MacBook Air vs Windows machines — Thin-and-light laptop throwdown in South Africa

South Africans in the market for a high-performance thin-and-light laptop can choose one of several models from the world’s six major computer manufacturers, all priced for under R20,000.

Apple’s MacBook Air is the company’s best-selling laptop and is widely regarded as one of the best-value notebooks on the market.

In recent years, Apple’s in-house M-series chips have significantly improved performance and efficiency across its entire computer range, including the entry-level MacBook Air.

Efficiency is particularly important for a device with a small form factor like a thin-and-light laptop, which has minimal room for a battery and cooling hardware to keep heat under control.

The MacBook Air M1 was released in 2020 but was only discontinued by Apple in March 2024.

It was widely praised in reviews from prominent and reputable outlets over the past few years, with the following scores from online tech publications:

• Engadget — 94/100
• Laptop Mag — 4.5/5
• PCMag — 4.5/5
• TechRadar — 4.5/5
• Tom’s Guide — 4.5/5
• The Verge — 9.5/5
• Wired — 9/10

Many retailers in South Africa still have new models of this impressive laptop for sale, which is good news considering it starts at around R17,000 — R6,000 cheaper than the newer M2-equipped model.

MyBroadband assembled a list of five potential Windows-powered thin-and-light rivals to the MacBook Air.

The most obvious direct competitor to the MacBook is Microsoft’s Surface range.

The Surface Laptop 4, released in April 2021, matches the MacBook Air in almost all departments, including an aluminium exterior and ultra-thin design.

However, you would have to upgrade to a much newer and more expensive Surface model to get anywhere near the M1’s performance.

In fact, all the rival Windows laptops from other brands that can compete with the MacBook Air M1’s sub-R20,000 price will fall short in performance — except perhaps in gaming.

To come close to the M1’s raw power would require a vastly more expensive AMD or Intel processor, or the new, much-praised ARM-based Snapdragon X Elite chip.

The most affordable laptop with the latter is the Vivobook S15, which starts from R29,999.

However, it also comes with four times the RAM and storage of the entry-level MacBook Air M1, so it is not directly comparable.

All this considered, the MacBook Air alternatives we chose still offer powerful processors that are more than capable for the needs of their typical users — who won’t be running benchmarks night and day.

One of the MacBook Air’s major weaknesses is its limited port selection. It has only two USB-C connectors with Thunderbolt support and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Many contenders to the MacBook Air have regular USB-A ports, a full-size HDMI connector, and USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support.

The entry-level Surface Laptop 4 is also substantially cheaper and comes with a touch display.

It should be noted that several of the best possible alternatives to the MacBook Air M1 — like the HP Pavillion 14 Plus — are not sold in South Africa.

In those cases, we replaced the model with the next-best option.

Below, we have compared the specifications of the MacBook Air M1 13-inch with those of rival ultrabooks from Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft.

Microsoft Surface 4

MacBook Air M1 13-inch — R16,999 (iStore)

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405MA) — R17,999 (Takealot)

Acer Swift Go 14 — R17,999

Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G6 IRL — R18,799

HP Pavillion 14 X360 (2-in-1) — R18,999