The MacBook Pro 16 is an incredibly fast laptop, and it beats out most Intel- and AMD-based Windows laptops. In the Pugetbench benchmark that runs on Adobe Premiere Pro, the Surface Laptop 4 scored 163 while the MacBook Pro 16 hit a phenomenal 956. In Cinebench R23, the Surface Laptop 4 scored 1,137 and 5,881 compared to the MacBook Pro 16 at 1,531 and 12,343. In Geekbench 5, for example, the Surface Laptop 4 scored 1,016 in the single-core test and 6,658 in the multi-core test, compared to the MacBook Pro 16 at 1,773 and 12,605.
The MacBook Pro 16 obliterated the Surface Laptop 4 in our benchmarks. In terms of raw performance, it’s not even close. We tested the Surface Laptop 4 with the AMD Ryzen chip and the MacBook Pro 16 with the M1 Pro. Apple’s options are a bit more complicated, with the M1 Pro 10 offering CPU cores and 16 GPU cores and the M1 Max sporting 10 CPU cores and either 24 or 32 GPU cores. The MacBook Pro 16 can be equipped with either the Apple M1 Pro or the Apple M1 Max, both representing the second generation of Apple’s M1 CPU. The Surface Laptop 4 comes in two configurations: Intel’s four-core/eight-thread Core i7-1185G7 or AMD’s eight-core/16-thread Ryzen 7 4980U Surface Edition.
The MacBook Pro 16 has emerged as a real connectivity winner, although you’ll still need a dongle for legacy USB-A devices. The Surface Laptop 4 has just one USB-C 3.2 port (no Thunderbolt 4 support), a USB-A port, and the Surface Connect port for power and to connect to Microsoft’s proprietary dock. Where the previous generations had just USB-C with Thunderbolt support, the newest model has a full-size HDMI 2.0 port and an SD card reader to go with its three USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 ports. The Surface Laptop 4’s only input advantage is that its display is touch-enabled while the MacBook Pro 16’s is not, and it also supports Microsoft’s Surface Pen.Īnother positive step backward in the MacBook Pro 16’s design is in its connectivity. But the MacBook Pro 16’s touchpad is enormous, and Apple has perfected its haptic feedback engine to create “clicks” that mimic physical buttons. The Surface Laptop 4 has a good touchpad that’s large enough to be comfortable and supports all of Windows 11’s multitouch gestures. The Surface Laptop 4’s keyboard is also very good, being deeper and enjoying snappy mechanisms, but it can’t quite keep up. It doesn’t have tons of travel, but Apple has tuned the scissor switches to perfection - they’re light yet snappy and guaranteed to be precise without causing fatigue over long typing sessions. The MacBook Pro 16 has the best keyboard you can buy on a laptop today. Overall, the MacBook Pro 16 is more conservatively elegant, while the Surface Laptop 4 is slightly more extravagant. It, too, has simple angles and lines and, in fact, is a bit boxy - although its rounded corners smooth things out a bit. It sports simple lines and angles and is quite minimalist in its appearance. The Surface Laptop 4 is a streamlined design that comes in two colors, Platinum and Matte Black. In terms of their aesthetics, both are attractive laptops. These are two of the best-made laptops around, and neither has an advantage. Both hinges can be opened with one hand while holding the displays firmly in place. You’ll find that both laptops are well built, sporting CNC machined aluminum bodies that resist all bending, twisting, and flexing. We’ll note that there’s a notch in the MacBook Pro 16 display that’s similar to the one you’ll find in an iPhone, but that’s a trifling concern overall. The thing is, it’s only half an inch wider and only 0.17 inches deeper, meaning it’s not much larger than the Surface Laptop 4.Īpple finally incorporated thinner bezels to fit into a smaller - if still thicker and heavier - chassis. It has a 16.2-inch 16:10 display, so it was bound to be a bigger laptop. In contrast, the MacBook Pro 16 got thicker and heavier in this version, up to 0.66 inches and 4.8 pounds. The MacBook Pro 16 represents a step in the opposite direction for Apple, which was also striving for thin and light laptops for years. The Surface Laptop 4 is meant to be a very thin and light laptop, coming in at 0.58 inches and weighing just 3.4 pounds - both of which are excellent given its 15-inch 3:2 display. Looking at the hardware, you’ll find that these are two very different machines. If either one of those operating systems doesn’t appeal to you, then your choice is already made. If you’re choosing between these two laptops, then you’re willing to consider either Windows 11 or MacOS Monterey. We’ll set aside the question of operating systems. Fitbit Versa 3ġ6.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR 3,456 x 2,234Ģ56GB, 512GB, 1TB solid-state drive (SSD)