Since the days of the Mac vs. PC dispute, a lot has happened. Windows laptops are no longer the crusty, bulky computers they once were. However, with the introduction of the M1 family of CPUs, particularly in the new MacBook Pro, Apple has reclaimed its position.
Most obviously, the more efficient chips have resulted in some astounding performance, especially considering how quiet these laptops are. Beyond that, we identified three important areas where Windows laptops would struggle to compete with MacBooks in 2022.
Speakers
With the rise of teleconferencing and work-from-home lifestyles, speakers in laptops have become considerably more significant. You want a system that not only works well but also sounds great. Apple’s latest MacBook Pros have excellent speakers, and Windows systems must catch up throughout the board – not just on the top end.
Speakers on Windows PCs are hit or miss. If you spend a little more, you might get a system with a good speaker setup, but most laptops aren’t as sophisticated.
Consider the LG Gram 17 or the Asus Vivobook Flip 14, both of which include downward-firing speakers. This causes the audio to sound extremely muffled, which can be aggravating after spending so much money on a laptop.
However, several laptop manufacturers are attempting to innovate. A system such as the HP Elite Dragonfly Max is unique. It has four speakers tuned by Bang & Olufsen. There are two upward-firing on each side of the keyboard and two downward-firing on the case’s bottom. Nonetheless, they were not as outstanding as the MacBook.
Also new are the speakers on the Surface Laptop Studio and the XPS 17. The Studio includes four speakers, two under the keyboard and two on the sides of the laptop. The XPS 17 contains four speakers and Waves Nx 3D audio.
The MacBook Pro 16-inch and 14-inch models feature a six-speaker high-fidelity sound system with two tweeters and four woofers. We got some deep bass thumps and high levels in our tests, and it sounded even better than Bluetooth speakers. There is also support for spatial audio.
We wish those fantastic speakers were standard on all Windows computers. It’s nice to see laptop manufacturers pushing premium audio experiences on premium devices, but it needs to become the norm. Just as 720p webcams are no longer adequate, decent speakers should not be overlooked.
Battery Life
With Apple’s M1 CPUs carefully optimized and customized specifically for macOS, this is one area where Windows PCs must greatly improve. MacBooks always seem to have better batteries than Windows PCs, which is something that needs to change.
You can get a laptop like the Razer Blade 14, which we named the best gaming system, but it only has an eight-hour battery life for web browsing. Even newer computers with Intel’s 12th generation P-series CPUs and no dedicated GPU, such as the Yoga 9i, don’t offer the best battery life. Our online browsing tests, lasted nine hours.
Finally, the MSI Creator Z17, which we believed has the potential to be a MacBook killer, only lasted 4.5 hours in web surfing tests when we tested it. That’s terrible when compared to the MacBook Pro 16-inch with the M1 Max. These Intel computers have a lot of processing power, but the electricity doesn’t last long when unplugged from the wall.
Those battery life figures are all significantly lower than what we obtained when testing the MacBook Pro 13 M1. It lasted 16 hours for web browsing and 15.5 hours for the MacBook Air M1.
On the Windows front, laptops powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors have the best battery life. These always-connected devices, like Apple’s latest systems, are powered by ARM-based SoCs, which provide longer battery life than laptops with Intel-based chips.
As an example, consider the ThinkPad X13s. Unfortunately, as compared to MacBooks, app emulation pulls these computers back for most consumers. Furthermore, on other laptops with Intel processors designed to compete with MacBooks, elements such as OLED panels, touch screens, power-hungry Intel H-class CPUs, and Nvidia GPUs enter the picture and have a negative impact on battery life.
It’s a pity to see Windows PCs suffer so much, and I’m hoping Intel’s next generation of chips can help.
Better Software on MacBooks
The bundled apps are one of the best features of MacBooks. FaceTime and iMessage are included, and both sync with your iPhone. There’s also iMovie and GarageBand, which may be used to edit music and videos.
Then there’s the iWork application package, which, unlike Microsoft Office, is free. These pieces of integrated software make a major difference in the Mac vs. PC discussion for most people, and it is where PCs need to catch up.
This is despite the fact that Windows 11 laptops come with a plethora of useful apps. You get a Phone Link, which allows you to connect your Android phone and PC. Microsoft also pre-installs Widgets, Weather, News, and other system programs. However, if you have an iPhone in your pocket, Macs are still superior, and they always will be.
You’re out of luck if you possess an iPhone and want to view your text messages, images, or video calls on your PC. This is not supported by Phone Link. For the time being, Windows PCs can only communicate with Android phones.
If Microsoft and its partners want a piece of Apple’s Mac business, they must enter the walled garden and figure out how to make iPhones function with Phone Link.
And it’s not like this can’t happen. Dell Mobile Connect allows you to perform these things on XPS and select other systems, so I’m confident Microsoft can find a way.
The final section discusses video editing. All new Windows 11 PCs include a free mailbox app and video editor called Clipchamp. It is a web-based experience that is adequate for short videos but insufficient for longer projects such as podcasts or featured movies. On the free tier, it also only exports at 1080p.
I’d love to see Microsoft build on that and focus on developing a full video editor for Windows PCs, similar to iMovie. Creatives frequently choose Macs for these reasons, and it’s a shame that there isn’t a free iMovie competitor on Windows to entice people to buy PCs. Creating an iMovie-like program would help sell more PCs in the same way as tapping into iPhones would.
And it’s not like there aren’t PCs capable of video editing. This is more than capable of Intel’s new 12th generation H-series and P-series CPUs. In terms of plugged-in performance, these chips have new performance and efficiency cores that are comparable to the M1.
Consider our assessment of the Asus ROG Flow Z13, or forthcoming laptops like the Lenovo Slim 7i Pro X, which combine Intel’s H-series processors with Nvidia GPUs.
PCs are still good and Improving
Despite this, PCs outperform Macs in many respects and are occasionally inspired by them. PCs, for example, have better 16:10 aspect ratio displays, which Apple pioneered. Touch and OLED technologies, as well as in-screen haptics with a stylus, are also supported by PCs.
PCs like the Surface Laptop Studio now offer haptic touchpads inspired by the MacBook Pro. Not to mention the new wave of 1080p webcams that are soon becoming the norm.
The age-old conflict will continue, and it may always be an apples-to-apples comparison, but at least PCs can be inspired by Macs and Macs can be inspired by PCs.
Would you like to read more about MacBooks-related news? If so, we invite you to take a look at our other tech topics before you leave!
