It’s the first time I am reviewing an MSI ultrabook. Why this matter? Up until now when it came to windows laptops the four big names that came to our minds are Dell, Microsoft, Acer, Asus. And these three brands sell the most. But MSI Prestige 14 might change the game. It is a direct challenger to all the flagship Windows laptops like the Dell XPS series, Acer Swift series, Microsoft Surface Pro, Asus Zenbook. But we are gonna compare this beast to Macbook Air.
Design
Elegance is the key principle behind Apple’s success. Let’s talk about some numbers, 0.3cm to 1.61cm in the thickness of Macbook Air 1.59cm is the thickness of MSI prestige 14. The display, Macbook air features a slim display but MSI Prestige 14 an even thinner display. MSI gives you a 4K display and Macbook Air gives you a Retina display with resolution 2560 ✕ 1600. Colors we have Rose Pink, Carbon Black, and white for MSI and Silver, Gold, Space Grey for Macbook Air.
Apple provides a better color option. Both laptops are built with Metal and hence are durable. The keyboard is better on Macbook Air. But you get backlit in both laptops. Both Feature a Large trackpad and keyboard with low-key travel time. The design is a personal preference and I prefer the Macbook Air design. Though MSI has a 4K display Color production is far greater on Macbook air. Sharpness is better on MSI but Clarity is better on Macbook Air. And the True Tone factor makes the Macbook Air display more comfortable for the eyes.
Performance
When it comes to performance Intel 11th generation processors have improved a lot compared to the previous generation. The new 11th gen processor has a 1.5 times powerful CPU and 4.5 times powerful GPU. But this doesn’t mean that it can beat the mighty Apple M1 Chip. Apple M1 still stands strong as the most powerful chip with a benchmark score of 1733 and intel i11 stands at second position with a score of 1423.
But there is a catch. As you might know, Apple M1 is an ARM-based Chip and most apps don’t support M1 chip. It will be no surprise to see intel i11 outperform M1 in real-world performance tests for most apps until all the apps release an ARM-based version of apps. Apple promised the whole process to complete by end of 2022 but right now it could be an issue. Though taking M1 Chip power into consideration the performance difference between Apps on M1 vs intel i11 won’t too much to ignore. But, it’s totally a choice.
Portability
Both the ultrabooks weigh 1.29KG. Almost identical dimensions, make both of them very suitable for travelers. Ports play an important role in the portability of laptops. MacBook Air features 2 Thunderbolt 3 and one headphone jack. MSI prestige 14 features 2 Thunderbolt 3, 1 USB Type-1, and 1 Audio jack. Battery backup is better on Macbook Air up to 15hrs while on MSI it is 10hrs. The battery size on Macbook Air is 49.9 and 52 on MSI. But macOS is all the difference. MacBook Air supports 30W fast Charging. While MSI provides 90W AC Adapter.
Verdict
Both Macbook Air and MSI Prestige 14 are great laptops. Priced similarly, makes me wonder which is better. If I were to buy among them I would definitely choose Macbook Air because of macOS. But the winner of this versus battle is Macbook Air. macOS and M1 chip is such a powerful combination that it is hard to defeat. Though MSI gives you a 4K display the PPI is still higher on MacBook Air and more colors mean a more powerful display. The higher resolution only means a sharper display not better quality.
Macbooks have always been at the top of laptops and I would love to see a Windows laptop dethrone it. But if we ignore Macbook Air from the equation. I guess MSI prestige 14 could be the best windows laptop right now. Let’s do another versus battle between MSI Prestige 14 and Dell XPS 13 to find out.
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