Apple MacBook Air 13" M4 vs Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12
Apple MacBook Air 13" M4
Apple
9.1
Must Buy
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12
Lenovo
8.1
Excellent
What Reviewers Agree On
- Best overall laptop for most people
- 18+ hour battery life is outstanding
- M4 chip handles everything from browsing to video editing
- Fanless design means zero noise
Deal Breakers
- Only one external display natively (two with lid closed)
What Reviewers Agree On
- Best keyboard on any ultrabook — ThinkPad typing is still unmatched
- Exceptional battery life of 10-12 hours for real-world use
Detailed Comparison
Performance
Apple MacBook Air 13" M4
M4 chip delivers excellent everyday and creative performance.
- M4 is ~20% faster than M3 in CPU tasks — handles 4K video editing, coding, and multitasking with ease
- 16GB unified memory standard means no more worrying about running out of RAM
- Can handle light gaming and ML tasks thanks to improved GPU and Neural Engine
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12
Solid for productivity workloads but not a powerhouse for creative or development tasks.
- Intel Core Ultra handles multitasking and office work effortlessly, but don't expect it to replace a MacBook Pro for heavy creative work.
- The integrated GPU is fine for light photo editing and even casual gaming, but dedicated GPU options would be welcome.
Battery Life
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Buy Apple MacBook Air 13" M4
Buy Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12
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