’t weigh you down. At the office, at home, and on the road, either ultraslim should satisfy all but the pickiest traveling employee.

For companies that rely on Macintosh systems, the Air is a gem. Its display, audio, security hardware, and exceptional battery life are wrapped up in a stylish design. Still, I was left wanting more. While I love the system’s huge trackpad, its thin and precise keyboard lacks the key size and depth that I need for fast and accurate typing.

In this day and age, the absence of a touchscreen option on the Air is a bigger problem. Its users miss out on the ability to interact directly with the display, making the Air seem old-fashioned and a little quaint.

For Windows shops, the Laptop 2’s stylus and screen make a great team, letting workers go from resizing, opening and closing windows to sketching a flow chart or circling standout figures on a sales spreadsheet. The interaction is natural, and once you use a touchscreen like the one on the Laptop 2 for any length of time, you won’t want to go back.

With superior performance potential and more than enough battery life for a full day of work, the Laptop 2 can be a major asset to the modern mobile corporation. Plus, its TPM can make it a safe system to use remotely. On the other hand, while the system is brand new, it lacksUSB-C ports and a fingerprint scanner for identifying users.

In the final analysis, the Laptop 2 will fit more easily into the IT landscape, while allowing executives to work when, where and how they are most comfortable. With its Surface Pen, the Laptop 2 for Business is the best $1,400 a company can spend on an executive notebook today.

Comparison table: MacBook Air vs. Surface Laptop 2 for Business

How I tested

To see how the Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 stacks up against Apple’s MacBook Air, I gave them each a heavy workout that simulated an executive’s life on the road and at the office. To start, I used each in my suburban New York office connected to my company’s Wi-Fi network to do research, prepare reports, give presentations and email.

I measured each system’s dimensions and then weighed each on its own and with its AC adapter. Next, I set each up on a mockup of the typical economy-class seatback tray to see how much room there was to work with. Then, I slid each into a laptop bag along with several files, magazines, and the accoutrements of travel.

After measuring how big the touchpads were and noting the sensitivity of their action, I measured the size and depth of each system’s keys. I also used an infrared non-contact thermometer to look for hotspots.

I started measured the screens’ diagonal length and checked on their resolution. Next I measured their brightness with a Minolta LM-1 light meter in a darkened room using a white image. I converted the results to candelas per square meter (also known as Nits). After that I looked at several images and videos to note each display’s ability to render color, show details and display video. I zoomed in on high-resolution images and looked for details, artifacts, and pixilation.

I used my fingers and the optional stylus to work with the Laptop 2’s touchscreen. In addition to navigating through a variety of apps, I drew a map and flow chart. (The MacBook Air’s screen is not responsive to touch.)

I tested the performance of each system using the Geekbench 4 CPU and Compute benchmarks. The two tests give a rounded view of each system’s capabilities for comparison.

• The CPU test includes memory operations, facial recognition, encryption and SQL database work and is run both with a single processing core engaged and in multi-core mode.
• The Compute workload is meant to mimic real-world computing and includes image processing, fast Fourier transforms, particle physics and a Gaussian blur.

To gauge how long each device can run on its battery, I fully charged each system and set the screen brightness to about two-thirds of full brightness. Then, I began streaming HD videos via YouTube to the tablet and started a stopwatch. The timing stopped when the system ran out of battery power.

After checking out the system’s ports, wireless capabilities and speakers, I ran a compatibility test to see if each would fit into the typical corporate IT landscape. The test included the following items:

• SanDisk Ultra Dual Disk 128GB flash drive
• USB hub: Minix Neo C Mini for the MacBook Air; Trendnet TUC H4E for the Laptop 2
• Acer 21-in. external monitor via Neo C Mini’s HDMI port; Rocketfish RF-AP305 adapter
• Wired network: Pluggable USBCE1000 adapter
• Bluetooth mouse: Tecknet BM307
• Bluetooth speakers: Logitech Audio Adapter with Edifier R1280T speaker

Finally, I hit the road, taking each system on business trips. While I was away, each laptop was my only contact with the the office and the digital world. I downloaded needed files and presentations while uploading newly finished work and photos. At the end of the day, I used each system to stream movies and listen to music and internet radio stations.