Versus Engine
Apple MacBook Air (M5) vs Surface Pro 12-inch
Specs, price and the one trade-off that actually decides it — Apple MacBook Air (M5) against Surface Pro 12-inch, side by side.
Cheaper to start
Tie
Both start at a similar price.
Rated higher
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
9.6 vs 0.0 on our design scale.
Standout
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
Completely silent under normal load
Apple MacBook Air (M5)
The fanless efficiency benchmark: desktop-class work in a silent chassis, from $1,099.
Where it wins, where it doesn't
Pros
- Completely silent under normal load
- Battery life that removes charger anxiety
- Very light for the performance on offer
Cons
- Throttles under sustained load — no fan to shed heat
- Not suitable for serious local model inference
- Memory and storage fixed at purchase
Specifications
- DisplayLiquid Retina display 13.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2 2560-by-1664 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch 500 nits brightness Color Support for 1 billion colors Wide color (P3) True Tone technology
- Memory16GB 16GB unified memory Configurable to: 24GB or 32GB
- Audio—
- audio_playbackSupported formats include AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Atmos
- Battery and PowerUp to 18 hours video streaming Up to 15 hours wireless web Built-in 53.8-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (2 m) Fast-charge capable with 70W or higher USB PD power source
- Battery capacities—
- Battery life—
- battery_life_video_streamingUp to 18 hours video streaming
- battery_life_wireless_webUp to 15 hours wireless web
- battery_typeBuilt-in 53.8-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
- Cameras—
- Charging and ExpansionMagSafe 3 charging port 3.5 mm headphone jack Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports with support for: Charging DisplayPort Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s) USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s) MagSafe 3 3.5 mm headphone jack Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) External Display Support Supports up to two external displays: Two displays up to a native resolution of 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz
- charging_portsMagSafe 3 charging port, Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports
- ChipApple M5 chip 10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores 10-core GPU Neural Accelerators Hardware-accelerated ray tracing 16-core Neural Engine 153GB/s memory bandwidth Media Engine Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW Video decode engine Video encode engine ProRes encode and decode engine AV1 decode
- configurable_memory24GB or 32GB
- configurable_storage1TB, 2TB, or 4TB
- cpu_cores10-core CPU with 4 super cores and 6 efficiency cores
- display_brightness500 nits brightness
- display_colorSupport for 1 billion colors, Wide color (P3), True Tone technology
- display_size13.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 2 2560-by-1664 native resolution at 224 pixels per inch
- expansion_ports3.5 mm headphone jack
- Exterior—
- external_display_supportSupports up to two external displays: Two displays up to a native resolution of 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 144Hz, One display up to a native resolution of 8K at 60Hz or 5K at 120Hz or 4K at 240Hz
- Graphics—
- keyboardBacklit Magic Keyboard with: 78 (ANSI) or 79 (ISO) keys including 12 full-height function keys, Touch ID, Ambient light sensor
- Kickstand—
- media_engineHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
- memory_bandwidth153GB/s memory bandwidth
- neural_accelerators16-core Neural Engine
- NPU—
- Ports and charging—
- power_adapter40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max
- Processor—
- Security—
- Sensors—
- Size & weight—
- Storage512GB 512GB SSD Configurable to: 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB
- video_playbackSupported formats include HEVC, H.264, AV1, and ProRes, HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10+/HDR10, and HLG
- Warranty—
- What's in the box—
Surface Pro 12-inch
12-inch touchscreen tablet with a 2196 x 1464 resolution display and up to 16 hours of battery life.
Where it wins, where it doesn't
Pros
- High-resolution 2196 x 1464 touchscreen display with up to 90Hz refresh rate.
- Up to 16 hours of battery life for local video playback.
- Enhanced security features including Microsoft Pluton TPM 2.0 and BitLocker support.
Cons
- Limited storage options starting at 256GB, which may not be sufficient for users with extensive storage needs.
Specifications
- Display- Touchscreen: 12-inch PixelSense LCD display 3 - Resolution: 2196 x 1464 (220 PPI) - Aspect ratio: 3:2 - Contrast ratio: 1200:1 - Refresh rate: up to 90Hz (60Hz default) - Color profile: sRGB and Enhanced - Individually color-calibrated display - Adaptive color and contrast - Touch: 10-point multi-touch - Strengthened glass display - Brightness: 400 nits maximum (typical) - Anti-reflective, ISO 9241-307 certified 4
- Memory- 16GB, 24GB LPDDR5x RAM
- Audio- Dual Studio Mics with enhanced voice focus 9 - 2W stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos 10 - Support for Bluetooth LE Audio
- audio_playback—
- Battery and Power—
- Battery capacities- Battery Capacity Nominal (Wh): 38 - Battery Capacity Min (Wh): 37
- Battery life- Up to 16 hours of local video playback 7 - Up to 12 hours of active web usage 8
- battery_life_video_streaming—
- battery_life_wireless_web—
- battery_type—
- Cameras- Full HD front-facing Surface Studio Camera (1080p) - Windows Studio Effects: automatic framing, portrait blur, creative filters, eye contact, portrait light - 10 MP Ultra HD rear-facing camera - Windows Hello face authentication camera with Enhanced Sign-in Security
- Charging and Expansion—
- charging_ports—
- Chip—
- configurable_memory—
- configurable_storage—
- cpu_cores—
- display_brightness—
- display_color—
- display_size—
- expansion_ports—
- Exterior- Casing: Anodized aluminum - Colors: Platinum - Physical Buttons: Volume, Power
- external_display_support—
- Graphics- Qualcomm Adreno GPU
- keyboard—
- Kickstand- Kickstand with 165-degree full-friction hinge
- media_engine—
- memory_bandwidth—
- neural_accelerators—
- NPU- Qualcomm Hexagon with 45 TOPS
- Ports and charging- 2 × USB-C with USB4/Thunderbolt 4 ports: - Charging
- power_adapter—
- Processor- Snapdragon X Plus (8 Core) X1P-42-100
- Security- Enhanced security with Microsoft Pluton TPM 2.0 and BitLocker support - Windows 11 Secured-core PC - Windows Hello facial recognition with Enhanced Sign-in Security - NFC authentication
- Sensors- Ambient color sensor - Accelerometer - Gyroscope - Magnetometer - NFC
- Size & weight- Length: 10.8 inch (274 mm) - Width: 7.47 inch (190 mm) - Height: 0.30 inches (7.8 mm) - Weight: 1.5 lbs. (686 g)
- Storage—
- video_playback—
- Warranty1-year limited hardware warranty
- What's in the box- Surface Pro for Business - USB-C charging cable - Surface 45W USB-C Wall Charger 21 (optional in EMEA) - Quick Start Guide - Safety and warranty documents