The13 - in laptopspace is full of some great machine . The size has become a bit less pop in the last yoke of years , as 14 - in laptops have started to take over , but if you need the belittled laptop potential you may find one or two groovy options .

The Apple MacBook Air M3 is one such motorcar . It ’s fast , incredibly well - built , and has family - lead battery life . But the Asus ProArt PX13 brings enhanced performance to the fight . Is that enough to make headway a top spot ?

Specs and configurations

Asus only provides two choices with the ProArt PX13 . The base modeling comes with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chipset , 32 GB of RAM , a 1 TB SSD , an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU , and a 13.3 - inch 3 kilobyte OLED display . For $ 200 , you may upgrade to an RTX 4060 that will provide significantly debauched artwork performance .

The MacBook Air M3 offer many more form . you’re able to select either an 8 - sum CPU/8 - marrow GPU M3 chipset or choose for the interlingual rendition with 10 GPU core . The laptops startle at $ 1,099 for the 8/8 M3 chipset , 8 GB of RAM , a 256 GB SSD , and a 13.6 - inch 2560 by 664 IPS display . raise to the 8/10 M3 chipset costs $ 100 , while upgrading RAM is $ 200 to move to 16 GB and $ 400 to move to 24 Great Britain . depot can be upgraded to 2 TB , at a cost of $ 800 . The most expensive constellation is $ 2,299 for the 8/10 chipset , 24 GB of RAM , and a 2 TB SSD .

The MacBook Air M3 is less expensive at the depressed end and slightly more expensive at the gamy end .

Design

The MacBook Air M3 continue the unexampled design aesthetic that Apple solidified when the M2 version finally did away with the wedged - mold MacBook Air . It now has the extremely minimalist , yet somehow elegant , blocky design that ’s machine out of a single glob of aluminum . It ’s available in several colour , include Midnight , Starlight , Space Gray , and Silver . The purpose combines with the MacBook Air ’s implausibly flimsy physical body to emphasize Apple ’s exacting aesthetic . The ProArt PX13 exudes a different facial expression . It ’s bolder , with aggressive discharge that ’s not just functional but suggest at powerful components inside . It ’s not virtually as thin , so it ’s more imposing . Which is a better aesthetical is down to personal taste .

Their shape quality are every bit as good . Both have hearty chassis , with palpebra that are a little pliant . This latter bit is more surprising for a MacBook , given that they ’re usually rock - solid . But in Apple ’s pursuit of thinness this time around , something had to give . But that ’s also unusual for Asus , which tend to also acquire incredibly inflexible laptop . So , you wo n’t be choose either based on build timbre alone .

The MacBook Air M3 benefits from the best keyboard around , Apple ’s Magic Keyboard . The keycaps are large and the spatial arrangement is arrant , with switch that are n’t deep but are fabulously snappy and accurate . That ’s not to say that the ProArt PX13 ’s keyboard , with its own comfy layout and conception and deeper but still springy replacement , is n’t good . If you dislike really shallow keys , then you might favour the Asus . The touchpad is a unlike matter . The MacBook Air M3 also has Apple ’s Force Touch tactual touchpad with the Force Click feature , and it ’s a lot proficient than the ProArt PX13 ’s more routine mechanically skillful version . The Asus does have a tactile sensation presentation , though , where the MacBook Air M3 does not .

Connectivity is also dear on the ProArt PX13 . It has an adequate number of fast ports , but then also a couple of legacy ports as well . Both laptops have proprietary power connections , in Apple ’s case it ’s splendid MagSafe 3 . And then the ProArt PX13 also has a microSD circuit board reader and more up - to - date wireless connectivity

Finally , both laptops have 1080p webcams with similar character . The ProArt PX13 has an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition , whereas the MacBook Air M3 has a Touch ID fingerprint reader built into the power button . Both are straightaway and secure ways for logging in without a countersign .

Performance

The ProArt PX13 is one of the first laptops introduced with AMD ’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chipset , which perplex its name from its neural processing unit ( NPU ) that runs at up to 50 tera operation per second ( big top ) . When introduced , that was the fast NPU available , which induce the chipset a good option for on - twist AI operation that ’s more effective than the GPU that ’s inherently faster . The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is a 12 - core CPU with 24 thread and a 16 - nub integrate GPU . The MacBook Air M3 uses Apple Silicon ’s M3 chipset in either 8 - core CPU/8 - pith GPU or 8 - core CPU/10 - essence GPU iteration . Its Neural Engine function at a slower 18 TOPS .

In our benchmarks , the ProArt PX13 is faster in multi - core CPU performance and slower in individual - Congress of Racial Equality . While the M3 ’s GPU is faster than the AMD chipset ’s Radeon graphics , the ProArt PX13 is available with two discrete GPU option , the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 or the fast RTX 4060 . I reviewed with the RTX 4050 , and it was able to push the ProArt PX13 to firm performance in Adobe ’s Premiere Pro than the MacBook Air M3 was capable to achieve . The RTX 4060 translation of the Asus would be even fast .

If you ’re chiefly a productiveness user , then either laptop will be more than fast enough . But thanks to its distinct graphics alternative , gamers and Almighty will find the ProArt PX13 to be a importantly faster 13 - inch laptop . It ’s worth noting that the MacBook Air M3 is fanless and so runs completely silently , while the ProArt PX13 has fans that can get quite garish .

Display

Asus has been a pioneer in push OLED technology to more laptop , and the PX13 keep that tradition . Its 13.3 - inch 3 K ( 2880 by 1800 ) OLED display is fantabulous , with the technology ’s common thick contrast and inky Black and bright , accurate colour . The MacBook Air M3 uses a very good 13.6 - inch 2560 by 1664 IPS video display that ’s a lot bright but falls short in the other of import metrics , including pungency .

Both displays are very beneficial , but the ProArt PX13 ’s is unspoiled . It will particularly please medium consumers and Jehovah .

Portability

Even think it has a larger presentation , the MacBook Air M3 is barely with child in width and height than the ProArt PX13 . It ’s also lighter and fantastically thin by comparing . Neither of these laptops is very hard to lug around , but the MacBook is noticeably more portable .

bombardment life history is an even more significant discriminator . The ProArt PX 13 does reasonably well for a powerful 13 - column inch laptop with a world power - athirst organic light-emitting diode video display . But , the MacBook Air M3 , with its significantly minuscule assault and battery , still carry off to outclass it . That should be no surprisal , as Apple Silicon chipsets remain the most efficient available today .

Sometimes it’s hard to anoint a winner

The MacBook Air M3 is a great laptop computer . Full stop . It provides excellent productivity performance while run cool and quiet , and its electric battery life is better than any other 13 - inch laptop computer . It ’s not even closemouthed , really . But it ’s not the good option for gamers or creators .

Enter the ProArt PX13 . It combines AMD ’s tardy chipset with a discrete GPU for an unco degraded flyspeck laptop computer for gaming and creative piece of work . But its battery life is n’t as good . Both laptops are around the same price , although the MacBook Air M3 can be had for less albeit with less components . So , your choice comes down to performance or longevity .