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Acer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31 vs Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5)

Researched, not hands-on tested.How we review ›

all judged against laptops at a similar price

The Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) scores 7.3/10 overall, ahead of the Acer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31 at 4.7/10.

The Acer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31 leads on linux support.

The Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) leads on performance, memory and storage, display, keyboard and build and ports.

They score the same on battery life.

The biggest difference is memory and storage, where the Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) scores 6/10 to the Acer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31's 2/10.

Acer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31

Acer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31

4.7/10verdict: skip

The Acer Swift Air 14 suits people who want a light, thin laptop that lasts through a long working day away from a socket. It fits browser, document, SSH and light development work better than heavy multitasking. Buyers who need lots of RAM or a lot of CPU headroom should look at other options.

Typically about £749.99 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Details

Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5)

Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5)

7.3/10verdict: buy

The MacBook Pro 14-inch with M5 is for buyers who are happy to work on macOS and want a sharp screen and long battery life. It suits people who will pick the right memory size on day one, since memory is set at purchase. It is a weaker fit for anyone who needs native Linux or sustained heavy compute.

Typically about £1,599 in the UK when we researched itCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Details

Scores, criterion by criterion

CriterionWeightAcer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5)
Performance25%4/107/10
Memory and storage20%2/106/10
Display15%5/109/10
Battery life15%9/109/10
Keyboard and build10%5/107/10
Ports10%5/108/10
Linux support5%4/103/10
Overall4.7/107.3/10

Specifications

SpecAcer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5)
CPUIntel Core 5 320, 6 cores (2 Performance, 4 low-power efficient cores)Apple M5, 10-core CPU (4 performance, 6 efficiency), 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 153GB/s memory bandwidth
Memory8GB LPDDR5X standard, up to 16GB supported16GB, 24GB or 32GB unified memory, set at purchase
Storage512GB SSD512GB or 1TB SSD, configurable to 1TB, 2TB or 4TB
Display14-inch IPS WUXGA 1920 x 1200, 16:10, 120Hz, LED-backlit14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR, 3024 × 1964 at 254 ppi, 1,000,000:1 contrast, 1,600 nits peak HDR, P3 wide colour, True Tone, ProMotion up to 120Hz
Battery70Wh 3-cell Li-ion with 100W USB-C adapter; Acer claims up to 19 hours video playback72.4 Wh lithium-polymer; Apple rates up to 24 hours video streaming
Ports2 x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, 1 x Type-A, 3.5mm headphone/audio jack; no RJ-45 EthernetSDXC card slot, HDMI, 3.5 mm headphone jack, MagSafe 3, three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports
Weight1.19 kg; 313.99 x 222.65 x 12.99 mm1.55 kg (3.4 lb)
Operating systemWindows 11 HomemacOS

Strengths and weaknesses

Acer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31

  • + Trusted Reviews recorded 18h15m in a PCMark 10 video loop
  • + 1.19 kg aluminium body, 12.99 mm thick
  • + Two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a 100W USB-C charger
  • − 8GB RAM limits multitasking, per reviewers
  • − Only two performance cores in the CPU
  • − Reported lid and keyboard flex

Skip it if:

  • Developers who run VMs or many containers and need more than 8GB of RAM
  • Buyers who want a fingerprint reader or a sharper 2.5K or OLED screen
  • Anyone who needs built-in RJ-45 Ethernet
Read the full Acer Swift Air 14 SFA14-I31 review ›

Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5)

  • + Very long battery life in reviewer video tests
  • + Sharp 3024 × 1964, 120Hz display
  • + HDMI, SD slot and three Thunderbolt 4 ports
  • − Memory is set at purchase, up to 32GB
  • − Single fan may struggle under sustained heavy loads
  • − Small generational change from the M4 model

Skip it if:

  • Buyers who want Linux as the main operating system
  • Anyone running sustained heavy compute for hours
  • Owners of the M4 model looking for a big upgrade
Read the full Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M5) review ›

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