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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Top
  3. Main Differences
  4. Design
    1. Style
    2. Build Quality
    3. Hinge
    4. Portability
    5. Serviceability
    6. In The Box
  5. Display
    1. Screen Specs
    2. Refresh Rate
    3. Contrast
    4. Brightness
    5. Reflections
    6. Black Uniformity
    7. Horizontal Viewing Angle
    8. Vertical Viewing Angle
    9. Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy
    10. Color Gamut
    11. Flicker
  6. Interface
    1. Keyboard
    2. Touchpad
    3. Speakers
    4. Webcam & Microphone
  7. Connectivity
    1. Ports
    2. Wireless Communication
  8. Configuration
    1. CPU
    2. GPU
    3. RAM
    4. Storage
  9. Performance
    1. Geekbench 5 (Synthetics)
    2. Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering)
    3. Blender (3D Rendering)
    4. Basemark GPU (Game Scene)
    5. Storage Drive Performance
    6. Battery
    7. Borderlands 3
    8. Civilization VI
    9. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
    10. Counter-Strike 2
    11. Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
    12. Thermals And Noise
    13. Performance Over Time
  10. Additional Features And Software
    1. Software
    2. Extra Features
  11. Comments

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) vs Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)

Side-by-Side Comparison

Products

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)

Tested using Methodology v0.8.2

Updated Feb 23, 2024 02:13 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com

Tested using Methodology v0.8.2

Updated Aug 08, 2024 02:46 PM

SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Picture
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Picture

Variants

  • Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-5790) (Aqua Blue - i5/8GB/512GB)
  • Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-50KQ) (Pure Silver - i5/8GB/256GB)
  • Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-52BZ) (Pure Silver - i5/8GB/512GB)
  • Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-5166) (Pure Silver - i5/8GB/512GB)
  • Swift 3 14 (SF314-511-70TU) (Pure Silver - i7/16GB/512GB)
  • Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-7567) (Pure Silver - i7/16GB/512GB)
  • Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-75QC) (Pure Silver - i7/8GB/256GB)
  • Swift 3 14 (SF314-59-73UP) (Pure Silver - i7/8GB/512GB)
  • Swift 3 14 (SF314-511-7412) (Pure Silver - i7/8GB/512GB)
  • MacBook Air 13 (MGND3LL/A) (Gold - 7-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
  • MacBook Air 13 (MGNE3LL/A) (Gold - 7-core GPU/8GB/512GB)
  • MacBook Air 13 (MGN93LL/A) (Silver - 7-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
  • MacBook Air 13 (MGNA3LL/A) (Silver - 7-core GPU/8GB/512GB)
  • MacBook Air 13 (‎MGN63LL/A) (Space Gray - 7-core GPU/8GB/256GB)
  • MacBook Air 13 (MGN73LL/A) (Space Gray - 7-core GPU/8GB/512GB)

Our Verdict

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)

Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)

The Acer Swift 3 (2020) and the Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) are both thin and light laptops; however, the Swift 3 runs Windows, while the MacBook Air runs macOS. The MacBook Air is better in most aspects, such as the display, keyboard, touchpad, speakers, webcam, and general performance. On the other hand, the Swift 3 has longer battery life, especially for video playback, and it also has a wider port selection that includes a full-size HDMI and a USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support.

0

Main Differences for

Threshold 

0.10

School 

7.8
8.4

Webcam & Microphone 
 

3.6
8.2

Touchpad 
 

6.8
8.8

Build Quality 
 

7.5
9.5

Ports 
 

8.0
4.0

Battery 
 

9.4
8.8

Full Comparison

Design

Style 
 

Style Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Style Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Style Photo

Form Factor 
 

Traditional (Clamshell)
Traditional (Clamshell)

Show text

Build Quality 
 

7.5
9.5

Build Quality Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Build Quality Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Build Quality Photo

Show text

Hinge 
 

6.9
9.1

Hinge Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Hinge Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Hinge Photo

Range 
 

180°
135°

Stability 
 

Good
Good

One Finger Lift 
 

No
Yes

Show text

Portability 
 

8.9
9.1

Dimensions Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Dimensions Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Dimensions Photo

Size 
 

14"
13.3"

Thickness 
 

0.6" (1.6 cm)
0.5" (1.3 cm)

Width 
 

12.8" (32.4 cm)
12.0" (30.5 cm)

Depth 
 

8.6" (21.9 cm)
8.4" (21.2 cm)

Volume 
 

69.3 in³ (1,135.3 cm³)
51.3 in³ (840.6 cm³)

Weight 
 

2.6 lbs (1.2 kg)
2.9 lbs (1.3 kg)

Charger Size 
 

8.2 in³ (135.0 cm³)
5.5 in³ (90.6 cm³)

Charger Weight 
 

0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)
0.4 lbs (0.2 kg)

Show text

Serviceability 
 

6.5
3.3

Internals Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Internals Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Internals Photo

Ease Of Access 
 

8.0
5.5

RAM Slots 
 

0
0

Storage Slots 
 

1
0

Replaceable Battery 
 

Yes
Yes

Replaceable Wireless Adapter 
 

Yes
No

Show text

In The Box 
 

In The Box Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) In The Box Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) In The Box Photo

Show text

Display

Screen Specs 
 

Display Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Display Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Display Photo

Resolution 
 

1920 x 1080
2560 x 1600

Aspect Ratio 
 

16:9
16:10

Pixel Density 
 

157 PPI
225 PPI

Panel Type 
 

IPS
IPS

Touch Screen 
 

No
No

Screen-To-Body Ratio 
 

80%
84%

Show text

Refresh Rate 
 

5.9
5.9

Motion Blur  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Motion Blur
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Motion Blur

Refresh Rate 
 

60 Hz
60 Hz

Variable Refresh Rate 
 

No
No

Show text

Contrast 
 

7.9
6.8

Contrast Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Contrast Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Contrast Photo

Native Contrast 
 

1,720 : 1
1,044 : 1

Show text

Brightness 
 

6.7
7.8

Maximum Brightness 
 

279 cd/m²
372 cd/m²

Minimum Brightness 
 

17 cd/m²
4 cd/m²

Show text

Reflections 
 

7.3
8.9

Reflections Photo Off  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Reflections Photo Off
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Reflections Photo Off

Reflections Photo Max  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Reflections Photo Max
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Reflections Photo Max

Screen Finish 
 

Matte
Glossy

Total Reflections 
 

5.66%
1.73%

Indirect Reflections 
 

4.91%
0.16%

Calculated Direct Reflections 
 

0.75%
1.57%

Show text

Black Uniformity 
 

7.7
7.4

Black Uniformity Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Black Uniformity Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Black Uniformity Photo

Uniformity (Std. Dev.) 
 

0.925%
1.071%

Show text

Horizontal Viewing Angle 
 

6.7
6.8

Horizontal Viewing Angle Video  

Horizontal Chroma Picture  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Horizontal Chroma Picture
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Horizontal Chroma Picture

Color Washout From Left 
 

26°
25°

Color Washout From Right 
 

25°
28°

Horizontal Hue Picture  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Horizontal Hue Picture
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Horizontal Hue Picture

Color Shift From Left 
 

39°
40°

Color Shift From Right 
 

41°
46°

Horizontal Lightness Picture  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Horizontal Lightness Picture
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Horizontal Lightness Picture

Brightness Loss From Left 
 

27°
28°

Brightness Loss From Right 
 

27°
31°

Black Level Raise From Left 
 

60°
60°

Black Level Raise From Right 
 

60°
60°

Gamma Shift From Left 
 

32°
29°

Gamma Shift From Right 
 

30°
32°

Show text

Vertical Viewing Angle 
 

6.2
6.8

Vertical Viewing Angle Video  

Vertical Chroma Picture  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Vertical Chroma Picture
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Vertical Chroma Picture

Color Washout From Below 
 

24°
25°

Color Washout From Above 
 

26°
25°

Vertical Hue Picture  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Vertical Hue Picture
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Vertical Hue Picture

Color Shift From Below 
 

37°
37°

Color Shift From Above 
 

36°
41°

Vertical Lightness Picture  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Vertical Lightness Picture
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Vertical Lightness Picture

Brightness Loss From Below 
 

27°
27°

Brightness Loss From Above 
 

28°
28°

Black Level Raise From Below 
 

45°
45°

Black Level Raise From Above 
 

40°
45°

Gamma Shift From Below 
 

25°
37°

Gamma Shift From Above 
 

27°
35°

Show text

Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy 
 

6.7
9.7

White Balance Screencap  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) White Balance Screencap
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) White Balance Screencap

Gamma Curve Screencap  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Gamma Curve Screencap
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Gamma Curve Screencap

Color Screencap  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Color Screencap
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Color Screencap

Avg. White Balance dE 
 

4.38
1.75

Avg. Gamma 
 

2.11
2.2

Avg. Color dE 
 

2.89
1.21

Avg. Color Temperature 
 

6,388 K
6,883.6 K

Show text

Color Gamut 
 

8.6
9.4

Gamut SDR  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Gamut SDR
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Gamut SDR

sRGB xy 
 

99.97%
99.96%

sRGB uv 
 

99.91%
99.84%

Adobe RGB xy 
 

78.17%
88.07%

Adobe RGB uv 
 

86%
92.88%

Gamut HDR  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Gamut HDR
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Gamut HDR

DCI P3 xy 
 

78.92%
99.57%

DCI P3 uv 
 

84.07%
99.15%

Rec. 2020 xy 
 

56.68%
72.25%

Rec. 2020 uv 
 

61.53%
73.92%

Show text

Flicker 
 

10
10

Flicker Graph  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Flicker Graph
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Flicker Graph

Flicker-Free 
 

Yes
Yes

Flicker Frequency 
 

No Flicker
No Flicker

Flicker Active Below 
 

0%
0%

Show text

Interface

Keyboard 
 

7.2
7.6

Keyboard Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Keyboard Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Keyboard Photo

Typing Quality 
 

7.0
7.5

Numpad 
 

No
No

Backlighting 
 

On / Off
Adjustable

Key Switch Actuation Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Operating Force 
 

61 gf
63 gf

Actuation Force 
 

34 gf
37 gf

Pre-Travel 
 

0.90 mm
0.76 mm

Total Travel 
 

1.33 mm
0.85 mm

Show text

Touchpad 
 

6.8
8.8

Touchpad Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Touchpad Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Touchpad Photo

Tracking Quality 
 

7.0
9.0

Size 
 

10.9 in² (70.3 cm²)
14.9 in² (96.0 cm²)

Material 
 

Plastic
Glass

Dedicated Buttons 
 

No
No

Show text

Speakers 
 

7.8
8.9

Frequency Response Plot  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Max Volume 
 

76 dB SPL
79 dB SPL

Standard Error @ Normal Vol. (65 dB) 
 

5.0 dB
4.5 dB

Slope @ Normal Vol. (65 dB) 
 

0.1
1.6

Bass Extension (Low-Frequency Ext.) 
 

364 Hz
247 Hz

Treble Extension (High-Frequency Ext.) 
 

16 kHz
20 kHz

Dynamic Range Compression @ Max Vol. 
 

1.0 dB
1.9 dB

Show text

Webcam & Microphone 
 

3.6
8.2

Webcam Video Sample  

Video Quality 
 

3.0
8.5

Resolution 
 

720p
720p

Position 
 

Top Center
Top Center

Privacy Cover 
 

No
No

Face Unlock 
 

No
No

Show text

Connectivity

Ports 
 

8.0
4.0

Ports Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Ports Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Ports Photo

USB-A Ports 
 

2
0

USB-C Ports 
 

1
2

Thunderbolt 
 

Thunderbolt 4
Thunderbolt 3

USB-C Charging 
 

Yes
Yes

USB-C Display Out 
 

Yes
Yes

HDMI 
 

2.0
No

DisplayPort 
 

No
No

3.5mm Jack 
 

Combo mic/headphone
Combo mic/headphone

Card Reader 
 

No
No

Ethernet 
 

No
No

Proprietary Port 
 

No
No

Security Lock 
 

Yes
No

Show text

Wireless Communication 
 

Wi-Fi 
 

Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)

Bluetooth 
 

5.0
5.0

Show text

Configuration

CPU 
 

Brand 
 

Intel
Apple

Model 
 

Core i5-1135G7
M1

Core Count 
 

4
8

Thread Count 
 

8
8

Show text

GPU 
 

Brand 
 

Intel
Apple

Model 
 

Iris Xe Graphics G7
M1

Dedicated/Integrated 
 

Integrated
Integrated

VRAM Size 
 

N/A
N/A

Show text

RAM 
 

Capacity 
 

8 GB
8 GB

Modules 
 

1 (Soldered)
2 (Soldered)

Type 
 

LP-DDR4X
LP-DDR4X

Speed 
 

4,267 MHz
4,266 MHz

Show text

Storage 
 

Advertised Capacity 
 

512 GB
256 GB

Usable Capacity 
 

460 GB
218 GB

Drive 1 
 

SK Hynix HFM512GDJTNI-82A0A
SDRGJHI4

Drive 1 Type  

SSD
SSD

Drive 2 
 

No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive

Drive 2 Type  

No 2nd Drive
No 2nd Drive

Show text

Performance

Geekbench 5 (Synthetics) 
 

8.1
8.8

Geekbench Image  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Geekbench Image
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Geekbench Image

CPU Single-Thread 
 

1,409 points
1,721 points

CPU Multi-Thread 
 

5,340 points
7,437 points

GPU Compute 
 

15,232 points
19,359 points

Show text

Cinebench R23 (CPU Rendering) 
 

8.4
9.1

Cinebench R23 Photo  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Cinebench R23 Photo
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Cinebench R23 Photo

Single-Thread 
 

1,368 points
1,497 points

Multi-Thread 
 

5,092 points
6,855 points

Show text

Blender (3D Rendering) 
 

5.9
6.2

Blender Image  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Blender Image
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Blender Image

CPU Render Time 
 

7.8 min
7.3 min

GPU Render Time 
 

N/A
N/A

GPU Render Time (Optix) 
 

N/A
N/A

Show text

Basemark GPU (Game Scene) 
 

5.1
6.1

Basemark Image  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Basemark Image
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Basemark Image

Overall Score 
 

16,155
26,868

Show text

Storage Drive Performance 
 

9.0
9.3

Storage Performance Image  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Storage Performance Image
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Storage Performance Image

Sequential Write Speed 
 

933.8 MB/s
2,580.5 MB/s

Sequential Read Speed 
 

1,181.1 MB/s
2,487.4 MB/s

Random Write Speed 
 

106.7 MB/s
51.5 MB/s

Random Read Speed 
 

55.6 MB/s
60.5 MB/s

Show text

Battery 
 

9.4
8.8

Capacity 
 

56 Wh
50 Wh

Battery Life (Web Browsing) 
 

13.8 hrs
13.3 hrs

Battery Life (Video Playback) 
 

12.2 hrs
6.6 hrs

Battery Life (Gaming) 
 

2.1 hrs
2.6 hrs

Charge Time 
 

2.3 hrs
3.1 hrs

Show text

Borderlands 3 
 

1.1
2.4

Borderlands 3 Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Avg. FPS 
 

7 fps
15 fps

1% Low 
 

1 fps
6 fps

0.1% Low 
 

0 fps
3 fps

1% Low Delta 
 

1,253 ms
86 ms

0.1% Low Delta 
 

2,224 ms
302 ms

Avg. FPS On Very Low 
 

36 fps
32 fps

Show text

Civilization VI 
 

4.6
5.6

Civilization VI Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Avg. FPS 
 

22 fps
32 fps

1% Low 
 

16 fps
23 fps

0.1% Low 
 

14 fps
21 fps

1% Low Delta 
 

18 ms
12 ms

0.1% Low Delta 
 

25 ms
17 ms

Avg. FPS On Minimum 
 

82 fps
71 fps

Avg. Turn Time 
 

7.96 s
11.63 s

Show text

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 
 

6.7
7.7

CS:GO graph  

See details on graph tool
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) CS:GO graph

Avg. FPS 
 

88 fps
65 fps

1% Low 
 

36 fps
N/A

0.1% Low 
 

30 fps
N/A

1% Low Delta 
 

16 ms
N/A

0.1% Low Delta 
 

22 ms
N/A

Avg. FPS On Low 
 

134 fps
94 fps

Show text

Counter-Strike 2 
 

CS2 Graph  

Avg. FPS 
 

1% Low 
 

0.1% Low 
 

1% Low Delta 
 

0.1% Low Delta 
 

Avg. FPS On Low 
 

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider 
 

3.0
2.0

SOTTR Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

Avg. FPS 
 

19 fps
13 fps

1% Low 
 

3 fps
9 fps

0.1% Low 
 

1 fps
5 fps

1% Low Delta 
 

290 ms
31 ms

0.1% Low Delta 
 

871 ms
135 ms

Avg. FPS On Lowest 
 

37 fps
26 fps

Show text

Thermals And Noise 
 

7.7
8.3

Keyboard Temps Picture  

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) Keyboard Temps Picture
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020) Keyboard Temps Picture

Keyboard Temp While Idle 
 

27 °C (80 °F)
28 °C (82 °F)

Keyboard Temp Under Load 
 

45 °C (112 °F)
47 °C (117 °F)

Fan Noise While Idle 
 

25.0 dBA
N/A

Fan Noise Under Load 
 

43.0 dBA
N/A

Power & Fan Control App 
 

No
No

Show text

Performance Over Time 
 

8.6
7.5

Performance Over Time Graph  

See details on graph tool
See details on graph tool

CPU Temp (Cinebench) 
 

72 °C
N/A

CPU Perf. Loss (Cinebench) 
 

9% loss
13% loss

GPU Temp (Heaven) 
 

69 °C
N/A

GPU Perf. Loss (Heaven) 
 

0% loss
3% loss

Show text

Additional Features And Software

Software 
 

Operating System 
 

Windows 10
macOS

Additional Software 
 

Yes
None

Show text

Extra Features 
 

RGB Illumination 
 

No
No

Touch Pen 
 

No
No

Secondary Display 
 

No
No

Biometrics 
 

Fingerprint Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor

Show text

Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)

Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020)

Comments

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Acer Swift 3 14 (2020) vs Apple MacBook Air 13 (M1, 2020): Main Discussion

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