Luke Larsen / Digital Trends
Apple’sMacBook Air M3represents the modish of the company ’s very successful slender - and - clear laptops built around Apple Silicon ’s fast and highly efficient chipsets . It ’s one of thebest laptopsmade , and Windows machines have had a punishing time keeping up .
Now , Intel has insert a new chipset , the Core Ultra Series 2 , also know asLunar Lake , that direct to right thing with much better efficiency . TheAsus Zenbook S 14is one of the first laptops introduce with the new chipset . Can it compete ?
Luke Larsen / Digital Trends
Specs and configurations
There are n’t many configuration of the Zenbook S 14 useable yet . Our reappraisal unit costs $ 1,500 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chipset , 32 GB of RAM , a 1 TB SSD , and a 14 - inch 2.8 K OLED exhibit .
The MacBook Air M3 has several options . The base simulation cost $ 1,099 with an 8 - meat CPU/8 - marrow GPU M3 chipset , 8 GB of RAM , a 256 GB , and a 13.6 - inch 2560 x 1664 IPS display . RAM and storage upgrades include $ 200 to upgrade to 16 GB or 512 Gbit , and $ 400 to go to 24 GB and 1 TB . An upgrade to 2 TB is a thumping $ 800 . Our review unit cost $ 1,699 for an 8 - core CPU/10 - marrow GPU M3 , 16 GB of RAM , and a 1 TB SSD . The high-pitched - end configuration with 24 GB of RAM and a 2 TB SSD is $ 2,299 .
So , when configured similarly , the MacBook Air M3 is $ 100 more . That makes them close enough that other factor will weigh more .
Design
The MacBook Air M3 is an incredibly slight laptop while still hold Apple ’s usual excellent chassis quality and solid frame . It ’s CNC machine out of a single clump of aluminum , and it ’s an elegant esthetic in one of four colors . The Zenbook S 14 is a jolly thin laptop as well , and it apply a “ ceraluminum ” ( Asus ’ Logos ) stuff to be very light and yet sturdy . It ’s a thoroughly - looking laptop as well , total in either dark grey or white and with a geometrical pattern on the lid .
Both laptops have the usual timbre flexible joint that opens with one bridge player , and while the MacBook Air feel dense and cold in hand , the Zenbook has a lovesome grain . The bottom line is that nobody is likely to purchase either laptop computer ground solely on their look and experience .
The Zenbook S 14 has the very good Asus keyboard that you ’ll come up on the entire ZenBook line . It has plenty of spacing and bombastic keycaps , as well as light and nipping switches . The MacBook Air use Apple ’s fantabulous Magic Keyboard , which is my favorite . It has a perfect layout , well-heeled keys , and the most exact switches on a laptop computer today . The Zenbook ’s mechanical touchpad feels Ok , but it ’s almost too big , bequeath a very minor palm rest . The MacBook Air ’s Force Touch haptic touchpad is perfectly sized and works smashing , with the Force Click single-valued function that adds additional features with a firmer “ click . ” The keyboard and touchpad are Apple strengths .
Connectivity favors the Zenbook S 14 , which has a yoke of legacy port wine to go with the same two Thunderbolt 4 connective . And it has more up - to - particular date wireless connectivity . Both laptops have 1080p webcam , and the Zenbook practice an infrared camera with Windows 11 facial acknowledgement compared to the MacBook Air ’s Touch ID fingerprint lector . The Zenbook supports Studio Effects package that enhance videoconferencing .
Performance
Intel ’s Lunar Lake chipsets are aimed at competing flat with Apple Silicon . We reviewed the Zenbook S 14 with the Core Ultra 7 258V , a 17 - James Watt , 8 - burden ( four Performance and four Low Power Efficient ) , 8 - yarn chipset . It uses the newest Intel Arc 140V integrated artwork . The MacBook Air uses Apple ’s M3 chipset with eight central processor gist and eight or 10 GPU core . We reviewed the faster interpretation .
In our bench mark , the MacBook Air M3 was quicker in all but the Handbrake test . It was immobile in both single - pith and multi - core tests . And its GPU was more than doubly as fast in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme bench mark .
It ’s not that the Zenbook S 14 is a slow laptop computer . It ’s just that the MacBook Air M3 is meaningfully faster .
Display
The Zenbook S 14 uses a 14 - inch 2.8 K OLED video display running at up to 120Hz . It ’s a lovely exhibit with OLED ’s usual bright , dynamic colors and inky blacks . That compare to the MacBook Air ’s 13.6 - inch 2560 x 1664 IPS video display running at 60Hz .
While the MacBook Air ’s display is a very estimable example of IPS technology , and it ’s very bright and reasonably colorful , the Zenbook ’s OLED panel has much wider colors and near - sodding blacks . Our review article unit had oddly piteous color accuracy , but that ’s unusual and likely an outlier . The Zenbook ’s showing will be appreciate by God Almighty and metier consumers .
Portability
The MacBook Air is the thinnest laptop you may buy , and the Zenbook S 14 is only a short boneheaded . In malice of having a large display , the Zenbook is around the same breadth and deepness , and it count about the same . These are both very portably laptops .
When it come to stamp battery life , the Zenbook S 14 comes about as tight to the MacBook Air M3 as any recent Windows laptop has negociate . It ’s only three hours behind in our web - browsing trial run and an hour behind in our video - loop run . And the two laptops managed about the same in the demand Cinebench R24 multi - core test .
Two very good laptops, but the MacBook Air wins a close one
These are both great laptop computer . The Zenbook S 14 leverages the Intel Lunar Lake chipset for cracking battery aliveness , which is an early win for the platform . It ’s a nicely designed and construct laptop , and it really does n’t have any significant flaws .
The MacBook Air is also near to hone , and it ’s meaningfully faster with slightly better battery animation . It has a much better keyboard and touchpad , and broadly speaking a very elegant designing . It ’s a bit more expensive , but worth it — although if you must have window , then the Zenbook S 14 is a enceinte choice .
